[Cephus]

I was looking through my growing list of story ideas and partially outlined books and was wondering what genres people work in? One? Several? All of them?

I currently have 6 stories that are hard SF, which is my preferred genre.

I have one that is... I guess light SF with certain fantasy elements?

I have three that are non-fiction.

I have two that are modern-day mystery.

Anyone else?

[mistri]

I work across a few genres.

I tend to write short stories as SF. Not hard SF, because I don't know anything about science so I suppose it's space opera-esque.

For longer works I prefer to write Fantasy - I don't have the scientific knowledge to carry out a full length SF novel - and I enjoy the world and magic-system building that comes with Fantasy.

I also have fully planned out ideas for a couple of mainstream books which are on the back burner at the moment (I probably won't look at them until I finish a full length fantasy book).

I've started a fantasy children's book, with basic ideas for more SF/F kids stuff.

And I think that's about it. For now. Or until I get an idea that does fit into any of the above categories.

Working on lots of ideas (regardless of genre) can mean that you lose focus. But on the other hand I like having different ideas on the go so that if I get blocked on one I can still do some work on another.

Working across various genres isn't a bad idea - it helps you find out what area you're most comfortable in if you don't know yet, and stops boredom with similar projects from setting in. However, when you first get published, publishers would probably want you to make a name in one area before writing different sorts of books - but there are always exceptions to this.

Just some thoughts.

[Chlestron]

I've tried my hand at short stories in Horror, Fantasy, and a blend of Sci-Fi/Fantasy

I've got a few novella length stuff (4) that are pure fantasy and a few more (2) that are soft Sci-Fi.

I suppose I have knowledge and expertise to do hard Sci-Fi, but that is not really concurrent with my style.

The novel length stuff that I have (3 typed, 1 hand written) are a blend between Fantasy and Sci-Fi with some Horror elements thrown in. I guess that would be Mainstream then.

[Holbrook]

Non-fiction as in historical articles for a web site.

Historical/fiction as in a series of short stories about one place each story is set at a different time though there is a linking theme a circle of standing stones.

Fantasy mainstream with a heavy dash or historical detail or rather based on what was rather than made up.... limited magic for the most part and no elves

Also Fantasy stories suitable for young adult i.e.14-18 age group, adult semi-erotic and urban dark fantasy.

Horror from light semi ghost stories to very dark urban horror.

[choppy]

I usually write the story first, then try to figure out what genre it falls in afterwards. I have a number of projects on the go right now, most of which are novels. I tend to shy away from short stories since I never really feel that I have a chance to "get into" anything. A short story is like a snapshot of a single event - a novel is more like a gallery chronicalling a series of events.

I write a lot of SF. I'd say some of it is pretty "hard". Some is softer. I'd say a large part of what I write is military SF in particular.

I tend to shy away from traditional fantasy because I don't like "magic" - it's too uncontrollable and leaves too many plot holes in my opinion. I do however have a half-complete manuscript in a fantasy setting based in an ancient Rome-like world.

Another project doesn't really fit into any genre other than "Canadian Literature" I suppose. It's a story about a kid who learns Judo and how it affects his life.

Further I have a mafia-esque ninja adventure novel in the works. Early draft chapters have received some pretty positive feedback.

And then there's my attempt at merging SF and the classical western. It's mostly SF but it concentrates on issues involved in modern-day law enforcement.

Oh, and then there's non-fiction. I've currently got a thesis and a number of scientific papers in the works. I also plan to draft a manuscript on the physics of Judo one day - when I get around to it.

[I, Brian]

I would think experimentation is one the keys when aspiring to write, and for myself it changed according to what I was reading - which in itself was wide based. What I've kept is 1 psychological short story, 1 horror (Lovecraftian), 1 modern comedy novel, 5 epic fantasy novels, and 1 spec fic novel. (And that's why I'm trying to ensure the last one is properly polished and perfect for submission this year.)

[milamber_reborn]

1 fantasy novel, 10 fantasy short stories
1 scifi short story
1 general fiction short story

plenty of fantasy stories planned as well as a few scfi and horror and the odd general fiction.

[Cephus]

Originally posted by choppy
I tend to shy away from traditional fantasy because I don't like "magic" - it's too uncontrollable and leaves too many plot holes in my opinion. I do however have a half-complete manuscript in a fantasy setting based in an ancient Rome-like world.

I used to love fantasy as a genre, then I started reading too much bad fantasy and got a bad taste in my mouth. Now, I rarely read it and don't write it.

The problem I have with a lot of fantasy is that many authors use magic as a plot device to hide bad writing. Write yourself into a corner? Let magic get you out! Can't figure out a problem? Let magic solve it! It's like technobabble in bad sci-fi. When in doubt, reconfigure the flux capacitor. It's just not nearly so rampant in SF as it is in fantasy.

[Gary Wassner]

I have written four fantasy novels in an ongoing series, and recently I wrote a children's book of about 45 pages for the 8 - 12 year old market. It will be published in the fall of 2004 by a large and well respected publisher of children's books for the mass market bookstores, schools and libraries. I found that writing a short book like that was an uplifiting experience. It is also the first in a series, but each story is self contained. The main characters will be the same in the next book, but the adventure will be totally different. It is an adventure/mystery series. It was a lot of fun to write, and writing in another genre was a refreshing break.

[kahnovitch]

Mostly SF with the occassional fantasy/horror short.