Monday, March 26, 2012

Keeping Challenged While Writing One Genre

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Elysabeth ElderingHi everyone!  Today I’m over at writer Elysabeth Eldering’s blog.  In my interview with her there, I talk about juggling several series, my typical writing day, and why I write mysteries, among other things.  Hope you’ll pop by.

Today’s post will be a short one here, since I’m deep in edits for one book and writing another. I thought I’d pose a question to you that nearly stumped me at a recent event.

It was after a talk I’d given and one of the writers in attendance asked me, “So you’re only writing mysteries. Don’t you want to try writing other things?  How do you keep getting creative satisfaction from writing one genre? How do you stay challenged?”

I know that I am currently satisfied writing mysteries. I’ve written eight books in the same genre and haven’t gotten bored with it a bit. But I’d never really thought about why.   So it took me a while to answer his question…in fact, I had to tell him, “Hold on a second while I think about that.”

For me, these are the reasons I’m sticking with my genre and staying satisfied (for at least the foreseeable future):

I love reading mysteries.  I’m a fan.

I’m writing more than one series.  So each book focuses on a different setting and different characters with different personalities.

I love the characters I’m writing.  I enjoy spending time with them in the made-up worlds I’ve created.

It’s a challenge to come up with different plots instead of recycling the same ones.  That’s creativity in action.

With each book, I’m introducing new characters as suspects and victims. 

I’m curious to hear from you.  Do you focus on a single genre?  A single series? How do you keep feeling creatively satisfied and challenged?