I've just been thinking (at work, as usual, and not about work) about a literary agent's site I researched recently. I won't say which as I intend to apply (because, apart from the point I am about to query, the agency looks superb). However, in the advice section, the writer suggests that we should read in the genre we write, ie:
If you want to write fantasy, read Harry Potter.
If you want to write erotica, read 50 shades.
If you want to write thrillers, read the Da Vinci Code.... etc.
And I started to wonder, are writers becoming commercial? Have books always been commerically driven, as in - Harry Potter has finished, we accept that, and very fine books they are. But encouraging people to write 'the next Harry Potter' seems a little.... exploitative? Exclusive? "Don't write what you want - write what we want to sell."
I accept that a book with no selling potential is heading straight for a recycle bin in the agency's back room. But I'd like to think that a book doesn't have to be called "Harry Potter's twin brother goes to Hogwarts" before it stands a chance.
This is something that's puzzled me too. Publishers and agents often say they're looking for 'the next big thing' which I interpret as meaning 'something different', yet they also want to be able to sum up a book in one short sentence and put a genre label on it.
As a reader, I love finding novels that surprise me by not sticking rigidly to the rules of a narrow genre - and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Perhaps the trick is to write a first novel that fits neatly into a well-defined genre and then, once you're published, persuade the publisher to let you experiment a bit more.
I don't think it's about being commercial, just within an obvious genre.
They're asking you to read the bestsellers of your choosing and as many others as you can so you understand the genre you are writing in and are therefore less likely to wander off into another one half way through. It's about making a saleable book that can be placed in the bookshop easily. Plus, if you are reading mainstream you are likely to create mainstream and that's to the agent's advantage too.
I didn't really take this advice and although I don't think my book is that hard to place, it does borrow from a few other genres. Thankfully 'Romance' covers a multitude of sins. Just look at the Time Traveller's Wife.
But if you can adhere to the boundaries of your genre from the start that is desirable from the publisher's point of view and is one less obstacle to publication.
Hi Mark.
It appears you are having a crisis of confidence. I hope that it passes soon.
You should write about what inspires you to write, and more importantly, what you know about. All the great traditional and contemporary novelists, mostly wrote about what they knew. They drew on their life experiences and the places where they lived. Austen, The Brontes, Dickens and Hardy are fine examples.
The exceptions are those authors who wrote fantasy, or fantasy historical fiction. J Swift, J R R Tolkien, H G Wells, J K Rowling, R L Stevenson, B Cornwall and C S Forester are examples.
Whether it has been my misfortune not to have read any books by the authors you have mentioned, I would not know. Therefore I cannot pass judgement. But I have never been one for teaming up with the masses.
I agree with the agency suggestion about reading as much about your genre as possible. The purpose is not to steal ideas from other authors. I believe that reading as much as you can about your chosen subject is beneficial. It is research. It can help the creative process, by triggering the conscious and sub-conscious mind.
My novel is historical fantasy fiction. I have deliberately soaked myself in Greek Mythology, the legend of King Arthur, Tennyson, Spenser, Chaucer and Malory.
I have not compromised my integrity by reading other authors works. I believe my novel has unique aspects and is original in many ways.
Each to their own way of doing things, but reading about my genre has helped me enormously.
Good Luck.