It’s been about a year since I got serious with my writing. Since then, I’ve written two short stories, a non-fiction article, two category romance novels, and started on a SFF novel featuring a kickbutt heroine. None of them sold, of course.
By December 31, 2005, I wanted to get a personalized rejection slip. It looks like it’s not going to happen. But I achieved my goal of getting a full ms request out of a query, so I suppose it’s a wash.
When I first began to take my writing seriously, I wanted to be a SFF writer. Why? Because that’s the kind of story in my head. I thought about writing paranormal romance novels, but that didn’t work because I just don’t think I can do the “you’re my destined mate” theme that’s so popular now. In many of my SFF stories, the main conflict is preordained v. free will. I’d rather much have people in my books choose the other person for noble qualities rather than just stay together because they were meant to be. Perhaps my dislike of preordained comes from the church youth minister who told me that I should pray because I will never understand the concept of predestination. (I was quite upset when he said that because I felt patronized for asking a simple question: If we’re predestined to go to heaven or hell, why do we try to be a good Christian?)
I’ve also decided recently that I shouldn’t focus on writing category romance novels anymore. Not because they’re unworthy of my attention. But because that’s just not where my heart is. I only wrote them because I thought it may be easier to break into publishing world that way. That is, perhaps why, my writing had no passion, no heart.
However, it’s true that SFF novels would take me much longer to write than a category romance novel. I have to build a world where my characters occupy. Also given their lengths, they require more complex plot / sub-plots and a bigger cast of well thought out characters. The challenge is going to be good for me. It’ll help me grow as a writer.
