Am I Writing the Wrong Genre?

A long rumination on the current trends in fantasy and whether I should maybe write "Boot Camp Grandma" instead...

Back in 2019, when I had one kid in Navy boot camp and another kid about to graduate from high school, I started getting texts from military recruiters.

These were almost always intended for my high schooler or the kid who had already enlisted. I'm assuming they probably got my number from school records or something. I don't know how all that works.

But one evening, I got a text promising to tell me about all the exciting opportunities the Air Force had to offer, and it triggered an idea that I subsequently posted on Facebook:

The comments on this post were terrific. People added all kinds of interesting ideas to it, and it was kind of fun to watch everyone riff on it. I said I pictured it like an old lady's "Private Benjamin"--and if you're not of a certain age, you might not remember this awesome movie:

When that Facebook post popped up in my memories last week, I had already been planning to write this post, so it was just fortuitous that the simulation offered me a memory that fit into my current mood.

What is that current mood?

I have been wondering if I'm writing in the wrong genre.

The Problem with Fantasy

Many years ago, on my old blog, I wrote about some of the problems with fantasy. I've been troubled by fantasy trends for a very long time. I don't like super dark/grimdark fantasy. I'm not big on urban fantasy, though I enjoyed a couple of Jim Butcher's "Harry Dresden" novels. I never got into steampunk or paranormal romance.

I'm boring. I like epic or high fantasy where the bad guys lose and the good guys win. I love an epic speech, a solemn vow, a chosen hero.

For years, I have labored under the delusion that people still wanted epic or high fantasy. I assumed that I could just keep writing what I wrote and wait for trends to rise and fall, because that desire for epic or high fantasy would still be there, dormant, under all the new takes on old ideas.

And then... we got Romantasy.

Back when I had an agent, one of the rejections she passed on to me was from a publisher who said she really liked my book, but they had just published something similar with a romantic storyline (like Ravenmarked), and she didn't think they could publish another one so soon. I wasn't surprised. I always suspected my stories would be a tough sell in the traditional fantasy marketplace for a number of reasons, including the romantic storyline.

But I also strongly felt that romance wasn't driving the stories. I didn't intend to write romance novels with a fantasy backdrop. I intended to write fantasy novels that included strong relationship storylines, because relationships drive a lot of the choices people make.

And now... I'm looking around at all the "Romantasy" and thinking that 1) I was way too early, 2) I don't write enough sex into my stories (even though some people told me it was too much), or 3) my writing is just never going to be the kind of fantasy this market wants.

And you know what?

It tempts me to just drop the whole freaking thing and write "Boot Camp Grandma" instead.

What Else Can I Write, Though?

The problem is... I don't know what else I could write.

"Boot Camp Grandma" is a fun idea, but it doesn't inspire me to write a whole book around it, and I have never been interested in writing screenplays. Besides, I don't particularly feel like doing the actual research I'd need to do for this idea. I have enough on my plate, thanks.

(Anyone who wants to run with it, feel free--I give you my blessing.)

As a reader, I am deeply drawn to more literary fiction. I love a book that's centered around character dilemmas and personal growth--those quiet, introspective novels where plot is secondary to the overall experience. But any literary novel I wrote would almost assuredly be doomed to failure, because nothing in my worldview would make it appealing to a traditional publisher who could actually promote it, and I don't have the educational bona fides that would be expected of a literary author.

There's always science fiction, but I'm not smart enough to write science fiction. I'm barely smart enough to read it.

At the root of this problem is... well, me.

I will read almost anything, but when I start thinking about a new story, it inevitably ends up in a fantasy setting. I might explore some literary-adjacent idea--I like to think that my novella Servant of Dreams is sort of an exploration of class distinctions--but I'm going to plunk it in an ancient, unfamiliar world and give people pointy sticks as weapons.

Even as I thought about "Boot Camp Grandma," I plunked it into an ancient setting. I thought of Mulan taking her father's place and hiding her identity, and I kind of thought, "What if grandma took her son's place in the army of some ancient world?"

I have written other things before. I've had a few essays included in the Cup of Comfort anthologies. I've written non-fiction for clients for a long time. I write marketing copy, e-mails, blog posts--all of that sort of stuff.

But my heart and soul belong to fantasy.

Maybe There's Hope?

I remember many years ago talking to a literary agent at the Willamette Writers Conference in Portland--like twenty years ago or more. At the time, I remember people talking about how fantasy as a genre was fading because the public perceived it as juvenile or boring. So I asked this agent if there was still a market for fantasy, and she said "there will always be a market for fantasy."

Twenty years later, we've had the massive success of all three Lord of the Rings movies and the prequel movies around dear Bilbo. We've had the cultural phenomenon of Game of Thrones and the various spin-offs it birthed. There have been various TV adaptations and movies around fantasy novels such as The Wheel of Time series and even the Sword of Truth series.

There's still a market for fantasy--or at least, there's a market for people who want to watch stories that have all the classic elements of the fantasy novel.

But is there a market for the classic fantasy novel?

Two weeks ago, I might have said no. After reading Fourth Wing, I just about threw up my hands and considered burning my hard drive, because if Fourth Wing is what fantasy is now, I am never going to be what readers want.

But then I started reading The Will of the Many, and I started to think... Maybe there is hope.

Maybe people still want fantasy with a lot of the classic elements that doesn't rely on performative swearing, indiscriminate death, and graphic sex to propel the story.

I fully expected it to disappoint me. I suppose it still could, but I'm about two-thirds through it, and I've been quite pleasantly surprised by the quality of the writing, the intricate world-building, and the meticulous plotting so far. It's quite a breath of fresh air, honestly.

And it's popular! So maybe there is hope for fantasy after all.

Which means... I need to up my game.

Doubling Down on Quality

I find myself, once again, at a point of asking what I want from my own work.

I would really love to actually make a living at writing and selling fiction, but no matter how good I am, it is entirely possible that I will never make more than the cost of a few cups of coffee now and then.

So if I'm never going to make a living at writing and selling fiction, what do I really want from my own work?

I have to go back to my foundational beliefs here. I am writing to add truth, goodness, and beauty to the world. I'm writing because the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, and one way I do that is through writing. I am writing because I can't not write; I've tried before, and it was not pretty.

And if that's the reason I write--and, more specifically, the reason I write fantasy--it doesn't matter whether I make money at it.

What matters is that I publish the best possible product I can publish.

So.... As I get inexorably closer to finishing the new draft of Soultainted, I'm doubling down on plot, character, and setting. I plan to go through this book again with the finest of fine-toothed combs to make sure that everything flows logically and naturally (and that I never accidentally retconned myself).

If that means it takes longer to finish it, then I guess that's what it means.

I will most likely always write character-driven high/epic fantasy with multiple storylines and a battle between good and evil where everyone talks like a late 20th-Century smartass. It will never be "Romantasy," but there will always be romance, because romance and sex and all of that are still part of life, and the human/fae/elvin/miscellaneous races don't continue unless people procreate.

So maybe my books will be like me. Maybe they'll never quite fit in.

Or maybe... When Romantasy fades and readers start looking for old-school fantasy with GenX smartasses for characters, someone will stumble on Ravenmarked and realize that old-school fantasy never died.

It just kept trudging along on its never-ending quest to lighten the world with stories of hope.

See y'all next week.