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Will Sachiksy

Topic: Shifting Style/Genre

I'm working on a short story now, and I just realized after writing a few paragraphs that it needs to be written more in the fairy-tale style rather than as a straight story.

Have you ever starting working on something and then realized that the work should be in a different format, genre, point-of-view, etc.?

#1 Jun 20th 2007, 8:29pm

Ivory Taint

Always. I rarely, if ever, know what genre I'm writing as I'm writing it. I usually decide that at the end. It's difficult for me to do so because my stories usually contain crazy elements that don't relate to each other in the least bit.

I'm just not too good with stories in general. It's because I'm kind of out-of-practice. I used to write A LOT more stories than I do now. I'm better at poetry.

#2 Jul 03rd 2007, 11:04pm

Fractured Illusion

It is not much the genre I have problems with, but the style. I always fuss over the style, as I could care less of the genre ("the story is what it is", is how I think).

And with style, I am concerened if what I am trying to say matches the mood I am trying to convey. In "Of a World Without Wonder" I couldn't really write in a simplistic way, as it would not add that atmosphere I wanted. The language had to be adjusted.

There is always that for me no matter what story I do, I always have that problem with style.

Anyone got any suggestions of certain styles to use and not use? Could be helpful!

#3 Jul 14th 2007, 3:36pm

Will Sachiksy

I've seen a few fantasy writers here try to write in early Modern English (i.e. the age of "thee" and "wherefore art thou") and mostly make fools of themselves. Avoid this style if possible; many readers do not understand the vocabulary of the time period, and only the most vigilant writers in this style can avoid frequent syntax errors. If you feel your story must be written in this style, do your research and make sure the style does not interfer with the understanding of the story. (Sorry. Pet peeve of mine.)

Also for fantasy (and science fiction): Describe your basic fantastical or futuristic elements in a mundane way. In this way, the descriptions will help suspend the readers' disbeliefs, and you will have save your set of shiny words for use on the more important elements of the story.

Anything others you want to ask about?

#4 Jul 14th 2007, 7:35pm

Fractured Illusion

I completely agree with the early modern English. Many people (including myself) don't really know enough about it to start writing in such a way. They can speak differently if the author can manage it, that should really be the main rule (like yesterday, I read a sci-fi story that used accents rather well).

Anything else... Hmm... Horror? That genre is awkward for me. And suspense as well. Key recommendations?

#5 Jul 15th 2007, 2:00am

Will Sachiksy

Anything else... Hmm... Horror? That genre is awkward for me. And suspense as well. Key recommendations?

I don't really know how to write in either of those genres well, either, but I've heard that you should vary your sentence length and punctuation to set pacing. So, for these genres in particular, maybe you could shorten your sentences to accelerate a tense moment.

#6 Jul 18th 2007, 5:05pm

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