Read Outside the Box by Nola Passmore

Author:      I’ve just written a groundbreaking novel that’s bound to be a bestseller.

Publisher:  What’s so innovative about it?

Author:      There’s this teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire.

Publisher:  Um … it’s been done before.  You’ve heard of the Twilight series?

Author:      Is that a TV show?

Publisher:  It’s a series of young-adult novels that’s sold millions.

Author:      I don’t read much fiction.  Most of it's not to my taste.  But my novel is different.

Publisher:  How do you know it’s different if you’re not reading in the area?

Author:      Just take a look and you’ll see what I mean.  

                  (Author shoves manuscript under publisher’s nose).

Publisher:  Oh it’s an historical novel?

Author:      No, contemporary.

Publisher:  Then why does the teenage girl sound like someone out of an Austen novel?

Author:      I like Pride and Prejudice and I thought I’d do something similar.

Publisher:  With vampires?

I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that if you’re a writer, you ARE reading in your genre.  If you’re not, you may face the pitfalls of our hapless wannabe-novelist. 

Now I’m going to go out on a bigger limb and suggest that you should also be reading OUTSIDE your genre.  If you have eclectic tastes in literature, that won’t be a problem for you.  However, a lot of us tend to stick within the confines of our preferred style.  We only read murder mysteries or romances or Christian biographies or Amish steampunk.  It’s comfortable in our little genre box.  We know what to expect.  We don’t have to do any unwelcome stretching.  We don’t get lumbered with a book we’re not going to enjoy.  Why try the baklava when you can eat the lamington?

But what if you peeked out of your genre box and sampled a different taste?  There are at least three benefits.

It exposes you to other possibilities.  You may find another genre or sub-genre that you enjoy reading.  You may even try writing in that genre and discover you’re good at it.  I spent eight years struggling with watercolours before stepping out and doing an acrylics workshop.  I had instant success and have even sold one of my paintings.  If I’d never looked beyond by watercolour palette, I wouldn’t have discovered that I’m better suited to acrylics and mixed media.  You could make a similar discovery with your writing.

It helps you to engage with a broader readership and learn what sells.  Do you have a Christian message that you want to get out to a mainstream audience?  How are you going to do that if you don’t know what themes and styles are popular in mainstream literature?  Do you want to write a fantasy novel with universal themes?  How are you going to do that if you’ve never read a novel set in a different kind of world than your own? A popular catchphrase at the moment is ‘join the conversation’.  If you read outside your genre, you’ll be able to participate in more of those conversations. 

It can help improve your writing in your preferred genre.  Here are some of the strengths of different genres that we can apply to our own manuscripts.

• Suspense/thriller – hooks the reader by getting straight into the action; has good pacing that keeps the story moving; ends each chapter with a page-turning sentence or phrase.
• Romance – develops characters we care about; delves into relationships and family issues; offers hope.
• Science fiction/fantasy – stretches the imagination and shows what’s possible; builds a world that supports and enhances the story.
• Literary fiction – uses beautiful language; adds layers to the plot through nuance; explores deeper themes; provokes thought.
• Historical fiction – uses background research to enhance a story; shows how to use setting to create the story world; explores the past through the eyes of the present; experiments with alternative interpretations of history.
• Memoir – shows how to take the main character on a journey; connects with the reader emotionally; explores universal themes.
• Creative non-fiction – shows how to make facts entertaining and accessible.
• Poetry – reduces ideas to their essence; expertly uses language and imagery for maximum impact; allows for expression and exploration of different forms.
• Humour – relieves stress and entertains; provides lighter moments for more serious works; can be used to critique and question systems or ideologies (e.g. through satire).
• Children’s literature – stretches the imagination; shows how visual and textual material work together; helps us to get in touch with our own inner child; explains key concepts simply; explores values.

This list is certainly not exhaustive and many of the strengths cross over into different genres.  Can you think of others?

Set a Goal

You’re more likely to read outside of your genre if you have a specific goal.  You might identity a couple of genres or sub-genres that you would like to try and then set yourself a goal to read a certain number of books in each.  Although you might want to start with something close to your literary home, I’d encourage you to aim a little broader than that – fiction, non-fiction and poetry; contemporary and historical; realist and speculative; Christian and mainstream; bestsellers and award winners; books for adults, young adults and children.

There are also many established reading lists you can use.  For the last two years, I’ve participated in the Popsugar Reading Challenge in which you read books from different categories.  Some are specific (e.g. an espionage thriller), but most of the categories are quite broad (e.g. a book with a red spine), so you have a lot of scope in your selections. I’m part of a Facebook group that discusses books we’re reading and it’s been a great way to learn about different genres and styles. I’ve come across a few duds, but I’ve also discovered many gems I wouldn’t have read otherwise.  If you’d like to try this year’s challenge, you can find the 2017 list here.

Set Boundaries

While it’s good to read widely, it’s also wise to determine the types of books that you’re not going to include.  I don’t read erotica, but I wouldn’t necessarily rule out a book with one or two sex scenes.  It depends how they’re done and their importance to the story.  I don’t read grisly horror or books with strong occult or paranormal themes because I know they affect me negatively.  However, I’m not averse to the odd ghost, werewolf or magical twist. The list will be different for everyone, but you should still be left with dozens of genres and sub-genres that you can happily explore.

Do you read outside your genre?  Has it helped in your writing?  What pearls have you discovered?  I’ll be back later to respond to your comments, but right now I have to check out steampunk titles on Goodreads.  Will I choose Beauty and the Clockwork Beast or stick with a classic like H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine?  Perhaps I’ll read them both.

Nola Passmore is a freelance writer who has had more than 140 short pieces published, including devotionals, true stories, magazine articles, academic papers, poetry and short fiction.  She loves sharing what God has done in her life and encouraging others to do the same.  She and her husband Tim have their own freelance writing and editing business called The Write Flourish.  You can find her writing tips blog at their website:  http://www.thewriteflourish.com.au  

Through the Ages

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I love historical novels ... and movies ... and anything else besides. So what is it that I, and many others like me, find so attractive about the old days?

I could say it's the costumes - from doublets and wimples of medieval times to crinolines and bustles in the 1800s - they alone are enough to hook me in.

Or perhaps it's the language when flying one's colours meant nothing to do with flags, and pinchpenny and doddypoll were serious insults.

It could be the simplicity of living (not saying I would survive happily without the mod-cons of computers and air-conditioning), where the cow had to be milked and the butter had to be churned, but no-one had to jump in their car and sit in peak hour traffice just to get to their workplace for the day. Or the fact that marriage meant marriage - in the Biblical sense, because there was a Scripture reference next to the dictionary meaning of the word in those days. And evolution hadn't been invented yet, so most people had a belief in creation and God.

But then again, maybe it is just the absolutely amazing things men and women accomplished without the tools we now have, and often gave God the credit for it. Some of our own explorers, for instance, survived miraculously in an impossible desert environment, just to open up the land to further exploration and settlement.

Some days I simply stand in awe of our heritage, and writing about it is like entering a whole other world. Now that I've surfaced to tell you all this, I'm getting back in my time machine and heading back to 1855. Lucky me!

Amanda Deed resides in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne where she fills her time with work, raising a family, church activities and writing historical romance novels. Her new novel, Ellenvale Gold was released at the beginning of November, 2011. For more information, see:
http://www.amandadeed.com.au/
http://amanderings.wordpress.com/

Writing Faction

I've heard it argued that trying to combine true facts of history with fiction doesn't work. Well I'm doing it anyway and loving it! My writing began with quite a few years of researching my family history and discovering that my ancestors in Australia go back to the First Fleet. I learned so much about my family, my roots, and the beginnings of our nation of Australia - facts I didn't take in at school and wasn't that interested in. However, the stories contained in our history are not only interesting but inspiring and challenging. They are stories I believe we need to be reminded of. And so it was in early 2000 I decided to begin to write some of these stories into historical fiction; combining all that I learned from my family research and historical research with my understanding of human nature and relationships, to produce stories about people's struggle to survive hardship, loss and change, their determination to overcome, start again, forgive, love, find faith and make something worthwhile of their lives. 

I now have five of these stories on my shelves in print, with a sixth to arrive soon. I have had many people tell me that they have been inspired, they have learned about our Australian history, and they have been challenged to grow in their own lives. That alone makes writing worthwhile.

Recently I was holidaying in England and stayed a couple of nights in Lincoln, where two of my ancestors were charged with theft in the 1770s and sentenced to be transported to Australia on the First Fleet. There I was able to walk the cobbled streets of the old part of Lincoln where William and Mary would have roamed, attempting to survive by picking pockets. I went through the old goal where they were held before they were transported. I met a woman in the bookshop there who is part of a group of local historians who was thrilled to take a copy of my book 'Mary's Guardian', and read about two of the convicts who were expelled from her hometown so long ago and who found a new life on the other side of the world. I felt that in some small way I had taken William and Mary home where their story could show that out of terrible situations sometimes comes wonderful blessings.

This experience reminded me of the power of the written word. I'd started with some barely legible handwritten documents about transported convicts in 1788, and ended with a story of survival, faith and redemption that can now be read or downloaded on a Kindle anywhere in the world.

But the power of the written word is not new, is it? This journey for me has helped me appreciate once more the power of God's word. Thousands of years ago, men inspired by God began to write down the stories of their people and what God was doing in their lives. These stories were brought together in what we know as the scriptures so that the central message of God to the world can be seen through these stories and passed down from generation to generation. We should never ceased to be amazed at this power of the written word! It's lifechanging! In a time now when the written word can be transported around the world in seconds and can be used for such evil manipulation, corruption and abuse, I'm so grateful that as Christian writers we can still use the power of words for good, for inspiration, for challenge, and to bring glory to God. I want to encourage all of you who write to show God's love and power. Let's not give up doing this good work! We can trust that God's spirit will use it for His purposes in the lives of peope He loves. What a blessing!