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The Hardest Genre?

eyez0nme

eyez0nme

New Member
What do you think is the most difficult genre to write?

I'm gonna have to go with humour and horror; for, if one does not do well--it will end up looking like the other.
 
I would have to say Fantasy. Making up characters and their personalities, worlds, etc. and keeping them straight...whew!!!
 
eyez0nme said:
What do you think is the most difficult genre to write?
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Straight fiction. About people.

That's why so many head off into the worlds of fantasy, horror, sci-fi, etc. - they find it too hard to work within the constraints of this world.
 
I think mysteries would be difficult to write. Between researching police work and coming up with a plot that's both logical and full of suspense... doubt I'd be able to write one.
 
I agree with Anamnesis - I think that mysteries would be the hardest to write. Coming up with a great twist while still providing enough clues for people to believe that they could have figured it out themselves given enough time would be difficult I imagine.
 
Stewart said:
Straight fiction. About people.

That's why so many head off into the worlds of fantasy, horror, sci-fi, etc. - they find it too hard to work within the constraints of this world.
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I think you have a point. If you're writing a novel in a contemporary, realistic setting, you have no choice but to create compelling characters otherwise it will be a transparently bad novel. If you're writing genre fiction you can obscure bad characters with a clever plot or original situation. But I think it's harder still to write, say, a sci-fi novel "about people". I think very few people have ever managed to create a fascinating character study in a truly original environment.

Though hardest of all must be historical fiction, just for the sheer amount of research needed to make it feel authentic.
 
Stewart said:
Straight fiction. About people.

That's why so many head off into the worlds of fantasy, horror, sci-fi, etc. - they find it too hard to work within the constraints of this world.
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Hmm... I'm not sure I agree with that.

There are people who hold the opinion that it takes a masterful writer to mask deeply philosophical, social and political issues behind the veil of a fantastical world, and that it takes a deeply thoughtful reader to peel the layers off to discover the meaning of it all.

True, speculative fiction is more prone to rely on gimmicks in telling a story - to draw the attention of a reader to the Force than to character development. Much like there are poor 'straight' fiction, there are also good speculative fiction.

Maybe it isn't the issue of finding it too hard to work within the constraints of this world. Maybe it's a matter of finding the thrill of conveying a message *about the world* in a subtle way.

And maybe *this* is why many head of to the worlds of fantasy, horror, sci-fi, etc. Not all succeed, granted, but enough do, and it's probably as long a list as your list of favourite 'straight' fiction writers.

ds
 
You are correct, Direstraight.

If one was to write straight fiction about people, we'll land straight into the horror genre. Imagine what kind of sick f**king stories would come up, if it was based on real life.

And that's the type of stories I write about. Dahl including. And Jack Ketchum.

Stewie should be proud...
 
Anamnesis said:
I think mysteries would be difficult to write. Between researching police work and coming up with a plot that's both logical and full of suspense... doubt I'd be able to write one.
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I agree!
And also would be hard to come up with an orginal idea that hasn't appeared in other novels. There are so many vast ideas out there already written about, you wouldn't wanna tread on someone else ideas/scenarios etc etc
 
MonkeyCatcher said:
He wrote a few short stories in the horror genre, I think. One that I know of is Lamb to the Slaughter.
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Never read his horror - I'd like to read it. All the stories I've read of his is either eye-opening (i.e. The Hitchhiker), hopeful (i.e. Henry Sugar), hysterical (i.e. My Uncle Oswald) or simple childish fun (i.e. Charlie and the Choc Factory, which the Depp movie butchered, btw).

But he has a leanings to the macabre, I suppose, in his more adult stories... especially his short stories.

ds
 
eyez0nme said:
My Uncle Oswald is da bomb!! I love it! I was howling; he use of words, and the way he applies them, is amazing--writes better than Stephen King.
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Yeah, I loved My Uncle Oswald. I remember being pleasantly surprised - I hadn't expected anything when I started reading it (I was much younger), but I certainly hadn't expected to read something quite so outrageous. :)

Anyway, you might want to check out this thread on My Uncle Oswald... you may enjoy it. :)

ds
 
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