Scratching the Paint: My Hidden Genre

For a long time, I struggled with my current WIP's genre. I remember back in December, I did a few posts with this question. I couldn't quite pinpoint it. Fantasy? Science Fiction? Steampunk? It seemed to me, White Echoes had elements of all.

The more I planned it, the closer to science fiction it got. And I fought this.

I was a fantasy writer, and yet my leading project was a science fiction? No, I thought. Surely the fact it was set in an alternate world and had nothing to do with space, aliens or robots disqualified it. I couldn't perceive myself as a sci-fi writer. It didn't work.

Fast-forward to the recent weeks. My rewrite is about 66% complete. There was a lot of talk about science fiction, and where it was headed or why it was awesome. Some of it here, with David's guest post, and more on the Bransforums, where Watcher sprang a thread to discuss the guestpost further. Combined with the increasing amount of sciency topics on this blog, I started to rethink how I saw myself as a writer.

I love fantasy. I have many fantasy novels waiting for me to give them attention (and clamouring for it). I remain a high fantasy writer.

But I'm a science-fiction writer, too. And today, I'm proud of it.

I love science. It is a part of my daily life, and for all its weirdness and potential creepiness, it is freaking awesome. Scientifics in the fundamental research fields are often gifted with a great imaginations. They constantly come up with theories to explain their results and ways to test these further. Most are hardworking, honest and passionate.

I'm proud to be a part this group, just as I am proud to examine the potential consequences of our acts and the dangers of abusing science. I am proud to take a closer look at how we, as humans, relate to science, to microscopic cells, to life itself and the ways we play with it.

I realised this past weekend that the reason I was so confused about White Echoes' genre was simple: I did not want to admit the obvious. It was a science fiction, but I brought my fantasy manners over to it, attempting to cover the truth with another colour of paint.

Rewrites are scratching the paint, and revealing a bright new novel, more powerful than it could've been sitting across genre, aimlessly searching its themes and purpose.

I am a fantasy and science fiction writer. I love both genres equally. It's time I accept this fully, and revel in it  (because revelling in stuff is fun).

Out of curiosity, what's your genre? Did you ever change? Doubted you wrote in the right genre?

It's A Science Fiction!

You may remember when, towards the end of October, I freaked out about White Echoes' genre. In short, I had a hard time telling if it belonged in science fiction, fantasy or steampunk. I may have been in denial about the truth.

White Echoes is a science fiction novel.

It's a relief to know the technical, because I have a better idea of the conventions to keep an eye on and of what to pitch it as to agents.It's useful to know your genre.

In this case, though, it still freaks me out. I love this book. I love its story, its characters, its (now in-development) setting. But I'm a fantasy writer. It does not seem wise to try and publish a science fiction novel as my first book.

I guess what I am saying is that I'm glad I found what genre this book belongs to, though it comes with some side consequences. I'm willing to accept White Echoes is one of those stories you love, work on, show friends and family, even if it might not be meant for publication.

Or maybe it is. I try not to stress out about those things yet. Learning the craft comes first, and I have some distance to go still!

A Little Genre Problem

I like genres. I like to know in which genre my book is, or in which genre the book I'll read is. It gives me something familiar to work with, some kind of common ground I can refer to. It's reassuring.

Hence why being unable to properly categorize White Echoes freaks me out a bit. This story draws from three different genres while not fully being in either of them. When I'm asked, I answer "steampunk-ish", and indeed when I spoke about this novel, Susan commented it "sounded steampunk". It does! My problem is that I am still uncomfortable defining it as steampunk.

Perhaps it's because I don't know the genre well (yes, I know, writing in a genre you don't know! Tsk!) I intend to get more familiar as I approach revisions, but for the moment, I am gearing up for NaNoWriMo. And until the end of November, I will have a novel that is:

Steampunk because of the airships, the old-style guns, but without anything victorian to go along with it.
Fantasy without the magic, but there's a certain feel to the story that belongs to that genre, in good part because I write a lot of fantasy (*cough* always fantasy *cough*)
Science-fiction because of a few more advanced technologies, and 'science' explaining some of the out-of-the-ordinary elements.

My only hope is that as I write the novel, everything will become clearer. Am I alone with this problem? Have any of you written a crossgenre novel before?