Although I like experimenting with different forms, styles, narratives and genres of writing, I sometimes find them intimidating. Fantasy is a genre that I have always enjoyed the most and find myself comfortable writing in. Perhaps fantasy is most aligned with my sense of imagination. Fantasy also gives me a lot of freedom, without needing to uphold realistic standards. The writer can govern the laws placed in the fantasy world.
Choosing to study Professional Creative Writing at University has made me think about my own writing style and what type of writer I want to become. Though I love writing fantasy, I don’t want to be so narrow-minded and unable to adapt to various kinds of writing. It is almost like having tunnel vision; not being able to see the other paths and adventures I can walk down. As well as expanding my writing abilities, I want to still feel excited about writing fantasy. I fear that if I continue walking in my fantasy shoes, I will end up being bored or blistering my feet from these endless whimsical journeys.
Over the years I have had a number of projects on the back-burner; never having the courage to pursue them. With the course I’m on, I’ve decided to dust off one of those projects and delve into unknown territory. The genre I’ve chosen to write in for my first piece of coursework is crime. The new pair of crime shoes will undoubtedly hurt my feet at first. I will need time to adapt and mould the shoes to my writing anatomy.
Crime will be a lot more tense and unfamiliar with the amount of research and rules involved. Yet, I feel that it is a time to learn and grow. I readily enjoy crime television programmes and reading crime fiction. I’m intrigued by the motivation of the perpetrators, the unfolding narrative and the solving of the crime. The psychological aspect is something that fascinates me in particular. I have wanted to tap into the minds of the perpetrator, detectives and victims, to test the bounds of human thought and action.
Nevertheless, realism is restrictive to a large extent. It is daunting as some may critique my work for not being of this world or logical. My lectures have helped me overcome this fear as I have understood genres can be seamless. Crime narratives can have characteristics of other genres, so I will keep this thought in mind when venturing further into my crime endeavours.
Sophie Creates 