Rhemalogy

Part 1

Finding the right subjects or genre is entirely dependent upon your perspective as to what you see through the lens of your mind. Whether in real life experiences or a fantasy world you’ve been creating for years.

“Words are a lens to focus one’s mind.” — Ayn Rand

What is a genre? A genre is a specific type of music, film, or writing. There are five major genres of literature. Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Play and Folk Tale. When you are browsing in a book store, you will find books are usually arranged by genre.

A subgenre is a category or grouping of similar storytelling that share certain specific stylistic elements. Could be further defined as a sub-category within a particular genre or category.

Picking a genre first helps establishes the central question and helps in the selection of conflicts that drive your story. If you have mixed genres it helps with precedence. Selecting a genre also helps with your pitch selection as well as your audience and marketing strategies.

One thing I found that helped me…

My determination from the onset was of the non-fictional Christian genre. That is who I am—this is my element. However, there are other partial manuscripts lying around that could be real life stories told from a fictional perspective or extreme embellishment. One thing I found that helped me was reading books in that particular genre. As you read so many of a specific genre you will begin understanding the concept of how it is developed.

You may even want to start out by writing essays or short stories. That is what I used to do in college.  I used to have nightmares about those four and five hundred word essays. But they really helped because anything I write now is well over those word counts.

You may have experiences in many facets of life. However, you have to choose the one that is your heartbeat. That heartbeat is where you will find clarity in a river flowing from a basin of ideas. Which will print endless inspirations onto the camera film of your thoughts?

Observing life is another way of discovering…

My first book, Time Out: Poetic Reflections was a book of Spiritual poems I pulled from a collection of writings over fifteen years old. To say it was my best work is opened to opinion as is all writing. However, those poems came from my heartbeat in a time when observing life was the first indicator writing would always be somewhere in the background of my reality.

Observing life is another way of discovering your genre. You never know what might catch your eye that lends you an idea. There are so many ways to develop those moments. You can exploit those moments or expand upon them.  For example: You see a thousand dollar money wrapper blowing in the wind. You ask yourself where it came from.  Did someone lose it in a hurry and if so why?  You come up with answers from your imagination and write them down. It could be a suspense or perhaps even a murder. There lies the basis for your genre.

I like collecting art. Boy I could really come up with some stories about that artwork. The stories could be fantasy, science fiction, mystery or adventure. We may be looking through the same lens but have a different concept. What do you see?

Finally, there is always family. You could chronicle your family’s ancestry in a creative way hooking the reader. Or you could write about a family member who did something special in their life. Again, it is all from your perspective.

Next week stay tuned for the conclusion. Until then…

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