When finally you discover your genre--or I'm a slow learner

This is going to be one of those posts that I write more for myself than the world. You see, I've been self-publishing for over a year and a half. My first book, The Bend, had a slow start but now sells more than any others I've written.

 I joined this group that pushed to write faster and find a selling genre. The theory sounded great so I released a women's fiction, and then another suspense and then a romance.

What I've learned?

I really can't write romance or women's fiction the way I want to write them. I love twists and turns and short sentences and lots of what ifs. I love weird, I love taking that extra step.

I wrote my books and sent them out there and honestly, I'm not sure whether or not they will ever do as well as The Bend. When I wrote The Bend, I had this crazy idea about a town and a girl. I knew I had to give her something special, so I did--her gift to see death before it happens. It seemed to work. Another story has been spinning around in my head for years but instead of writing it, I veered off and took the easy route, writing and releasing stories that would get out there faster.

Not smart.

I've actually stripped my joy of writing, and when that happens, writing for money means nothing. I would rather not write.

I think sometimes I'm a slow learner and get caught up in pushing myself not always in the right direction.

Pressing the pause button today.

I can actually breathe again.

So this post is a letter to myself to remind me never to lose sight at what you love to do. If you love something, no matter what happens with it, you are going to be okay.

I am a suspense writer. (I'll tell myself that over and over until I get it.)
That's what I'm going to write .
I hope you'll let me prove that in my next book.

Choosing Your Story - Part One

Before I start to write a story for Chicken Soup, I go to their site and skim through the possible book titles. Some I can usually rule out immediately. Twins, no … special needs children, no…but then I might come to a few that might work. High School—yup, that’s me. Beaches—me again.

Here’s where the next step begins. Once I pick a book title that I think I might have a story for—I focus on the story itself. So I went to high school—but what was so special about it? What made my days roaming the halls of Sayre High School any different than someone else who went there?

Have you sat down ever and read some Chicken Soup stories? Don’t try writing one until you have. There are a few common threads that run through them. The first thread is what happens when you read one of them. The stories usually touch a nerve—an emotion—a tear duct.

When I first mull over story ideas in my mind—I stop at the one that most makes me feel—something. That’s step one in writing a story for Chicken Soup (in my opinion). I try to pull up a memory that makes me cry, sigh or feel something deeper than a passing comment to a friend might. I try to remember a moment in my life that I would share with my best friend over a cup of hot cocoa after a successful day of shopping.

But this is only the wind-up.

You can’t just write an emotionally packed story—it must relate to more people than just yourself. It has to have a general universal appeal.

Tomorrow, I’ll share more on this aspect as well as how to be sure you create what I call the AHHA factor as well.