First off, I apologize for not posting anything last week nor mentioning anything about it till now. I honestly, didn't have anything I wished to discuss last week. As a writer, it is important for me to feel a passionate energy in what I write or discuss. Now, granted there's a lot like discrimination found in the Harry Potter books, and I could even talk about the themes of love and death found within the text. I could talk about the theme of balance in Star Wars, but I wasn't feeling the energy about diving into these discussions at the time. If I don't have the passionate energy needed, then the writing will not be at its peak, my argument will be weak, lacking proper evidence, and, in the end, it won't be fair to any of my readers because you deserve strong, well-written discussion topics.
So, now that is out of the way, I want to talk about something that has been on my mind since I decided to forgo a post last week. I had been wrestling with this quire a lot recently, and I also touched on this in my Youtube vlog.
Now, normally I would like to avoid discussing things too close to my writing here because I want to keep these two things separate, but trending genres seems to be applying to both sides of the board - the readers and the writers. I discussed more in-depth on the writer's side, but I would I will expand on this and add more the reader's side in.
In the process of querying, one of the common points writers must be mindful of are topics trending in the market. This doesn't mean we need to write what is trending because the trend can change by the time a writer gets their book published, and even what they write could change the trend. In other words, become the new trendsetter.
These are current struggles, I am facing, but I am doing my best to be unfazed by the trending market. However, as a reader, it is becoming difficult for me to find books that I genuinely enjoy and look forward to reading the sequel. Okay, I'm not saying I don't enjoy many of the books I read, but I haven't enjoyed them as much as I've enjoyed Harry Potter or the Green Rider series or something along those lines.
I suppose, I'm someone who enjoys the classic fantasy stories like Lord of the Rings and the stories I grew up in the late 90s and early 00s. That was the trend during the time. Searching the Hogwarts castle for clues with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, or stepping into the wardrobe into Narnia with the Pevensie children, or flying on a dragon's back with Eragon.
Then those days ended with vampires falling in love with humans, yes I'm looking at you Twilight. Then shortly after teenage apocalyptic novels like Hunger Games, Divergent, and the Maze Runner took center stage saturating the market with teenage game stories taking place in a future world. I've read the Hunger Game novels, and while I found them jarring and at times annoying, I grew to respect them. Now, I didn't read the Divergent novels, but I've seen the films. While they're different in the themes and morals, they are similar in regards to the apocalyptic world being segregated into groups. Regardless, the vibe is still beating in similar beats. Even one of the recent stories I read, Caravel felt similar with the whole game feel, but it also uniquely did something different. It also belongs in the current trending market.
Today's trend is romantasy. Stories the blend both the fantasy genre and the romance genre. One of the most popular ones is A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. You can add Outlander, A Discovery of Witches, and Fourth Wing into this new trending genre. I did watch the A Discovery of Witches show on Netflix. It was intriguing and engaging, and the romance felt more or less realistic, if not a tad predictable. Keyword "tad", meaning not by a lot. The happily every after is there along with a few other elements I will not mention.
I, personally, am not a huge fan of romance. The idea they blended the two is making me cringe. As I said in my vlog, I've never enjoyed romance stories because of the constant pining for each other and the obsession they have for one each other. Its like they forget there are other important things out there, too, aside from each other.
My struggle dealing with this new trend has never felt so real till recently due to me querying my own manuscript, which isn't a romantasy, and finding ideal stories for me to read in bed or watch in a TV series format. Some would be nice in a film, too, but it seems those days have come and gone. I love traditional fantasy stories where real-life themes like plutonic love, death, balance, good vs evil, discrimination are placed in a high or epic fantasy adventure or political intrigue. At the same time, the worlds need to be lush, beautiful, and immersive.
While, I do enjoy the classic tropes, I don't mind them changing and twisting to tell a better story, but that doesn't mean they need to be gritty and edgy. I have yet to find a new story to love, aside from some of the Star Wars content that has been coming out in recent years. Changing the old, tired tropes is understandable and is certainly needed, but don't compromise what makes those traditional stories beloved to do so.
This is what I am hoping to change by adding something that pays homage to what is beloved most in the high and epic fantasy stories, but doing something different and giving something new and fresh. My current manuscript is exactly this with magical creatures, sword fights, political intrigue, but heavily dissects a mother-daughter through the themes of class, nature, and finding hope through failure.
So, this is my view on the current trends, and also my own personal tastes and hope for the future. Granted, many of you will not share my personal tastes and opinions on this, but that's what makes the world all so colorful. Please share your thoughts and feelings below, and remember to be polite and respectful the thoughts and opinions of others.
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