On Finding Your Genre as a Writer

So, why do you write what you write? Is that the simplest hardest question in all of the writing world? 
Many writers work in multiple genres, of course, but they almost always have a foundation genre, the one they are known for, the one they totally own. And as we all know, one of the major obstacles (okay, THE major obstacle?) of going from wanting to write to actually writing is figuring out just what in the world we're going to write about. 

For me personally, it happened somewhere in the year after college, when I was working in a bookstore. 
I had been a writer since the first grade, and by the final semester of earning my BFA (in sculpture, of course) I had decided that I was going to start writing again, and taking it seriously. But what to write? 
Well, spending 50 hours a week surrounded by books is a very good way to go, if you're a little shaky on what exactly you want to write. 
That's where I found Middle Grade. Ah, my people! 
I love reading every genre, from memoirs to cozy mysteries to high fantasy to fussy literature, but when it came to writing, there was something about the middle grade category that seemed so freeing, and open, and inspiring. I thought of all the books I loved to read when I loved to read the most - as a kid. Suddenly, I had all the ideas in the world, and all the energy to work on them, hour after hour, through the many years that would follow, while I learned what an agent was, and how submitting to publishers worked, and how fantastic and supportive the kid lit community can be even across the country or the world, because they told me all these things, and read my earliest, cruddiest work. 

So, when did you find your genre? Did you always know what you wanted to write? Are you still looking?  





Film Count 2015 : 61 
Watched this week:
(*not first viewing)

Listen Up Phillip
Magic in the Moonlight
Twilight
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2*
Top Gun*
Ferris Bueller's Day Off*
Somewhere*
Marie Antoinette*


Things that are technically TV shows even though I only watch them streaming on the computer: 15
New this week:

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Books of 2015 : 13
New this week:

The Map to Everywhere
Wonder at the Edge of the World 

It's Paperwork Season!

So, today started off with finishing and filing taxes (oh, the joy!) which somehow turned into Office Day here at the Cate household. Looking through stacks of (un-filed) paperwork and sorting a bunch of nonsense that had accumulated in the I'm Sure We'll Need This drawer turned into making phone calls and getting some hustling done. Turns out that calling the car insurance agent, the student loan provider, and the village hall is way more fun when you pretend you're in a roadshow production of Glengarry Glen Ross, instead of just your kitchen. And getting some of your bills lowered because you are a responsible adult with an aging car and a depreciating house value (still more than we paid, so score. I realize how rare that is these days) makes one feel like quite the grown up. 
And now tomorrow is free for writing. 



Film Count 2015 : 39
Watched this week:
(*not first viewing)

The Imitation Game
Boyhood
Spongebob - Sponge Out of Water
Horns
Ragnarok
Chef* 
Our Idiot Brother*
The Fifth Element*
Gone Girl


Things that are technically TV shows even though I only watch them streaming on the computer: 10
New this week:

The Blacklist

Books of 2015 : 9
New this week:

Trigger Warning
The Real Boy


Things I'm Eagerly Awaiting in 2015 this week:

The Babadook, which is out on video finally, I believe. Whiplash, just out as well, and the 4th season of Louie.