Genres That Don't Exist

Sometimes I fear my imagination might run out. Throughout my life it has been my experience that good things tend to run out while bad things seem to exist in amazing reserves. Imagination is a good thing.

Part of the problem, admittedly, is the ubiquity of work. Trudging back and forth to the office each day drains a writer of energy. At least this writer. When I’m in the midst of a big project (as one of the six novels I’ve finished) I’m full of ideas, ready to write constantly. When I finish, I can go months groping about for an idea that works. Meanwhile I work.

I was glad to read Tod Davies’ The Lizard Princess because it takes place in a fantasy land of ideas. Although I’ve termed some of my stories fantasies, the fact is I don’t really write in this genre. I think “magical realism” might be the more appropriate way to describe my work, or “fabulism.” Genres can be constraining.

The Lizard Princess makes no apologies for being fantasy. The usual tropes of princesses, dragons, encounters with mythical beasts, evil queens—it’s all there. And, of course, a voyage of transformation. We can learn a lot from fantasy.

Writing, it seems to me, is a fantasy. In a surfeit of joie de vivre I recently sent several stories out for publication. The rejections have been trickling in, and I wonder if publishing itself might be a fantasy.

I talked with a much younger co-worker recently. She writes fiction as well, but doesn’t try to publish. I’ve been writing fiction since at least 1976, but I grew up in a town where nobody really knew a thing about publishing. In consequence, I learned to write in genres that don’t exist.

Devoting full time to writing seems like a dream. Living from novel to novel is, perhaps, a fantasy. Still, a little encouragement goes a long way. If a place existed that eschewed genre perhaps I would stand a chance.

Like most writers, I believe in fantasy. If I could only classify myself, I might stand a chance of getting noticed. The price is only giving up how I taught myself to write.

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Patterns

There’s a pattern I’m noticing. For fiction publishers. Even if you aim low you’ll find it a struggle. Part of the reason is the pattern. Lots of websites list publishers. The smaller, hungrier presses either eventually close or get to a place where they require an agent to get in. That’s the kiss of death. Although my stories have won prizes, and been nominated for prizes, I can’t get an agent interested. I’ve queried well over a hundred, so the agent route is one of diminishing returns. This too is a pattern. Back to the smaller presses. I check many lists. What I write, you see, is highly idiosyncratic. It’s literary but it’s weird. Publishers don’t know what to do with it. If a smaller press published stuff like this, I’d find it. The pattern includes writers who never get discovered. Ironically, a number of editors of fiction literary magazines (mostly online) tell me they enjoy my wor...

Creative Righting

Rejection of my writing is a rejection of my imaginative world. That’s why I was cheered by the acceptance of one of my stories this week. That makes number 31. I’ve been working on a lot of fiction lately, even as nonfiction book number 6 is going to press. The ideas are still there, and bizarre as ever, but publishing venues just aren’t welcoming. The other day I had lunch with a professor whose wife is also a professor. She just had her first novel published, and so he pointed me to her indie publisher. I went to their website to learn that they’re closed to submissions. I have to admit that my latest accepted story, “Creative Writing Club,” was probably given the green light because I know the editor. That seems like a pretty dicey way to get any notice, doesn’t it? You have to know the right people even in the low circulation world. My fiction is difficult to classify. It’s got speculative elements to it. ...

Maybe Okay

A couple pieces of encouraging news, perhaps, dear struggling writers. I had a couple short stories accepted for publication in recent weeks. As a fellow writer recently said, “You've got to keep trying. Somebody will like what you wrote.” That’s a bit of sunshine. And it’s likely true. But the stories: “The Crossing,” about two men in a boat trying to cross the Atlantic, was accepted by JayHenge Publishing. JayHenge is a small, but paying publisher. I was flattered when they wanted it for their Masque & Maelström: The Reluctant Exhumation of Edgar Allan Poe anthology. Being associated with Poe in any way feels good. The second story, “St. Spiders’ Day,” had been brewing in my mind for years—yes, this is a long game! A friend pointed me to The Creepy podcast. Since the story hadn’t been written, I followed their guidelines of what they wanted. It worked. I recently heard a successful wri...

K. Marvin Bruce

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