IWSG: Characteristics Of Your Favorite Genre

It’s that time again to gather together as writers and blog about our writing insecurities. The following post was written for the Insecure Writer's Support Group monthly blogging event created by author Alex J Cavanaugh.

Alex's awesome co-hosts for this month include: Tonja Drecker, Victoria Marie Lees, Mary Aalgaard, and Sandra Cox! Be sure to visit them. The IWSG website holds many helpful topics and a list of other bloggers participating. The optional question: What do you consider the best characteristics of your favorite genre?

First, I needed to ask myself, do I have a favorite genre to read, to write? Let’s step back in history (or you may skim to the bottom where I answer the question).

• Elementary – Laura Ingalls Wilder books (That’s all I remember.) 
• Junior High – Did I even read books for fun? 
• High School – I read a lot! When our country store hosted a traveling library, I read mythology all that summer. Loved it. I started reading everything I could get my hands on when my English teachers required reading and book reports. I read the classics (i.e., Steinbeck, Austin, Bronte, Fitzgerald). I read Potok and current novels of that era. 
• In my twenties: Short stories published in magazines and lots of mainstream romance novels along with historical romance. I started writing short stories. 
• My thirties: Joined Book of the Month Clubs (the ones where you purchased books each month), read mysteries and anything that sounded interesting. 

From that point on, I read anything: mysteries, sci fi, apocalyptic, fantasy, literary and everything else. 

Except, I don’t read horror or books with violence, overloaded sex scenes or with a magnitude of cursing. No, I’m not a prude, well maybe a little. For me, those things interfere with the story. Also, I’m not so much into reading romance. Now, you might think that someone as awesome and loving as I am would like a good solid romance. Well, hold your ever loving horses! I do enjoy reading a good love story, but it needs to be woven into another storyline. 

My most favorite genres to read AND write are mystery, psychological thrillers and literary.

Finally my answer. The best characteristic of a psycho thriller is that it plays with my mind and my healthy imagination and usually scares the heebie geebies out of me. I prefer implied murder over explained details, but sometimes people need killing... for the story, that is. Only for the story. 

A good mystery can keep pulling you in and surprise you in the end, all the while you're guessing around every turn who did it.

The best thing about literary fiction is that it's mostly character driven. People can be both good and bad all in one day and that makes interesting story. My short story, The Man Next Door, shows the main character's struggle to be right in a world that's forgotten him. It also speaks to a social issue (kind of). 

What do you like best about the genre you read or write? 

T.