This Wasn't The Story I Thought, But It Still Works

Last night I had a realization concerning the Non-SpecFic Contemporary Coming of Age Novella (man, I need a working title) I've been working on.

See, thing is, I've been a little confused about writing something so totally non-specific. I've flirted with mainstream/contemporary fiction in the past, writing fiction that was classified at magical realism and slipstream, including one story that was rejected by sf/f magazines because the fantasy element was too thin and rejected by mainstream magazines because the fantasy element was too strong. I've written and sold creative non-fiction and a couple of pieces of mainstream fiction. I try not to worry too much about the genre classification (or the lack of) of my pieces. Just write it and then worry about how to market the darn thing.

Still the fact that I am 10K into what for all purposes literary, not quite YA piece, and am looking at another 10K to 20K before the story wraps up has me a little worried about the whole "Where will I sell this?" thing.

I still haven't figured that out, by the way, but I have decided on something. This novella is freaking custom made to be turned into a screenplay. It's got all the right elements and looks like it would be the right size for a (on the smaller side) feature script.

I've been meaning to get into scripts, but I've been daunted at the idea, since I'll be teaching myself to work in that format. I think my novella The Horror at Cold Springs would make a rocking script, but the story is pretty complex; perhaps too complex for adapting to a script while I'm learning. But this contemporary coming of age tale is nice and straightforward, has some fun elements, has some good tension, is driven by the dialogue, and will have a pretty ambiguous up-to-the-readers-interpretation ending.

This realization makes me happy. Now I'm off to continue working on the piece.

This Wasn't The Story I Thought, But It Still Works

Last night I had a realization concerning the Non-SpecFic Contemporary Coming of Age Novella (man, I need a working title) I've been working on.

See, thing is, I've been a little confused about writing something so totally non-specific. I've flirted with mainstream/contemporary fiction in the past, writing fiction that was classified at magical realism and slipstream, including one story that was rejected by sf/f magazines because the fantasy element was too thin and rejected by mainstream magazines because the fantasy element was too strong. I've written and sold creative non-fiction and a couple of pieces of mainstream fiction. I try not to worry too much about the genre classification (or the lack of) of my pieces. Just write it and then worry about how to market the darn thing.

Still the fact that I am 10K into what for all purposes is a literary, not quite YA piece, and am looking at another 10K to 20K before the story wraps up has me a little worried about the whole "Where will I sell this?" thing.

I still haven't figured that out, by the way, but I have decided on something. This novella is freaking custom made to be turned into a screenplay. It's got all the right elements and looks like it would be the right size for a (on the smaller side) feature script.

I've been meaning to get into scripts, but I've been daunted at the idea, since I'll be teaching myself to work in that format. I think my novella The Horror at Cold Springs would make a rocking script, but the story is pretty complex; perhaps too complex for adapting to a script while I'm learning. But this contemporary coming of age tale is nice and straightforward, has some fun elements, has some good tension, is driven by the dialogue, and will have a pretty ambiguous up-to-the-readers-interpretation ending.

This realization makes me happy. Now I'm off to continue working on the piece.