I may not have specified which genre of fiction I write yet on this blog. I write epic fantasy. But why? What draws me to that genre first and foremost? Why not historical fiction or romance?
Well, the answer is quite simple. I write what I read. My Dad once told me of an author (I do not know the name otherwise I would give credit) who said that authors write what they read. And in my years of reading and not as many years of writing experience, I’ve found this to be true.
If you have looked at my author page on this site you will have seen that my favorite books are Fantasy/Sci-Fi. I am a huge Tolkien fan and have always loved the books (the films are great too, but you cannot compare the two).
Recently, I discovered the author Brandon Sanderson. He has been an incredibly inspiring author to me in these past weeks. He interacts with his fans so well. And while I have yet to dive into his books, I have the first book in the Mistborn series lined up and ready to go.
So why do these things matter?
Well, I really enjoy reading epic fantasy. And what have I begun writing? Epic Fantasy. I also think another thing we can learn from that is that we as authors write what we know. I am very familiar with the set up of epic fantasy because I’ve read so much of it. This makes it easier for me to write because I am more familiar with it.
Another good point to learn from this is that we as authors need to stay well-read to write better. If we as authors want to incorporate different styles and genres of writing into our books, we need to be familiar with other genres, such as historical fiction, general fiction, mystery, etc. This will help keep our books interesting because we are familiar with various tools of writing.
Now I am not saying to go pick the very first book you see off the shelf and read it. Bookstores will try to sell you what’s popular, but that doesn’t mean it’s a well-crafted, well-written story. It means they want to sell more copies. So I generally check reviews from other sites such as Goodreads or Amazon to see what the general consensus on the book is (the exception to this is if I’ve read the author before). I also want to check and see if other authors have said about it if they’ve said anything yet.
I write Epic Fantasy because I enjoy writing it. It’s also the genre of reading that I’ve put the most time and energy into reading and the genre I most enjoy reading. Now, this doesn’t mean that I need to only read Epic Fantasy to write well. I need to be constantly expanding my horizons in my reading. In fact, my goal for 2020 is to read and write more, and I have quite a few books lined up, and I hope to find many more.
From my pen to your paper, may our swords never clash.
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Titus Watson 