Friday, January 17, 2014

No One Expects Me To Write Mystery

And I kind of love it.

A few semesters ago, I was getting to know two writers from my workshop and we started talking about whether we thought someone in our workshop would write the kind of story we thought they would. At the time, it had been halfway through the semester, so we had read a piece from every person and therefore knew what kind of fiction they wrote. 

Of course, writers don't always stick to one genre. My two novels are very different -- one alternative history murder mystery, the other YA fantasy. But based on what we had read in class and based on the person's personality, age, etc., we talked about if we had expected them to write in that particular genre or subject. 

We had guessed correctly on most people, but not all. Fantasy for this girl? Yes. Family drama for this man? Yes. Magical realism for this woman? Yes. Literary prose for this man? Nope. 

Curious about what they would say about me writing a murder mystery on a tough subject, I asked, "What about me?"

"You surprised me," one of them said. 

That made me smile. It equally caught me off guard and made me happy. It was like I was hiding a little secret about myself and I liked it. I liked that it was unexpected. I guess it's nice to shock people a little bit. Now when I tell people what I'm writing about, it's interesting to see if it surprises them. I get a kick out of it. 

Have you ever told someone something about yourself that surprised them?
Care to share what it was?

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26 comments:

  1. I'm so looking forward to reading your novel, what with all these little tidbits about it!

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  2. I'm curious as to what they were expecting! Surprising people is good though :) I don't really know why it's so thrilling to throw people off in that little surprisingly way, but it is! I'm short, been told I have a cute button nose, and am "whimsical" (fair enough), so people always are shocked when they find out my love for goth music and metal!

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  3. fantastic! sadly i dont have anything about me that surprises people, maybe I have something but dont know it yet

    Katrina Sophia Blog

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  4. Surprising people can be fun! I'm actually into anime and cosplay, and when I tell people that it normally surprises them a lot! haha! No one really sees it coming!

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  5. :) That's fun. I love to write fantasy sort of things, and I guess if you know my other interests (like my favorite video games and the tv shows I watch) you can kind of expect it, but it's always fun to catch people off guard!

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  6. I have four different book ideas that I have swimming in my head and one is a mystery! I think that is going to be the hardest to write, because it all has to fit together perfectly at the end. Another idea is also a YA fantasy - funny that! - and that's much easier because I can create reality to fit the story I want to tell... because it's fantasy.


    Good luck with your writing! :)

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  7. I totally get this, I love being on both ends; having people surprise me and being surprised.

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  8. I can imagine, that they were sursprised and I understand that you like it. But I think you are in reality such a good girl and this is my the contrast to your real life ...

    xx from Bavaria/Germany, Rena

    www.dressedwithsoul.blogspot.de

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  9. The element of surprise is always a good quality for a writer. I thought you'd be a young adult writer so this surprised me a bit too!

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  10. It is awesome that they did not know ^^ Gotta love a little surprise! Though I also would relate you with something romantic, cute.... mostly cause of the flowers underneath ur title :D

    xoxo

    Novelstyle

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  11. Its always nice to surprise people sometimes. At work we try to guess what kind of dogs we would get. Most people peg me for someone that wants a little fluffy poodle or something, but I don't think I would ever get a little dog. But this one guy said that he could see me owning a pit bull, and I really love pit bulls and would want to have one one day. It was kind of funny he pegged me for such an opposite dog than what everyone else thinks.

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  12. surprises are the best =) feel free to visit my blog. we can follow each other if you like =) http://anotsosecretlife2011.blogspot.com

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  13. The surprise of me writing mystery and you not wanting a poodle comes from the fact that we're petite and look young, but there will be those who aren't surprised because they can look past that, like that man did! :)

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  14. I do love reading YA novels and I would love to write a YA novel in the future, so I guess you're partly right! :)

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  15. I love being surprised by people as well! It's like digging a little deeper and seeing part of the real person!

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  16. Good luck with your stories! Mystery is really hard, but someone once told me to work backwards. Put all the pieces of the mystery together and then pull them apart in the story. I would love to write a YA fantasy story too!

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  17. It's always fun surprising people with little tidbits like that!

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  18. Everyone has something that surprises people! :)

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  19. I think they were expecting YA novels or romance. I have a YA fantasy novel on hold, so that's not too far-fetched. I had no idea you liked goth music and metal! I loved metal in high school! :)

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  20. I could see YA for you, but I don't think that mystery is such the surprise they're making it out to be! Type O Negative and Sisters of Mercy actually started playing at the bar the other night, which is so out of character for that place, and I was smitten xD

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  21. That might just be the best writing advice ever. That makes so much sense. Thanks!

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Hello, beautiful! Thanks for leaving a comment!
Have a lovely day!
~Sara ♥

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