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Gothic and Paranormal Writing
I'm working on some novel ideas and trying to balance what I like to read/want to write with what's going on in the market place. I love paranormal/gothic books and hope to write one but I'm wondering a few things...
1) Is it the market saturated/will it be by the time I come to publish
2) What themes are definitely overdone / have become ridiculous now
3) Does anyone have any thoughts on potential gaps in this market or a love of particular themes (if any at all...!)
Any thoughts/comments would be gratefully received!
Comments
When they say "Know your market" - what they MEAN is be aware of who else is out there.
You are putting your cart before your horse trying to find the story that hasn't been done yet, admirable, and in this world of "owning the niche" clever, but you'll never get anything written if you follow that path.
Often it's better to do your own thing, what you love - as it will come out in the text, in your characters, settings and plot. And if you write what you love to read someone is bound to like it. - That style has a market already, you follow?
Keep us updated on your progress.
Sounds like fun.
I'm certainly hoping the theme of vampires and werewolves romance dies out soon. I personally can't stand it.
2) All of them/None of them - People say something is overdone until someone puts a new spin on it, therefore nothing is overdone if it is written well and doesn't follow the "norm" to the letter. Shock people, make them say "Crimeny Jesus crackers, I never thought about x in a y way before!"
3) It's hard to see a gap until someone else jams their book into it - try twisting commonplace ideas rather than coming up with something "new". You'll find your new idea can be compared to something that already exists anyway so don't fry your brain in an attempt to come up with 'never been done before'. Instead take the usual and make it strange.
Think of the most brilliant book ever that you would love to read - then write that book FOR YOU. If you love it to pieces, someone else will too (hopefully millions of them!).
Of course you'll keep in mind the requirements of the genre, but you aren't ruled by them.