My Journey: Entry 2 (What the hell is this thing?)

As indicated in my last journal entry, I knew nothing about writing fiction. After a year of typing up pieces that fell into my head from some other realm (because I sure as hell wasn't trying to create the darned thing), I had an 85,000-word story saved on my computer. But I had no idea what I'd just written.

Love story? Romance? Shit. What the hell is this thing?

I didn't even know the difference between commercial and literary fiction.

The previous two decades of my life had been spent focused on scientific readings (for my career); non-fiction readings, such as books about landscaping, home design, gardening (you know, stuff for life); and classics (who doesn't love reading Pride and Prejudice over and over?). And the only contemporary romance I'd ever read was the Fifty Shades of Grey series, which was enjoyable to an extent...but left me wishing the author had done more to make me feel something for those characters. *ducking to avoid the rotten tomato onslaught*

So I found myself in the awkward position of having written something I knew very little about (because Fifty Shades wasn't enough exposure to the world of romance reading/writing to consider myself aware).

After spending hours over many days conducting research, I learned that my writing style was commercial and I had written a romance (or, at least, I was going to make sure it turned out to be a romance). [Note: A love story is not necessarily a romance, but all romances are love stories.]

Then I started reading romance and further educated myself in the genre. [Note: I've just finished reading The Ones Who Got Away by Roni Loren. Loved it.]

Yes, my style is commercial and I'm proud of that fact. Maybe it's because I've accomplished so much in my educational life that I don't have anything to prove, or maybe I'm just easy-going this way, but I'm writing a story that is easy to read (not literary). Why? Because I want non-readers (people who can read, but choose not to) to pick up my book and decide to buy it. In my opinion, that's part of the reason Fifty Shades took off. It got to the point that non-readers got curious enough to buy the book. Non-readers don't pick up literary fiction or even most commercial fiction. Non-readers don't read much. So when they do, it's pretty special.

Yes, my story is a romance and I'm proud of that fact. Some writers/authors/readers/people consider romance garbage. Trash of the literary world. But who cares? Not me. And certainly not readers of romance. It's the most popular genre because people love it. If I am able to publish a romance via traditional means, I want to do it and see where it takes me. My story is mine and I love it. I hope readers will, too.

*deep breath* I think that's enough for today. I hope you enjoyed this journal entry. If you did, please like and share. But, most of all, comment. I love reading comments and I'd love to hear your thoughts. Finally, if you haven't yet, please consider visiting my website (ivyblackwater.com) and/or finding me on Twitter (@IvyBlackwater). :-)

Thank you for your time. Have a wonderful day!

-Ivy Blackwater