I’ve been writing stories since I was five years old. Ever since then, I knew I wanted to be a writer. Of course, when I was a kid, those stories were always pretty innocent. I wrote about family, animals, etc. One time, I even wrote a story about dinosaurs taking over my school and my friend, Monica, had to save the day. When I got into high school, that’s when my stories became a bit more dark. I wrote about troubled teens and family issues.
Basically, my stories involved people. I liked to focus my stories on the inner struggles of people and society… maybe a part of society some may not understand. They involved people struggling with addiction, mental illness, dark secrets they couldn’t tell anyone. I felt that where I needed to be in the literary world.
Until last year, when I realized I had another story to tell……. and it didn’t fit where I thought I was needed.
I had to write a story about zombies.
If you’ve been following this blog for awhile (or on twitter..) you already know about my love for the zombie culture. I’m a huge fan of zombie flicks and novels. So, of course, when I thought of my current zombie apocalyptic novel, I had to stop what I was doing and start working on it. And you know what? I think I really found my genre.
I never really thought I’d feel comfortable writing horror/paranormal literature. I loved to read it but I wasn’t sure I could write it. But, since working on my book, I feel like that’s my place. I feel more comfortable there amongst the creepy stuff and the zombies feasting on people (morbid? Probably..) . It’s almost like I was meant to be there.
Of course my book deals with the struggles of my main characters as they make choices and keep secrets. It’s not all about annihilating zombies. That’s just the fun part haha.
You should always write what you want to even if you think people you know maybe won’t like it. I live in a very conservative area who believe zombies are crap and they don’t want to read about it. They think I’m weird for what I want to write because it’s not what they like. Who cares? For every person who doesn’t want to read your book, there will be another one who does.
If you have a story that keeps invading your head, you should write it. Even if it’s out of what you think your genre is, write it. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone because you never know the story you could come up with.
I mean, look at me. I went from writing about my favorite pet when I was five years old to now writing about a zombie apocalypse. I bet my family didn’t see that one coming…. 
I’m full of surprises.
Good for you on figuring out what you are comfortable writing about. That should make that much better. About 18 years ago I decided that I wanted to write screen plays. Came up with a story & cranked out like 70 pages. Haven’t touched it since. Would love to finish it now, but would be tough going back & getting all the timeline stuff straight. Good for you. Hope you are very successful.
Thank you.
I think you can get back to it if you really want to. I’ve been working on a screenplay for over five years. It hasn’t been finished but I’m sure it will…eventually lol. I’m not giving up on it yet.
This is how I finally decided to focus my writing on speculative/science fiction, because that’s the genre I grew up reading. I saw it as returning to my first literary love. I write other things, as well, but focus on what has my heart. Good post!
Thank you! I think it’s important to write what you also enjoy. If you’re not into it, then you can’t really expect other people to be either.
Thanks so much for the comment!