Young Writers Society

And a few more questions, too:

What's your favorite genre to write? To read? Why, and since when?

Do you prefer literary/realistic fiction or speculative fiction (fantasy, scifi, and so forth all fall under spec fic)?

What's your favorite subgenre? Are you into punk subgenres (steampunk, cyberpunk, atompunk, etc.) or not, and why?

Do you write with a specific genre in mind, or do you prefer to simply write under an umbrella of an idea and let the genre form itself?

definitely fantasy/action adventure/romance is what I read and write

I enjoy fantasy, sci-fi, urban fantasy, steampunk, and cyberpunk. I haven't delved into either PUNKS in my own writing, or even in what I read, but I like the aesthetics and concepts of them. I've been realizing recently that I may not be so into fantasy as I once thought. High fantasy isn't really for me, as it turns out. Like, it's alright? But if I had to choose between it and urban fantasy, I'd probably go for the latter.

Speaking of which, urban fantasy is something that a good chunk of my writing tries to fit into. Sci-fi, too. Most of my ideas are sci-fi, and it's getting kind of tired and boring, but yaa--

I've enjoyed sci-fi and fantasy forever, urban fantasy is a newer interest, punks are just things I enjoy the idea of but have yet to really experience.

I also like Gothic stuff, I guess? My understanding of that genre's definition has always been shaky, but it seems to be what I've been going for recently, so I'll list that. Supernatural/Gothic stuff. -shrug-

I am a full Romance nerd, always have and always will. It is the only thing I consume and the only thing I produce. I JUST LOVE LOVE.

I like fantasy the best- I think my stories usually fit into urban fantasy these days. I like it because I don't have to follow any rules- rules I make, sure, but other than that, no rules! I also like fantasy because... there's a lot of room to move? My stories just happen to fit into the fantasy genre, it's not like I took a look at all the genres and went "AH, that one! That's the one I'm going to write in for forever!" I'd just get ideas, and those idea happen to fit into the realm of fantasy!

When I first started writing, horror was actually my primary genre! I basically write down an idea for a horror story to tell my friends when it got dark, and memorized it, and by the end of the story, everyone wanted more and were terrified! So then I started writing more. The first story I ever posted on YWS was supposed to be a scary story, but it ended up being scary in a whole 'nother way x__x lol

Historical fiction is and always has been my jam! For both reading and writing.

Unlike Holy, I don't like writing fantasy because there aren't any rules! Things get so complicated. I don't like spending half of the book just establishing the ways of the world - I'd rather cut to the nitty gritty right away! Just tell the reader 1862 New York, and boom, so much of the explaining is already done and I can jump into telling the actual story. (Of course, a good fantasy writer effectively does both at the same time. But I'm not a good fantasy writer.)

I also love researching! I love finding information about actual people and being a voice for them, in a way, even though they're long gone. My favorite part about history classes is not so much the boring political stuff, but the real-life accounts of the common man. Writing historical fiction is like building a time machine; you're able to delve into their world and make them come to life through writing.

I really love reading and writing historical fantasy, mostly from the medieval time period. I do also like writing realistic short stories set in modern time, but I never really read that kinda stuff...well except when it includes fantasy.
I also love reading mystery stories Sherlock Holmes but I could NEVER write it, that involves having a brilliant brain.

Speculative fiction. Fantasy seems to be my comfort zone but I enjoy dabbling in loose sci-fi worlds. I'm not big on modern storylines because I get bored by it easily.

Historical fiction and anything that requires more robust research scares me, and I'm always afraid I'll use a word that wasn't even thing in that time. It's just... too much work for me. I'd rather put the work in making the rules for a fantasy world than learning the rules of another earlier time.

I don't really write with a genre in mind though. It's more "hey, idea" and I go and it becomes a thing.

As far as sub genres go? Idk lol.

Dystopian Fiction


almost all of my favortie books are that way and it’s just really exciting

Fantasy, fairytale retellings, romance, young adult.

It's no secret that I read a lot of contemporary and contemporary romance YA. All of my novels (up until now) have been contemporary romance, but now I'm writing straight contemporary.

I love love and I love exploring real-life issues and situations in fiction.

I also love reading memoirs.

MG and YA Fantasy definitely, to both read and write

I'm also dabbling in retellings because I think it's fun to play around with old tales but try to keep those little bits of humanity as all stories have.

I like to read mysteries but I haven't tried my hand writing them yet. And I also like political intrigues and I think that they may show up in one of the ideas floating in my ideas folder.

Me, I write the way I want the way the story orders me to do and sometimes I think of the genre it falls into but I don't specifically write toward one.

What's your favorite genre to write? To read? Why, and since when?

My favorite genre to read and write is fantasy. I'm not sure why I fell in love with it or when I did, but it's remained my favorite because of how imaginative the worlds can be. It's not necessarily an escape but it's certainly an adventure no matter what the book is.

Do you prefer literary/realistic fiction or speculative fiction (fantasy, scifi, and so forth all fall under spec fic)?

Definitely speculative!

What's your favorite subgenre? Are you into punk subgenres (steampunk, cyberpunk, atompunk, etc.) or not, and why?

I love the idea of steampunk and all of the other punk subgenres, though I rarely tend to read or write any of them. I just love the twist and the overall aesthetic of stories like that.

Do you write with a specific genre in mind, or do you prefer to simply write under an umbrella of an idea and let the genre form itself?

It's not that I write with a specific genre in mind - it's more like I suddenly get an idea and run with it. And, more likely than not, those ideas tend to be of the fantasy variety.

My favorite genre is probably urban fantasy. A lot of my stories these days tend to center on ghosts, fey, wizards, and the like. Any realistic fiction that I try to write tends to turn into urban fantasy anyway. Although, I'm not allergic to realistic fiction -- I love researching stuff and learning about the fine details -- it's just that urban fantasy tends to call to me more often than not.

Iii honestly prefer speculative fiction.

I love reading stuff in the punk subgenre, but I'm not sure if anything I've written can be considered that. (I tried to write a steampunk story with @Kaylaa, but that never went anywhere.)

Oh! I tend to write under the umbrella of an idea. Restricting myself to genre is never something that I think much about.

My go-to genre for writing is definitely fantasy, though I'm trying to write more sci-fi and I've dabbled in contemporary spiritual/paranormal before. It's just what I read the most and what I'm the most interested in. I definitely prefer speculative fiction to realistic - I read as escapism, and unless the characters are really compelling I often get bored/frustrated only reading about dysfunctional family situations and the like.

I used to be a lot more balanced on reading both sci-fi and fantasy, but recently I realized that literally all I've been reading is fantasy (with a bit of historical fiction). Fantasy is definitely my favorite genre, but I also *love* space opera sci-fi and wish I could find more non-dystopia sci-fi that's not from Isaac Asimov's era. (Any recommendations, send them my way! I love the Martian.)

I think my favorite subgenre of fantasy would have to be fairytale retellings/whimsical worlds in general. Think fairies, unicorns, everything my inner six-year-old loves. I love the sense of wonder and the cheerful magicalness of those worlds.

When I write, I definitely usually decide my genre first, but subgenres wind up shifting over time.