Young Writers Society

My main genre for both reading and writing is contemporary YA - I'm getting more and more into reading non-fiction these days, and have started reading adult contemporary novels, but contemporary YA is still probably my go-to genre.

This wasn't always the case though! Up until I was maybe 15/16 or so I very much gravitated towards speculative fiction - mostly fantasy and a bit of sci-fi (both for reading and writing).

I'd love to write more historical kind of stuff - but it's a bit intimidating and I'd probably just go down the rabbit hole researching and then never write the thing XD

I don't tend to really think too much about the genre of what I write, even though it definitely tends to fall under the contemporary/realistic umbrella 80% of the time. I like @Evander's comment about writing under the umbrella of an idea rather than genre - I generally start with a premise or a character and go from there, and not think too much about genre - beyond "is this realistic or speculative fiction?".

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

Writing, it's fantasy. Magic just fits with how I see the world and how plots fit in place.

Reading, it's actually historical fic. Fantasy is a finicky beast to find good stories in, and historical fic is something I can just devour over and over again. I started reading historical fic in my tweens, and didn't pick up fantasy till my early teens. But the sheer number of books shows a heavy preference to historical fic.

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

To write, spec fic. Less research. As much as I enjoy research, historical fic just has too many details for me to easily put a plot together. I would not be able to handle the executive function required to get a plot and historical facts straight.

To read, I don't have that much of a preference. I do enjoy fantasy just because that's what's mostly out there, and romance is something that has me wonder how it works, but otherwise, I basically go "oooh, pretty!" at the bookstore.

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

Urban fantasy has a special place in my heart. It sounds so fun to figure out how the world has changed to accommodate magic, or how it hasn't changed.

Punk genres just don't grab me, so I don't really pursue writing them.

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?

Genres are for marketing purposes and other than "there's magic" I tend not to label anything.