In my last post, I was being secure when I was supposed to be insecure. Now, today, I'm feeling insecure! Let me share the problem:
I've written a novel - granted, it's very short at the moment at only 45,000 words. Four beta readers read it, liked it (at least that's what they told me) and made a few suggestions which I happened to agree with anyway. The fifth reader was my hubby who said it was a brilliant start to a psychological thriller, but that I stopped it too soon, and another 100 pages and a really big twist would make it perfect.
Now, I hadn't
tried to write a psychological thriller. I don't read psychological thrillers; they're not my
thing. Anyway, because the story I've written is very character-based, I suppose - at a push, although I could never bring myself to call it such to an agent or editor - what I've written is...
literary!
My hubby reads a lot of
Jeffrey Deaver who writes thrillers, so maybe he's just hard-wired to
need a dramatic twist. But... am I missing a trick by not writing in this amazing twist (although I have no idea what that twist would be)? I wrote something of a 'aah' moment, but it's not very obvious because hubby didn't get it until I explained it. Hubby's asked me to read a Jeffrey Deaver novel, which I will, because
he says that will give me a better idea of what he's talking about.
So, my problem and my question is: should I stick to the story I wanted to tell, or take a right-turn into a completely different genre? Is the label
literary something that other people apply to your work, or is it possible to write
for that genre? Do you have to be much cleverer than I am to even consider writing something literary?
I'm hoping, when I start to re-read the novel myself, the answers will come naturally. But, in the meantime, if you have any comments, I'd love to read and consider them.
