There is something of a discrepancy between what I read vs. what I write. This never fails to surprise me on some level. I always thought the stories that would be the easiest would be the ones that are of a similar genre to what I read. Not so!
I actually read quite a bit of British literature. I'm particularly fond of 19th century British literature (maybe +/- a decade on either side). This isn't to say that I don't read other things. That's just generally what I lean toward when I'm browsing for a new book.
So when I really started writing with publication in mind, I just kind of assumed that I would probably end up creating a whole bunch of Regency romance novellas or something. I even tried starting one but then I got stuck. I will resurrect it eventually but I just hate forcing plots that aren't ready to be written yet.
Which brings us to what I actually really enjoy writing right now: science fiction and fantasy short stories with strange twists to them. Now, I love reading stories with strange twists. But they occupy a very small percentage of what I actually do read on a regular basis. Same thing goes for sci-fi and fantasy. I watch a lot of movies that fall in those two genres but don't actually ready it very much of it.
Going back to my attempt at writing a Regency romance, I found it to be surprisingly difficult. Maybe just because my standards were set high? Or I was locked up from trying to be historically accurate? Maybe deep down I'm really just more geek than romantic?
Has anyone else noticed this with their writing? Do you mostly write in the genre that you read?
