Genre Writing

Good morning, Self!

How does anyone know what genre to classify their writing as? Each of my novels started out as something else and through a twist or two in the plot, became something different. For instance, Taken Apart began as an exploration of a human being's mind during a demonic possession, but in order to let the two entities interact, I had to turn it into a dark romance of sorts. When I felt constrained by having two minds in one body, I had to engineer a way to separate them; then it turned into an action/adventure with horrific overtones.

Perhaps a more experienced writer or a college professor would say that I lacked discipline. I really don't know, but I like to let a story flow; like water finds and settles at the lowest point of a container. I think that by finding the lowest common denominator, my work may reach a wider audience. Of course, I also have to consider that this stems from a lack of talent. I hope not. I'm not sure that I believe that; my sales have increased every month since I first began writing and publishing on Amazon's DTP.

Congruencies began as a nostalgia piece with a heartbreakingly sad premise. Once I got started on it and had shown the quiet joy of the couple's reunion, I then had to show the difficulties they encountered in deciding what to change about their lives. But they needed complications in their new lives and I had to present them with dangers and challenges. Thus, the story left the realm of the 'soft' sci-fi field and became an action/adventure/thriller with soft romance underlying the action.

I could go on and on, dissecting the motivations behind each of my stories, but I think I've made my point; my work begins as one thing and becomes another. I would be interested to know if any other writers have encountered this in their work. If anyone cares to, please leave a comment.

Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of Gulf of the Plains, Behind the Stone and others.
Available on Kindle