Chapter 2 - Looking into the yearnings of your heart ... or bank account

There are many genres one can explore in writing. The main categories to choose from are fiction and non-fiction. And from there, should one choose fiction, the list is almost limitless. There’s romance, fantasy, young adult, chic-lit, literary, science-fiction, gay and lesbian, Christian, Children’s, picture books, and many more. For non-fiction, there’s biography, self-help, inspirational, picture books, Arts, and others. From these two main categories, there are sub-categories such as dystopia, juvenile, family drama, erotica, etc., and it is important that you know into which of these categories and sub-categories your manuscript will fit.

Nowadays, we are seeing a lot of films from young-adult, dystopia, and family drama. Take a look at the Harry Potter franchise. This one is under the Young Adult category and so is The Fault in Our Stars. Twilight is also young adult and urban fantasy since the setting is contemporary, and yet there is the element of the supernatural, which are vampires.

Under dystopia, we have Divergent and The Hunger Games.

My Sister’s Keeper falls under Family Drama.

And all of Nicholas Sparks books are under Romance. Well, at least those that I know of.

What is your motivation to write?

Would you like to write them down? Feel free. Here:

Enough now. Or we might find you publishing an epic book that only contains your aspirations. 

Look at what you’ve written so far?

Is it money? At the end of the day, after you publish several books, do you think that you now have a ticket to retirement?

Or are you the type of writer who above anything else wants to leave a piece of yourself, ergo, wisdom, to the world?

If most of what you’ve written veered on fame and money (which I tell you is as honest as any answer can get, unless you happen to be the heir or heiress to a business tycoon), then good for you! Because looking at what I enumerated above, any category has its own following. Dystopia hits success mostly between 2012 and 2014, and still continues until now, but the market is seeing a die-down. I hope not though because I love these heroes and heroines who live to be killed and change the world. Right? Who wouldn’t love them?

Seriously, while Romance has the highest readership among the fiction categories, the other categories also fly in the market as long as the book is well-written, and the plot is good. By good, I meant relatable. If not totally relatable, then it should be, mind-blowingly good.

So don’t despair because regardless of what category you write in, as long as you stick to the writer’s credo of creating beautiful stories, there’s a chance that you’ll hit both passion and bank account at the same time.

Reminder though, this will not happen overnight.

And don’t ever—ever—forget that.

Now, this is what I want you to do as an exercise. List down your inspirations. The authors first, and the specific book that made you want to write. And made you wish you were the one who wrote the book. Copying a style is not bad. Actually, emerging writers are told not to reinvent the wheel. These authors, the one we all idolize, have gone through a tested process and have emerged successful. To put it bluntly, they already conquered what we are just beginning to graze upon. Study their works. Copy the style. But never plagiarize.

Author	Books

And now, on the line below, put your name and the title of the book you want to publish.

Make it happen. Believe it will happen. Because it is true, the only thing standing between you and your dream is yourself. Of course, that’s not entirely true. There’s the internet, social media, your grit, and other factors. But let’s assume there is just you and your dream.

Write it down.

Come on. It’s just a title! And your name, which was taught to you as early as kindergarten.

Go.

Write. It. Down.

Your Name	Your Working Title

There. Congratulations.

Now, that's if for the day.

See you tomorrow.