As a writer, are you stuck with a genre without meaning to be?
This morning I was thinking about how pleased I am to read obituaries in Publishers Weekly and learn that a particular writer was published in several genre, or moved between Journalism and Novels. Sometimes, but not always, this was accomplished in part by establishing separate identities and names of the plume to write behind. Sometimes the writer left one form of writing behind and never returned to it. Whatever the case, children's book authors have written grants, and grant writers have written novels, and novelists have written poetry and poets have written hard news, and tabloid journalists have written poems. But, I think, once you have arrived on the literary scene with a successful book project, it may be more difficult than ever to become more expansive in range. After all, the wealthiest writers are often not those who spent 10 or 20 years on THE BOOK, but the ones who develop a strong character or characters and take them through adventures book after book with a regular publishing schedule that allows maybe a year to go by between books.
Any experiences or opinions?
