Where Do I Belong?

So it’s been a loooong time since I last posted, but I just returned home from my first ever writing critique group sesh (YA focused) and I can’t help but feel a little discouraged. Not entirely about my writing itself, but if I really belong in the group.

For the longest time I considered myself a YA writer which I still kinda do, but my latest manuscript I was told, was New Adult instead just based on the character’s age ranges. This was an eye-opener and I started reading all about this new genre; however when I read what other people were saying about the genre, I didn’t feel like my story should necessarily be grouped in with that label. Most people consider New Adult to mean sexed-up YA, but in my novel, while there are sexual situations, I don’t go into any graphic details AT ALL. So this leaves me again with where do I fit in? (Ironic since that’s a recurrent theme in the YA world).

Then I was told I might benefit from a romance writers’ group. Well, I always had this notion of “Romance” as a genre of being explicit erotica with Fabio on the cover. Apparently this isn’t the case, I was pleased to find out. In fact, there are groups that focus specifically on YA Romances.

This came as a relief since the group I just met with didn’t focus on romance that much. So I definitely want to take advantage of the Romance groups out there now and I want to thank Daniel from the group for the encouragement to do so.

I did enjoy reading other people’s work and hopefully next time I will get to know the members better and feel more open sharing my words with them. (I was terrified the first time because I’ve never shared my work before). However, I realize that romance groups may be the better direction for me and I plan on taking that path at least in addition to the group I currently belong to now. (Thanks again Daniel!)

-M. McKnight