Trends in Writing

I stood in front of the romance shelf at my local bookstore.  Oh how I love the bookstore.  While I embrace e-publishing, I will mourn the day when I cannot walk into an actual store and kill an hour putzing through the latest titles.  But, that's an entirely different blog entry.

What I noticed as I stood there were the changing trends.  A couple of years ago, tomes about vampires, vampires and more vampires lined the shelves (don't get me wrong-I loved it and read them all!).  Stephenie Meyer did something amazing.  She created more than a trend.  She created a phenomenon.  JK Rowling had done it to by getting adults to read books directed primarily for children and making them equally appealing to both age groups.  These two authors are the primary reason YA is what it is today.

The vampires and wizards are still on the shelves along with other fantastical creatures or people with amazing abilities.  Now, however, they've been joined by some new friends.  Remember when erotica was taboo.  Even the word shocked people or turned heads.  If the books made it into an everyday bookstore, they were relegated to their own small section in the back of the store.  Hell, you probably even had to show your ID to get into the roped off zone <grin>.  Like Stephenie Meyer, but so-o-o different, E. L. James changed everything.  Suddenly, erotica is everywhere.  Suddenly, women of all shapes and kinds are holding Fifty Shades or others like it at the pool when I take my kids to swim.  They're not hiding it behind a magazine or on their Kindle.  They're flaunting it proudly.

Again, back to the bookstore, I picked up a Fifty Shades like title on the romance shelf, opened it to a page in the center of the book and turned crimson from my head to my toes.  I looked around to make sure no one had seen me and quickly put the book back.  This book made E. L. James look tame by comparison.  I'm not judging, people.  Just making an observation.

As I left my beloved bookstore, I wonder:  What does this all mean for me as a writer?  At once, it means nothing and everything.  Nothing in the sense I don't need to worry about or copy trends and everything because anything goes these days.  As budding authors, we shouldn't be afraid our story is too out there or too taboo.

In summary, we should write our story even if it involves a vampire making mad, crazy whoopee with a wizard on the mean urban streets of a dystopian world;-)  Somebody will read it, eventually!