Writing in a Dead Genre

It occurred to me the other day that I write in a dead genre. High fantasy just isn’t as popular as it once was. Now I’m not saying fantasy doesn’t sell. It does. But it’s not the type of fantasy I grew up with. What sells is urban fantasy, paranormal fantasy, or gritty fantasy. All of those subgenres have many things in common.

Best selling fantasy today is all dark, sexualizied, and cynical. And while I get that reflects today’s world, it saddens me that it’s not like how it was before.

When I was growing up in the 80s, the world was full of hope and so was I. You’d see that reflected in movies, books, music, and shows. If you watch, read, or listen to pop culture today, it’s the completely opposite. Not to mention people are way too angry when they drive, ignore the world with their headphones, or don’t even know their neighbor’s name. I’m not saying that things will or should return to how they were, but it’d be nice if everything wasn’t so dark all the time.

People do try to bring it back to how it once was. It’s why you see reboots, remakes, prequels, and sequels. A lot of the times they don’t work because while the idea may be the same, the execution is not. It’s influenced by today’s lens. And despite how flashy it is, how improved the CGI is, how big the budgets are, how greatly their skill has improved, it will lack the heart and vision of the original. Because of that fact, more often than not, it will always fail. Worse yet, it will tarnish the original.

So if you want to write in a “dead” genre, you should. You shouldn’t worry about whether or not it’s going to sell or if you should tailor it to make sales. Call me foolish, but I think if you write something you love, it’ll shine through and it will eventually pay off. Like all things, writing goes in a cycle. While it may not be hot now, odds are it will be hot again.

Marc Johnson