It is better to not write in your usual genre for a class or workshop than to write in it and not get the feedback your genre requires. I did a workshop back in college, mostly because my roommate told me to (she and her department ran it), and I turned in an eight-thousand-word story involving a lot of jargon... and the Designated Pro picked my story out of the fifteen or so to show how he didn't understand what was going on. Read a bit aloud, asked people who hadn't read it what was going on, things like that. Well, of course people who hadn't read it wouldn't know the words picked out from the middle of the story-- they were slightly defined in the beginning. He was not reading it the way the reader I wrote it for would.
I am wondering why he hasn't said, "Write mainstream," though. No mystery or romance-- those two are often elements of stories, not genres. Use those as examples if you need to argue about fairies or aliens. "No romance" does not mean "No couples" or "No relationships"; "No mystery" does not mean "No questions".
I am wondering why he hasn't said, "Write mainstream," though. No mystery or romance-- those two are often elements of stories, not genres. Use those as examples if you need to argue about fairies or aliens. "No romance" does not mean "No couples" or "No relationships"; "No mystery" does not mean "No questions".
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