What You Write vs. What You Read

[Superpride]

Hello, fellow writers! I have a question that just appeared in my head, and I want to ask you all for your thoughts. Does what you prefer to write differ from what you prefer to read? For me, the stories that I write always require a sci-fi or fantasy element that is integral to the plot. One of the current stories I'm working on, Bound By Blood, has the fantastical element of vampires and other fantasy creatures. However, what I read is a very stark contrast. Pretty much all the novels that I have read and finished are all contemporary and are all based in reality for the most part. No novels with dragons, unicorns, mermaids, or witches that I can recall having read recently. With that being said, I think the reason is because I just want to be engrossed in the romance and not have any other elements like aliens or ghosts interfere with that. However, I just can't write a story without including something fantastical, futuristic, etc. Though I try to write my current story with a good balance of both romance and world building. So, what are your thoughts? Does what you write and what you read differ, or are those two aspects the same for you?

[Cia]

Nope, I'll read just about anything and, if you've ever perused my list of stories, you'll note they run the gamut of genres and categories as well. I'm eclectic and will shift around through the years depending on what has caught my attention at the time, what is popular so I see it a lot and decide to give it a shot, or just my comfort reads/long-time favs. I will say that I don't prefer stories with teen characters with a lot of graphic sex to read, and so that doesn't factor into my writing much either. I also don't like stories that involve cheating, so love triangles are blech, or ones where the characters are TSTL (too stupid to live) or where the main drama of the storyline is that the characters just won't grow the hell up and communicate already. So I don't write that type of work either. 

So mostly, if I don't like to read it, I won't write it. Fortunately, there isn't much I don't like to read.

[Thorn Wilde]

I'm pretty much the opposite. I read almost exclusively sci-fi and fantasy. Online I read all kinds of stuff, including contemporary romance (and a lot of erotica, let's be fair), but my bookshelf contains hardly anything that could be considered literary fiction. Mostly SFF, a very few YA books. What I write is mostly contemporary romance and/or erotica (though I'm branching out in some of my WIPs) and Storms is (or is trying to be) YA. So is my re-edit of the Nemesis books, at least the first one.

Edited July 13, 2019 by Thorn Wilde

[Carlos Hazday]

I read thrillers, sci-fi, and biographies.

I have no idea what I write any more...

[Parker Owens]

My reading is pretty omnivorous. Poetry, biography, history, thrillers, something fluffy - all grist to my reading mill. I enjoy writing poetry, and my stories need someone else besides me to classify them. 

[Brayon]

I want to say I'm diverse in my reading, but I have specific favorite genres and sub-genres. Lately, I've been not reading or writing more than just my textbooks for school. When I am able to read just for fun, I've been reading more GameLit/LitRPG stories and they straddle the SciFi and Fantasy genres. Also, a sappy romantic story creeps in there too.

Writing, I love to write SciFi and Fantasy. However, my most popular story on GA and other sites has been a contempory drama. Never thought I would end up writing pure drama or romance type stories when I started my storytelling.