Writing Excuses Transcripts

Writing Excuses 11.33: Crossover Fiction, with Victoria Schwab

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2016/08/14/11-33-crossover-fiction-with-victoria-schwab/

Key points: Crossover fiction is fiction that has a primary audience and a much larger appeal. E.g. young adult fiction being read by adults, or vice versa. Crossover authors often write multiple genres. Write for a specific person, perhaps in a border zone. Include things that will work for multiple audiences. Some breaks are larger than others, e.g. between middle grade and YA. Part of it is what the reader is interested in. What's different? How much context or explanation is needed. What do the readers resonate with, usually emotional? Levels of reading intelligence and levels of subject material are independent. You can use different pen names for different genres. Diversify for safety. Try lots of different things. Watch for pivot points where you can move into a different arena.

( Where's the bridge? )

[Howard] Is this a time travel writing prompt?
[Mary] I think it is now.
[Brandon] All right. I guess that's our writing prompt. You gotta write a story about a book that can't be read until you are dead.
[Wow… That's bleak… Garbled]
[Brandon] Someone just did… Wrote a book to not be read until they die. I'm trying to remember. There… It was something in the news item.
[Mary] Well, Mark Twain's memoirs. He… They couldn't be read until 100 years after.
[Brandon] So either it's a story that you're going to write that someone can't read until a certain date or you can write about somebody who's dealing with that, if that's too morbid for you.
[Mary] I thought you meant that they couldn't read it… That the reader could not read it until the reader was dead.
[Howard] See, that's what I was thinking. The reader cannot read this book until they have died.
[Dan] That's how I interpreted it.
[Brandon] Okay. All right. All right.
[Mary] So what do you want to do, audience?
[Brandon] Whatever you want. We've got like seven in there for you. Thank you, Phoenix ComicCon audience.
[Whoo! Applause]
[Brandon] This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.