(Huge thanks to @KellyAnneBlount for the wonderful opportunity to participate in this round's Wattpad Block Party!)

Darlings, I'm going to show you my version of Narnia today.

Believe me, once you slither in, you'll never want to get out.

=> THE ART OF GENRE HOPPING

What is genre hopping?

Well, it's pretty much my way of saying 'experimenting with genres'. If you've been my reader for long enough, then you'll know that I've genre-hopped from teen-fiction to chicklit to mystery to short story to action to humour to romance to fanfiction to werewolf to vampire. Now that's one hell of a mouthful and I'm not suggesting that you genre hop every which way. But you get the gist, right?

Why should I genre hop?

It's not so much something that you should do, honestly. It's something that you can do. See, the best thing about being an aspiring author on Wattpad is that you can write pretty much anything you want. Unlike published authors, you're not streamlined into a specific genre and there are far fewer expectations of you to write under said genre. So what do you have to lose by exploring something new? (Actually, you could lose something, but more on that later.)

The bottomline is that if you want to improve and broaden your horizons, sometimes, experimenting with a new genre could be very helpful. You might find that you're far more adept at writing fantasy than romance, or your mindset far more suitable for chicklit than teen fiction. Wattpad is your oyster so go wild.

So the question that many of my fellow authors ask me is:

How should I genre hop?

I've broken it down into five steps that should be easy enough for you to follow. But do bear in mind that this is all based on my personal experience through years of genre hopping. Feel free to experiment however you want until you find something that suits you best.

Step #1: Get an itch you can't scratch.

Have you ever browsed through a genre on Wattpad only to find the same plotlines repeating over and over and over again?

Take werewolf, for instance. Sometime ago, I was scrolling through page after page of werewolf novels. I admit - I'm the kind of obnoxious reader who has these very specific tropes that she wants to read about. I want a female protagonist who isn't going to jump away from her hot Alpha but jump on him. I want an Alpha who isn't cocky or arrogant but still confident and capable of leading a pack. I want the couple not to spend, like, three-quarters of the book yelling and resisting and throwing stuff at each other. And, most of all, I want decent writing and a happy ending.

Is that too much to ask?

Well, kind of. Don't get me wrong. It's not that there aren't any original or unique books under the werewolf genre. There are plenty. But they just don't appear on the What's Hot list or the Featured list. They're not appearing under the proper tags either. Although, I agree, typing in 'girl wants to ride hot Alpha' under tags isn't so effective. But the point is, sometimes, you want to read something that's just not available.

That's your itch that you can't scratch. (I mean, apart from the riding an Alpha itch that you can't scratch.)

Step #2: Scratch it.

There are times when you'll feel this way about genres you've not yet explored.

Do you know why Draconian happened? Because I wanted a dystopian version of Harry Potter from a Slytherin perspective. I wanted Voldemort to be as proficient in Legilimency as he was supposed to be and read Harry's mind to know that he wasn't the owner of the Elder wand. I wanted a Death-Eater Draco to head a super cool secret group during the war. I wanted Hermione to break out of her Gryffindor circle and forge friendships with Slytherins. I wanted to focus on the best of the Gryffindors and the best of the Slytherins (oh, and Luna Lovegood, of course) and write about them winning the war together.

But, sadly, no one wanted to write that for me.

It happens often, doesn't it? Every now and then, I get a random reader messaging me about a brilliant story idea they've had and they want me to write it for them. Well, of course, coming up with ideas is easy. It's the execution that's tedious.

So, if you want to read something that you can't find, you write it.

Step #3: Testing uncharted waters.

Now this is the difficult part. You're venturing into a whole new genre - reading it is one thing, but writing it is another altogether.

I've always found that reading and writing go hand in hand. So one of the things that you can do is to explore more of that genre before you start writing. I know that originality is something that many Wattpadders yearn for. They're all originality-this, creativity-that and they avoid clichés with a ten-foot pole.

Well, guess what? The truth is, clichés exist for a reason. It's something that many authors, like it or not, fall back on. We've seen the trope of star-crossed lovers way back with Romeo and Juliet but we see it years later in The Hunger Games. From Dirty Dancing to Grease, the good-girl-bad-boy trope always remains and if you want a written example of it, just click on the Romance or Teen Fiction tabs.

So really, it's time to stop thinking so lowly of clichés because they're what drive plots. Instead, you want to study all the clichés in a specific genre and remember them while you're stepping into said genre. High school teen fiction, for instance, will require your generic popularity ladder and crazy social life, plenty of homework and unreasonable teachers, teenage angst and more teenage angst. Originality, then, comes into play when you twist these clichés a little. Most jocks and cheerleaders are incredibly nice people and not the arseholes that plenty teen fiction would have us believe. Instead of featuring a male boss in your romance novel, try a female one. Try unexpected twists, try focused character development, try new styles of writing - all while keeping that idea that you initially wanted to read about as your main focus.

Oh, and toy a little with character deaths. Those are always fun.

Step #4: Win some, lose some.

I think this is what scares most Wattpad authors the most when it comes to genre hopping. Some people tell me - "Noelle, I'm so established in the [insert specific genre name here] and I'm worried that if I switch to another one, then I'll lose my readership base that I worked so hard to gain."

And yes, that is a very valid concern and it is something that even I sometimes struggle with. I remember that on my old account, my teen fiction works (No Sparks Required / The Cinderella Deception) were all that my readers wanted. And the other books under Chicklit (Bringing Back Brielle / Here To Stay) were really not well received. It was difficult and discouraging because the disparity was stark. On one end, I'd get about 500 votes and on the other, I'd barely hit 100. It's the same even with my current account. When I hopped from Romance (Slow Dancing) to the very unexpected genre of Werewolf (Animal Instinct), I dropped from about 2'500 to 1'000.

So this is something you need to be prepared to face. You're starting from scratch and gathering a new readership (beyond that pocket of very supportive readers you have). You're going to see a dip in reads, votes and comments. Sometimes, you're going to wonder if you've made the wrong decision and backtrack to the original genre you were comfortable in.

But I think the most important thing that you need to do is to remember why you write. If you fixate on gaining popularity on Wattpad, then it's going to be an uphill task and you're going to feel like giving up everytime you see a decrease in numbers. I don't know about you. But when I write, it's because I have a story to tell. And I will tell it regardless of how many unfollow me or stop reading what I write.

I know that it seems trite because of my current following, so here's the next most important (and final) piece of advice I have to offer:

Step #5: The golden rule.

Did you know that you can actually shape your readership on Wattpad?

It's ironic, right? A lot of Wattpad authors feel frustrated because they're constrained by what their readers expect from them. If you've written a popular book, people expect you to write a sequel or a series based on it. Or if you're known for writing bad boys, they'll expect you to write a plethora of those just to fulfil their bad boy cravings. When I worked on Cherry Knots, Notorious and Breakup Formula, some readers insisted that I stick to that genre because it was what I was (supposedly) good at.

But the thing about Wattpad readers is that the base is constantly shifting. There's a group of supportive readers, but the majority of them are just here to read whatever tickles their fancy. If you post, they're here. If they lose insterest, they're gone. In other words, you can shape your readership according to what you want to write.

For instance, my best friend Katie (@katiecruz) had thought of writing a mature romance for ages. Only she was written into a corner because of her previous teen fiction novels. All it took was a leap of faith, a stroke of courage to venture into a new genre and that's how What Vincent Wants came about. It worked the same way for me. When I wanted to shuffle the age base of my readership and gain older readers, I pushed my books towards Romance and Chicklit. I know plenty of other authors who've done something similar as well.

Admittedly, it's a very long process to gain a steady readership when you venture into a new genre. Not everyone has the patience or determination to do it, because it really does come at the expense of watching your stats drop. But, based on my experience, one of the best things about genre hopping is that eventually, you'll achieve a very diverse and loyal readership. Because these readers have stuck by you regardless of whichever genre you explore, and they're willing to read (or even purchase) almost anything you write.

And I think that they're the best kind of readers you could ever hope to have.

PROMOTIONS

There will be two promotions this time round -

1) Hosted by @KellyAnneBlount

I will be promoting 3 winners to all my followers. To participate, visit the giveaway links!

2) Hosted by me (@hepburnettes)

I will be promoting several authors AND their stories to all my followers. To participate, in-line comment HERE to tell me a) which book of yours has been a venture into a new genre and b) why you genre-hopped!

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