Alright, hi y'all, I'm here for complaining so buckle your seatbelts.

I'm one to dabble in contemporary but my comfort is in fantasy and dystopian genres because they have more creative space to do my favorite thing, which is in fact worldbuilding. I usually tend to stay away from contemporary for the most part because of my personal struggle with finding how to write a good hook in the genre. I love the stories I build within modern settings and they really have a lot of potential to go somewhere but those first few scenes before the inciting incident just kill me, especially when I'm writing about something that a lot of readers aren't going to connect to right away, like surfing. When a story's arc is more on an emotional journey versus a goal that the characters have to achieve, I feel opening scenes getting harder and harder to make good to connect with a reader.

I don't know though, it might just be me xD Any tips greatly appreciated, thank you for listening to my short rant.

Write the plot points as a fantasy plot first, then convert it to a contemporary surfing fic. Just replace the dragon attacks with a rival surfer or something. 

The trick to this is that you've already written the emotional beats to the story when you start the genre conversion. You get to stay in our comfy lane while laying out where you want tension, or romance, or good times. Then you keep the tension ect as it is and just replace the outer stuff with things to match. 

Though, may I suggest: fantasy surfers? 

For me, I've found that In Media Res (the act of starting the story in the middle of the action) is a good enough hook to get people into the story. Things like maybe accidentally flipping over your surfing board, unable to swim up, and then using magic could be a means to get the reader invested, though it's up to you to pull it off.

You write contemporary fiction in exactly the same way you write anything else. Also, stop thinking about what your readers can or can't connect to.

Write what you want, and those who can relate to it will find it. If you write, like you said, about surfing, you will attract surfing fans. 

Enlornder Wrote: I usually tend to stay away from contemporary for the most part because of my personal struggle with finding how to write a good hook in the genre.

I'm not sure if I'm interested in writing contemporary, but you might check out that game Ace Combat 7. The world is contemporary, and yet it's other world. The technology might be a little more advanced too, and its done so well. You could easilly create your own contemporary-style world, but actually make it a fantasy. Which is what I plan to do very soon for a new series I plan on titling Fantasy Blues.

I love surfing and yet I never represented in fantasy. I have a lot of friends that also love surfing and also love fantasy… I think you might be on to a new niche here mate. A beach-side Mage who makes a living conjuring up perfect waves for the locals, this shit writes itself