Write about what you know and love. If that happens to be the great American West, research your subject extensively. Remember, it's the story that is important. Telling it well is the author's unending task. Keep writing!

The Western genre accommodates virtually every category of fiction. Adventure, mystery, romance, and historical saga are all easily adapted to a Western format. In fact, some or all of the elements can be combined within the same novel or short story. The genre had its genesis in 1860 when Erastus Beadle, of the Beadle and Adams Publishing Company, issued the first Dime novel. The adventurous West, remote and intriguing, became the setting for Dime novels.