Welcome back! Wow, you must be serious about wanting to be an author.
During this ‘So, You Want To Be An Author’ series, I’m using all my WWBC knowledge taught to me by author and social media Jedi, Kristen Lamb, to help you become a better writer.
Last week we talked about why we wanted to become a writer and what it was about writing that we love so much, we need to write ourselves? And there were some brilliant answers.
This week, I want to talk about genres.
How many of you know what a genre is? Pretty much every single one of you, right?
Well I’m not ashamed to admit there was a time way, way back when they baffled the hell out of me. Huh? Is this girl a thicko, or what? Hang on. Before I’m hung, drawn and quartered, let me explain what I mean.
There are two main categories in writing: Fiction and Non-fiction.
Non-Fiction
I’ll touch briefly on non-fiction as this post is mainly about fiction writing.
What is non-fiction writing? Non-fiction is factual. It’s real. Under this heading we find DIY, health and beauty, sports, automobile, craft, autobiographies, etc, etc. Non-fiction shows, narrates, and even gives helpful little pictures of the topic we wish to learn more about. Got it? Good. Now lets move on.
Fiction
Right, now let’s get down to business.
What is fiction writing? Fiction is totally fabricated and made up – hence why I love it so much.
Now, I myself love writing thriller and crime novels although I’m currently writing a paranormal (but that’s whole other story). Fiction has many sprogs: historical, contemporary, western, romance, science fiction, young adult. The list is endless. But, how do we know which genre is for us?
For example, as I said earlier I am currently writing a paranormal novel. But, I recently entered a competition and paranormal wasn’t an option. Instead I found ‘supernatural’. Okay, close enough,’ I thought. Paranormal – supernatural…. same thing, right?
I mean, most of the genres seem straight forward. Horror pretty much speaks for itself and you can’t go wrong with romance… Well, unless you write a romantic suspense. What does that make your novel? Romance or suspense?
If you plan on writing for Mills & Boon, then you’re pretty much covered. They have a gazillion categories for everything you can think of: medical, nocturnal, western, historical. You just can’t go wrong….unless you’re writing something that has zilch romance. Then forget Mills & Boon.
So I thought I’d try to simplify the genre dilemma a little.
Genres
Western: Howdy. If it has cowboys, horses, (maybe) a damsel in distress, a saloon and a heard of cattle being yee-hawed across a prairie between 1800 and 1890, then western is your partner.
Historical: Whether Victorian, Edwardian, or Tudor, these tend to be based around specific eras with a ton of knowledge to go along with it. If you like your history and you like your research, this just may be the one for you.
Horror: Slicing and dicing is the theme here. Lots of blood, gore, and frightening the bejesus out of your reader.
Children: Don’t confuse this with young adult. The children genre is usually aimed at toddlers and kids up to the age of eleven. So no bad language or sexual references. We don’t want mumsy-wumsy throwing a fit.
Here’s an example of how not to write for children – I warn you, it’s rude.
Young Adult: Probably the easiest way to describe this genre is to think Stephenie Meyers Twilight saga, or L.J. Smith’s (you can see her 30 second interview here), Vampire Diaries. All involving teenagers doing way much more than I did when I was their age. I was a good girl 🙂
Paranormal/Supernatural: This is a big genre at the moment. Vampires and werewolves are a hit with readers of all ages. So if it has fangs, claws, no reflection, rises from the dead, or wears a halo above its head – stick it here.
Mystery/Crime/Police Procedural/Detective: Firstly, if your opening page starts with your main character searching for her hair brush, not only does this NOT mean it’s a mystery, but I will brain you. However, if your story revolves around an unsolved crime, murder, or anything else that needs both the protagonist and your reader together searching for clues and piecing the bits like a jigsaw, then you may call it a mystery.
Fantasy: Not to be confused with science fiction, this one can be set anywhere; Earth or some made up land where unicorns, fairies, elves and trolls make an appearance – along with a magical maze and a spellbinding witch. Fantasy is totally make-believe, thank God.
Science Fiction/Sci-Fi: Futuristic aliens, robots, the distant galaxy or downtown New York; if you can explain it, no matter how far-fetched, using science, then you have yourself a genre.
Romance: Two people meet, two people fall in love, tragedy strikes, two people break up. reader cries – but then two people get back together for a happy ending and reader goes to shops to buy another box of tissues.
Chick lit: Ever read Sophie Kinsella’s Confessions of a Shopaholic or Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones Diary? How brilliant are those books? Aim at the female population to provide nothing more than humor, romance, and good old-fashioned girl power.
Thriller/Suspense/Espionage
Action/Adventure: Similar to thriller/suspense for its car chases and fight scenes, this genre is usually aimed a the male race and often uses an expert of some kind: whether ex-military, police, bomb expert, or in Sly Stallone’s case a mountain guide. Then the story will bung said hero in a jungle, dessert, or on top of a mountain. Sometime, though, if the hero is really lucky he’ll stay in his own city.
Legal Thriller: A large part of the action takes place in a court room while we run through a did-she-didn’t-she scenario. If you haven’t ever read John Grisham, surely you’ve seen his movie The Firm? No? How about Judge Judy?
Commercial/Mainstream: These are of no specific genre but are whatever is trending in the ‘moment’. They are, more often than not, plot driven and are expected by the publishing powers that be to make a ton of sales and wads of cash.
Literary: Unlike commercial novels, these tend to be more character driven. But that about ends the description. Even publishers cannot pin-point what makes a novel – literature: use of language, ability to address human conditions, it’s ‘truth’, moral ambiguity…
Right, I think that about covers it. So now it’s your turn. What genre do you write? Have you ever chosen the wrong genre? Do genre labels confuse you? Do you have a story where you are unsure of the genre? Let me know in the comments and together we’ll crack it.
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Thanks for laying this all out Donna! Now, I’m still trying to figure out what Up Market Women’s Fiction is! Do you know??
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Donna, I’ve never heard of it before. But, here’s what I found out. It seems to be linked to authors like Jodi picoult, Sue Monk Kidd,Anita Shreve, and Anna Quindlan and refers to a more commercial/broad appeal (women’s fiction with literary echos). Does that help at all?
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Thanks Donna! women’s fiction with literary echoes…like that
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Well howdy Donna!
LOL! Howdy! Love that! Thank you for breaking this down for us. It can be confusing.
Genre. Hmm. That’s a great question. I’m not sure. I should be sure, but I’m not. I think the verdict is still out on this until you are finished reading my ms. 🙂
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Karen, you’re genre seems to be romantic fiction. Maybe I will change my mind after I read your ms…..but I doubt it 🙂
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Yeah, women’s fiction is kind of a big mystery to me,. I just know I don’t write it. I call my books suspense, although I suppose they could be classified as mystery. I’d like to call them romantic suspense, but the romance is secondary in my writing, so I’m never sure.
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These genres often cross over and makes it hard for us to determine which is the more dominant. I guess one thing is for sure – We all know we write fiction 🙂
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So you’d fit Urban Fantasy under Paranormal\Supernatural. Yeah, I agree. I write YA Paranormal and was asked to talk on an Urban Fantasy panel. I was a little scared. Was Paranormal really Urban Fantasy in two words? I haven’t heard anyone say, YA Urban Fantasy. Genres. Glad I have one. Sad I need one.
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One thing I have found is where one publisher will link, say, horror and paranormal together, another keeps them completely apart. Frustrating isn’t the word 🙂
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Great post! So I write picture books and Fantasy. Even in fantasy there seems to be young MG fairies And then darker tales with YA fairies who look about twenty.
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Oh, I hadn’t even thought about picture books and their genres. That’s like a whole new branch on the genre tree! Thanks for commenting, Catherine.
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Hey Donna,
I loved your comment about the cowboys yee-hawing across the prairie. . 🙂 As I’ve only managed to put together–by the hair of my chiny-chin-chin– lol one book, it was a murder mystery, but my short stories/short screenplays tend to run towards horror/murder mystery/fantasy.
I didn’t have a clue what genre was when I first started writing. I kept looking at competitions, etc. and they said genre, genre, genre. I thought what in the world is that? So I actually had to look it up on the internet. 🙂 Come to think of it the internet has helped me seem more in the know about quite a few things. lol
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Lol. What a great reply!
I swear that some publishers/contest orgainisers make up genres 🙂
Maybe we should make up ours?
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[…] So, You Want to be an Author? Part 2 – Genre by Donna Newton. […]
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