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G - Genre
by Jonathan
First thing's first. What is a Genre? Merriam Webster's dictionary defines Genre as:
a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content.Of course, we're talking about literary genres, since we're writers.
Now, there's a lot of complicated stuff out there about genres, subgenres, and subsubgenres... Technically, there are about five or so literary genres, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, etc... But, since this blog series has been mainly about fiction writing, we're going to be talking specifically about the subgenres within fiction, such as fantasy, sci-fi, romance, etc.
So even though the post is about Genre, keep in mind that we're technically talking about subgenres within the realm of fiction writing. Now that we've gotten the technicalities out of the way, let's get on to the fun stuff.
Choosing a Genre
Now there are a few ways you could go about this. One would be to write that story that's been hiding inside of you, and when you're done, see which genre it fits into. Another would be to choose your genre beforehand, and come up with something cool to write in that genre.
The first one sounds a lot better, but in my personal experience, both can work great. Sometimes you'll know right away what genre you're writing in, and sometimes it's not until the very end after you've done some research that you know what genre your story falls into.
Sometimes it's better to choose beforehand, otherwise you could end up writing all over the place, spanning multiple genres (I did this!). By choosing a genre first, you know exactly where you're going to be going and what you're going to be doing. Sometimes it's good to set boundaries for yourself.
But on the other hand, sometimes it's better to just write away and pick a genre later. This allows you to have more freedom in your writing, because you're not tied to down in one genre and restricted to certain types of content. It's just up to your personal preference, whether you choose your genre before or after. In my personal experience, both work very well.
So, why do you need to choose a genre? There are several reasons.
Finding a genre for your writing is important for publishing, selling, and distributing your work. Where will librarians and bookstore owners put your novel if they don't even know what genre it's in? Will it go with mysteries, or with science fiction? These people need to know this stuff. And let's just say that if you don't know what genre your book fits into, you either have a really interesting book, or publishers aren't likely to take you seriously.
Then of course, there's your readers. Some people only like to read in certain genres, and they won't pick up your book if it's not in the genre they like because it's not in any genre at all. If you write a fantasy story and label it as science fiction, then sci-fi readers might not like it and fantasy readers might not read it. This scenario may be unrealistic, but the principle still stands.
So not only is it important that you find a genre for your book, it's important that you classify it in the correct genre.
But keep in mind... Genres tend to overlap one another a lot. So, don't be worried if your story fits into several genres. It can make your book difficult to classify, but it will definitely make your book interesting if it spans multiple genres. There are a few hybrid genres out there such as science-fantasy (a cross between sci-fi and fantasy) which are gaining a lot of popularity, so you may want to look into those. I'm currently writing a science-fantasy, and it's really fun.
Though your book needs to fit into a specific genre, you don't have to limit all of your writing to that one genre. You can write books in as many genres as you want. I'm writing historical fiction, science fiction, and fantasy, and I plan on writing in other genres as well. Sometimes it can be wise to stick to writing within certain genres because that's what you're good at, but don't feel restricted to specific genres.
Common Genres
So what are some common genres? Well, there are actually so many genres out there, it's not even funny. I'm going to talk about a few of the more popular ones.
As we saw in our definition, one of the things which characterizes a genre is content, and that is typically the case with fiction writing. Fiction genres, specifically, can be divided into two types: Genres based on setting, and genres based on theme. Let's start with genres based on setting.
Historical Fiction
Historical fiction is fiction which takes place in a historical setting (pretty straightforward, huh). Historical fiction can be difficult, because you have to do a lot of research about the time period and location in which your story will take place. If you get anything wrong, then some if not all of your readers will notice, and you'll lose credibility. You want your story to be realistic and believable, and part of that is accurately portraying the time period and location which you're writing about. You also need to develop your characters really well, because they're supposed to reflect the culture of the century and country in witch they live. Their food, clothing, habits, likes, dislikes, and morals will all be affected by this.
Historical fiction has got to be one of my favorite genres, and I'm a big fan of historian and fiction writer G.A. Henty (you should have heard of him).
Fantasy
Not to be confused with science-fiction (even though it is all the time), Fantasy stories usually take place in imaginary worlds with imaginary creatures and usually employ a lot of supernatural forces or magic in the plot. A such, a lot of Christians don't like the fantasy theme, because of the magic.
Fantasy can be fun because you can basically do whatever you want, and let your imagination loose. but you need to be careful. If you make your story too unbelievable, it will turn some people off. But you don't want to go off the other end and restrict your imagination, making for a mediocre story.
Science Fiction
Definitely my favorite genre, science fiction is special because it features scientifically conjectural societies, environments, and/or technology heavily in the plot. Science fiction can actually be a setting genre or a theme genre, or both. So it's kind of in between. It can be a setting genre because science fiction books tend to take place in the future, in alternate realities, on other planets, etc. It can be a theme genre because of the heavy use of speculative technology, life-forms, or powers.
Science fiction is a lot like fantasy, but is usually a lot more believable because it usually relies on technology instead of magic to further the plot in interesting ways. But that doesn't mean supernatural powers are completely exempt from sci-fi (Jedi, anyone?). Like fantasy though, you can pretty much do whatever you want, but again, you have to make it believable. You may need to brush up on astronomy, physics, or chemistry (I know I had to when writing my sci-f) to help make your sci-fi more credible.
Moving on, here are some genres based on theme.
Romance
Not my favorite genre, but that's probably because I'm a guy. Romance novels revolve around love and relationships, and usually follow the story of two people and their feelings for one another.
Romance can be difficult to write, because most people (at least, from what I have observed) don't know much about how the opposite sex thinks when it comes to love, and they end up incorrectly portraying the opposite sex. If we apply "write what you know" to this genre, we find that you should probably have experienced a close relationship for yourself before you start writing about one. If you don't know how the opposite gender 'ticks' when it comes to relationships, and you've never been in love yourself, then any romance you write will probably show it, much to your discredit. I personally don't like romance, because so much of it promotes sensuality and lust. But there are some good ones out there, for example:
Mystery
Another of my favorite genres. Works in this genre almost always revolve around the solving of a mystery (duh), usually a crime case. If unraveling a secret or finding the solution to a crime is central to the plot of your novel or story, then it most likely fits into the mystery genre.
Mystery can be tough to write, because you (usually) don't want your reader to solve the mystery before your character does. So the solution shouldn't be obvious, and the main character shouldn't be an ignoramus (actually, sometimes that can be really funny). But at the same time, you don't want you character to be unrealistically smart. As always, make it believable.
Other theme genres include horror (where the purpose is to give the reader a good scare), Thriller (where the purpose is to give the reader a... thrill, duh), Comedy (where the purpose is to give the reader a laugh), and so on.
As you may notice, these "theme" genres can occur within any of the "setting" genres. You can have a science-fiction mystery, a historical romance, a political thriller, whatever. So you could pick two genres: setting and theme. You don't necessarily need two genres; you could have one genre that covers setting and theme or you could have many genres that cover both.
A Cool Genre that young Christian writers should look into...
Apologetics fiction! Apologetics fiction is distinguished from other genres in that it takes arguments and evidence which supports the Christian faith and presents them through the action and adventure you expect from most fiction genres. It's a theme genre, but transcends most other genres, both theme-based and setting-based. Apologetics fiction can be a useful tool for evangelism, because not a lot of non-Christians want to pick up non-fiction Christian books.
It can be difficult to write (this is becoming a cliche...) because you need to package the apologetics arguments in a way that's not too preachy or that doesn't stop the plot. You aso need to do a lot of research, because hello, you're representing Christ here. Do a good job. You also need to do a lot of research if you're dealing with views opposed to Christianity, because you want to represent them correctly. If you write a book which deals with refuting Evolution, but you don't even know what evolution really is, you will lose tons of credibility -- not only for yourself, but for other Christians.
Keith A. Robinson is a writer of apologetics fiction, and I actually go to hear him give a talk on how to write apologetics fiction. His bookLogic's End presents a story of what life would be like on a planet where evolution and survival of the fittest was played out to it's logical end, showing that the theory evolution just wouldn't work and that Creationism is a superior model. You can learn more about Apologetics fiction here: http://www.apologeticsfiction.com/
So what genres do you write in? What are your favorite genres to read? Share in the comments! :)
4 comments:
Good post Jonny. I like how you acknowledge that overarching genre is actually fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, while romances and science fiction are actually subgenres.
This leaves me with a question.
Some stories are written in a series of mailed letters (called epistolary stories), some are written as three ministories all interconnected (called braided stories), and some are written as beginning middle end narrative (like most stories).
Would you consider these different forms of writing to be different genres of fiction?
Well, I actually read the post you made about that on your blog, so... You mostly have yourself to thank, haha!
Ooh, I have heard of those. Hmmm... One could easily make the case that they are genres, since we saw in the definition that style is one of the possible characteristics of a genre.
But I wouldn't see them as all fitting under the umbrella of fiction, since you can narrate true (nonfiction) stories in those styles. I've seen all three of those styles used in nonfiction, in fact.
Though I would have to do the research to be sure, I would say that those count as overarching genres of some sort, since they're based on writing stye and span both fiction and nonfiction.
Pretty cool... I hadn't heard of 'apologetics fiction' as a 'genre' (though the concept seems like one that I've seen and thought of before) - so thanks! Definitely gonna check that out :)
Thanks Jonathan, I can tell that you researched a lot for that!
Where did you purchase that book "Logics end?" Sounds good!
I would agree that science fiction is probably my favorite. I like that it is semi realistic.
I would like to say, though, that unlike Sci-Fi, fantasy can be as unrealistic as the author wants! If you think about it, has there ever been a fantasy novel that is realistic? I don't think so.
But maybe that is just my opinion.
Great Post, Again!
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