Your genre will determine the typed of characters within your story and your story’s content.

If you’re writing fantasy, your story might have a quest in the forest. Your main protagonist may be an elf, dwarf, fairy, prince, or princess.

On the other hand, if you are writing in sci-fi, you might have a space mission. Your main protagonist is an alien or astronaut.

NOTE:   Your story doesn’t have to be exclusively in one genre. You can mix genres. If you want to combine genres, you must be very careful which genres you choose to mix together or be extremely creative when mixing them.

What Exactly is Genre:

Genre is a classification and organization label placed on every piece of writing. Genre breaks down pieces of work into fiction or nonfiction. The genre further breaks down writing into the form it takes, such as books, comic books, poetry, articles, essays, etc.

I will talk about nonfiction genres in the future once I learn more about them myself. 

Today we’ll talk about the fiction genres.

List of Fiction Genres

Young Adults:

The age range for young adult books is between the ages of 12-18. The best books for this age group are coming-of-age stories because pre-teens and teenagers generally read up. This means they read stories that focus on topics they will face in their next stage of life.

Children’s Books:

Children’s books range in the age group of 12 and younger. These stories are small chapter books and picture books like the Dr. Seuss books and the Magic Tree House books.

Crime Thriller:

These stories revolve around a crime that is committed, which keeps readers on the edge of their seats. At the same time, the protagonist pushes to solve the crime and bring the antagonist to justice.

Drama:

Drama is usually centered around a serious story where the characters experience a major life change, loss, or trauma. Drama is seen most in playwriting and screenwriting.

Fable:

This forum of stories tells a version of the truth or opinion in a supernatural way.

Fairy Tales:

The genre is known for stories that contain magical creatures or lands.

Fantasy:

These stories are known for taking place in a make-believe world. The characters that are in these categories may be strange or unique because this forum is sometimes completely separate from reality based on the writer’s imagination.

Graphic Fiction:

Graphic novels and comic books. These may include original stories or existing stories re-told in pictorial form.

Horror:

These stories create a feeling of fear, dread, or convey an unpleasant feeling of horror through things like blood and gore.

Humor:

These stories are intended to be comical and make the reader laugh. This does not mean that the story itself doesn’t have an underlying meaning and thought to convey.

Mystery:

These stories are shrouded in mystery with secrets to solve or puzzles to unravel.

Mythology:

These stories are steeped in religion or pagan beliefs, natural phenomena, and human events. These are traditional narratives that have been a part of societies in different genres for centuries.

Realism:

These stories are based on actual events and are true to life.

Science Fiction:

These stories consider the science and technology advantages on society. This genre also includes aliens at times.

Short Stories:

These stories are short written pieces that contain only one plot. This form of writing can have any kind of genre inside of them.

Suspense:

These stories put the main character into great harm. The reader follows the main character through their race to escape the danger surrounding them.

Tall Tales:

These stories are not realistic and do not try to tell the truth. The stories are entirely unrealistic.

Westerns:

These stories are set into the American Old West during the late 1800s and the early 1900s. This genre has cowboys, Indians, and bandits as characters.

Cons and What Genres Can Be Mixed. 

Can genres be mixed together? Yes!

Can all genres be mixed together? No!

Not all genres fit together, so you, as the writer, have to make sure that you mix the correct genres together.

Tall Tales can’t be put together with realism.

Sci-Fi and Westerns could be put together if done creatively, as shown in Star Trek and Back to the Future III.

It’s up to you, as the writer, to be creative when combining genres.

This Week’s Action Steps:

1. Figure out your genre or genres your story is based on.

2. How will you connect the genres creatively (If you picked multiple genres)?

3. How will you create your story inside the genre?

 

Comment below on some of the things you come up with. I will see you next time.

Sources

https://networlding.com/types-of-writing-genres/

https://www.writerswrite.co.za/the-17-most-popular-genres-in-fiction-and-why-they-matter/

https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/books/a29576863/types-of-book-genres/

https://reference.yourdictionary.com/books-literature/different-types-of-books.html

©All writing property of R. M. McDermott LLC