Genre Is a Category of Art, Music Or Literature. Here Are Some Definitions of the Main Genres

Genre Is a Category of Art, Music Or Literature. Here Are Some Definitions of the Main Genres

Genre is a category of art, music or literature. Here are some definitions of the main genres: MYSTERIES AND THRILLERS, INCLUDING CRIME FICTION: A plot involving a crime or a mystery which the protagonist must solve – often involving suspicious death, murder or a lethal threat to them. Within this there may be elements of, or a veering towards, police procedurals, serial killers, conspiracies, sagas, psychological suspense, family sagas, young adult or new adult fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, historical or period drama, noir thrillers (very dark) … ROMANCE: A plot within which the emotions of love, loss and unrequited love are examined – usually resulting in a happy ending for the protagonist. Within this there may be elements of, or a veering towards melodrama, historical or period drama, erotica, family sagas, chick lit, young adult or new adult fiction, fantasy, sci-fi… SCI-FI & FANTASY: A plot in which the protagonist and secondary characters are living within the past, future, on another planet/ universe or encounter technology or events beyond the norms of what we currently accept as reality. Within this there may be elements of, or a veering towards, fantasy, historical or period drama (going back in time instead of forwards), conspiracies, thrillers, crime fiction, romance, horror, young adult or new adult fiction, paranormal fantasy, fantasy… HORROR: A plot which scares the hell out of you! There may be violence and gore, or there may simply (but effectively) be only psychological tension – for example, The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. Within this there may be elements of, or a veering towards, police procedurals, serial killers, young adult or new adult fiction, conspiracies, fantasy – e.g. supernatural creatures, noir fiction… SPECULATIVE FICTION, INCLUDING FANTASY: Plots that cross genres and examine ‘what if?’ are speculative fiction. What if nuclear war did happen? What if all the women in the world – bar a handful – became infertile? What if our sun started to die prematurely? Within this there may be elements of, or a veering towards, the paranormal, the supernatural, urban decay, apocalyptic fiction, sci-fi, sagas, young adult or new adult fiction, thrillers, noir fiction… EROTICA: Erotica includes sexually explicit details as a primary feature, although unlike pornography, erotica doesn’t aim exclusively at sexual arousal. The novels of Anais Nin are good examples of well-written erotica – see Delta of Venus and Little Birds. Within this there may be elements of, or a veering towards, romance, LGBT, BDSM, fantasy, sci-fi, thriller, crime, romance… HISTORICAL: The plot is set within a historical period, and beyond that the story line may encompass any of the above – with perhaps the exception of sci-fi. Within genres there are also sub-genres, for example, in the romance genre there are also these possibilities: ñ Sagas ñ Historical Romance ñ Contemporary Romance ñ LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) ñ Science Fiction ñ Fantasy ñ Erotica And drilling down further, in Fantasy I might find: ñ Paranormal ñ Apocalyptic ñ Sword & Sorcery ñ Metaphysical & Visionary You can do this with almost all genres. A good exercise is to go onto Amazon and look at a specific genre and all its sub-genres. Do any of them feel like a good fit for what you want to write? Make a list of the books you’ve read in your chosen genre. In only one sentence, what do each of them deal with? Is there a gap you can identify? How would you fill it? Could that be your genre? © 2016 Debrah Martin .

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