How to Write a Novel: What are you writing? Genre
Genre is about understanding where your story fits. It’s also about reader expectation.
Many first-time writers think their book is for ‘everybody.’
But it’s not.
Readers like different kinds of books, and that’s a good thing. It means that it’s likely you will find a market for whatever you write, however distinctive.
Some authors declare they do not want to be constrained by genre and refuse to be boxed in by story convention or reader expectation.
That’s fine. Write whatever you want to.
But if you intend to publish your book, either through the traditional or the independent author route, you’re going to have to get to grips with categorizing it at some point.
Genre is just another word for category
Think about a bookstore — your favorite physical store or wherever you shop online.
Every book fits into that ecosystem somehow. Every book has to be shelved somewhere, and with online stores, each book can be virtually shelved in multiple places.
Replace the word ‘genre’ with ‘category’ and it’s clear that every book has one, or more than one.
There are also sub-categories. Fantasy is a genre or a category, but my husband only reads epic fantasy. He loves really long series in the classic style of Tolkien, whereas I prefer dark fantasy, which blends fantasy with supernatural horror, and urban fantasy, which often features fantastical elements in a contemporary setting.
Literary fiction is a genre or category, too, and also has its own sub-categories. For example, historical literary fiction like Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, or speculative fiction like Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, or literary fantasy like Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James.
Some authors know what genre they want to write before they begin. For my first novel, I knew I wanted to create a fast-paced thriller with religious elements in the style of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. That’s the kind of book I read on the commuter train to the day job I hated. I loved escaping into an adventure that spanned cultural and religious locations and themes, and that’s the experience I wanted to provide for my readers.
For some of my other books, I only figured out the genre later, so don’t worry if you’re not sure what you want to write, or what genre your book might be. Many authors don’t understand their genre until much later in the process.
How can understanding genre help you as an author?
Knowing your genre can help you with the writing process. If you write in a genre you love and have been reading for years, you already understand the reader expectations. You know what a satisfying read feels like, and you want to elicit that feeling in your readers.
What makes a story satisfying for you? Think of your favorite books, movies, and TV shows. Why are they so satisfying? What do you love about them?
If you understand the conventions of the genre, you can include aspects that readers expect and love in your story.
In a traditional romance, there is a ‘meet-cute’ scene where the two characters encounter each other for the first time. They are often thrown together under difficult circumstances and there is conflict to overcome from the start. If you love romance, you know how this story should progress.
The characters face difficulties and must figure out their conflict; eventually, there will be a happy ending.
In the thrillers I love, there will always be a scene where the hero is at the mercy of the villain. Consider the classic James Bond movie, Goldfinger.
Bond is strapped to a table, and a laser is about to cut him in half.
“Do you expect me to talk?”
“No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die.”
How will Bond get out of this situation?
It looks like all is lost, but fans of the genre know this scene is necessary. After the character hits rock bottom, they will figure their way out of danger and eventually triumph.
Understanding genre and reader expectations can also help you market your book. If you can write a story that pleases readers, your book will sell, however you choose to publish. It will be easier to pitch to agents, it will be easier to self-publish, it will be easier to create the right book cover, and it will be easier to market. So if you do know in advance, it can certainly help.
How do you figure out what genre you’re writing?
It might be simple to figure out the broad category.
If your story has a spaceship or an alien, it’s probably science-fiction. But of course, there are so many variations within science-fiction, you will need to delve a little deeper.
Is it a romance with a love story that unfolds across a journey into the stars?
Is it a dystopian, post-apocalyptic adventure where the characters escape a dying Earth?
Is it a horror story where an ancient alien species intends to destroy the human race?
If you’re still struggling, find at least five books that are like the one you’re writing. None of them will match exactly, but you should be able to find a few that you can use as comparison titles.
If you can’t find any immediately, then try reading more widely. Search for lists of books by them for character type on Google and I guarantee you will find more options.
I searched for ‘mermaid horror’ and found a list of ‘evil mermaid’ books on Goodreads with more suggestions. Yes, this is a thing! (If this sub-genre intrigues you, try Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant and All the Murmuring Bones by Angela Slatter, both excellent!)
Once you have your list, search for each book on Amazon. Scroll down to the Product Details and look at the categories it is shelved in.
For example, The Source by James Michener is listed under:
• Genre Fiction — Historical — Jewish
• Genre Fiction — Family Saga
It’s pretty clear what you can expect from reading the book and, indeed, it is an epic historical saga stretching across generations of a Jewish family in Israel.
If you follow this process for books that are similar to what you’re writing, you’ll get a clearer idea of your possible genre/s.
You can do this by manual searching, but you can also use the program Publisher Rocket to research genre categories in more depth.
Won’t genre conventions make my story generic?
Short answer. No.
How many times have you read about two people who fall in love?
How many times have you read about mothers and sons, or fathers and daughters?
How many times have you read about characters who overcome evil and save the world?
Your story will be original because of the characters you create and the detail you bring to every element within whatever genre you write in.
What if I write cross-genre?
Great! If you read cross-genre, you’re likely to write cross-genre, and readers love these books, too.
My Brooke and Daniel thrillers span crime, psychological thriller, and supernatural thriller categories. They don’t appeal to fans of straight police procedurals, which rarely have supernatural elements, but those who enjoy cross-genre novels in this vein rate them highly.
If you self-publish, you can categorize your book into ten different sub-categories, so you can virtually shelve your book in multiple ways.
What is writing to market?
“Writing to market is picking an underserved genre that you know has a voracious appetite and then giving that market exactly what it wants.”
—Chris Fox, Write to Market
Some authors set out to write a novel aimed at a particular target market. They construct the story around reader expectations and genre conventions, while adding their creative spin to set it apart.
This approach suits the outliner far more than the discovery writer as you need to know what you’re aiming for from the beginning.
Writing to market doesn’t guarantee commercial success or critical acclaim, but some writers swear by this method and many of them are incredibly successful. You have to decide for yourself what kind of process suits you.
I spent thirteen years doing a job I hated and when I left it to become a full-time author entrepreneur in 2011, I wanted freedom of time and freedom of creative choice. As a discovery writer, I follow my Muse into my story and write fiction that engages me first; I only figure out where the books fit once they are finished. I certainly make less money with my fiction than some authors who write to market, but I love my creative process. It suits me and my lifestyle.
There is no right way. You will make your choice per project and per book.
What if I’m writing in a ‘dead’ genre?
After the success of The Hunger Games, everyone seemed to be writing YA (young adult) dystopian fiction. After the success of Gone Girl, psychological thrillers with unreliable female narrators became the next big thing. And of course, Fifty Shades of Grey was responsible for a resurgence in erotica.
The ‘hot’ genres will always have their day and then the media declares them dead. Agents might not want to acquire books in that genre anymore, preferring whatever the new emerging genre might be.
But readers love what they love. They will continue to seek books that satisfy them, regardless of traditional media’s opinion that the genre is hot or not. Independent authors often make a living in genres rejected by the traditional industry because no genre is ever dead while readers keep demanding more stories.
Vampires are a classic example of a supposedly dead genre that keeps coming back again and again. Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice was published in 1976 and made into a film with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in 1994. With Twilight in 2005, vampire mania circled around again, and if you love a good vampire novel, there are many more variations on the classic trope than ever before. Vampire fans have more than enough to read, and if you love the genre, you will never want for readers.
Questions:
• How can understanding genre help you as an author?
• Do you know what genre you’re writing in? Don’t worry if you don’t, but perhaps you already have some idea.
• What makes a satisfying story for you? Think of your top five books, as well as your favorite movies and/or TV shows. Why are they so satisfying? What do you love about them?
• Choose five to ten books that are like what you’re writing, which may be different from the books chosen above. Research their categories on Amazon. Are there commonalities? Might you be writing cross-genre?
• What genre conventions might your novel include?
• Is writing to market something you’re interested in? Why?
• If your favorite genre has been declared ‘dead’, what elements could you add, tweak, or subvert to make it feel fresh?
Resources:
• The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know — Shawn Coyne
• Write to Market: Deliver a Book That Sells — Chris Fox
• Publisher Rocket software for analyzing books, categories, and keywords — www.TheCreativePenn.com/rocket
• K-lytics genre reports and analysis for top selling genres and sub-categories — www.TheCreativePenn.com/genre
