What's Your Genre?

The writing world has changed a lot over the decades. We began simply enough… Fiction or Non-fiction? Real or Make Believe.

Then, as writers became more stylistic in their writing endeavors, we expanded our divisions into genres. That’s a wacky word, genre… what is it, really? Well, it’s a little like your astrology sign. Each type has its own little quirks, requirements about character, scene, and setting, and ability or flexibility to interact with other genres.

Seriously, though, Genre, which is pronounced zhahn-ruh, is the word we use to describe a story’s specific category or over-arching plotline.

The separations began with a measly twelve major genres, with very little crossover. But, as we became more complex in our storytelling, those expanded to seventeen, then thirty-five, and now I’m told as many as ninety-five genres exist in the writing world. My, how times have changed. It's a crazy thing, how the writing craft mutates as new creative souls enter the writing world. Simultaneously, the literary world is expanding and becoming more specific. It’s an odd, push-me, pull-you sort of thing… microscope and telescope all at the same time. What this means for bucket-list writers like me, is that I have a LOT more writing to do!

Several years ago, as I was leaving journalism and setting my sights on a full-time writing career, I devised a goal to write one book in each of the thirty-five major genres (the list of the day). Now, I’m a teensy bit older, and although I know there are more… I’m sticking with those thirty-five, for now. After all, one of the important components of having SMART goals is to make them ACHIEVABLE. At sixty years old, I need to recognize my limitations.

To make your writing more accessible to readers, before (or sometimes after, depending on whether you’re a pantser or a plotter) you develop your plot, you will need to identify the proper genre where your story will fit. Why is this important? I’m so glad you asked! There are three major reasons why knowing your genre will aid your writing career:

Declaring a genre helps libraries, bookshops, and online retailers understand where to shelve your books so readers can quickly find them and send you money.
Classifying your book in a particular genre gives readers a better understanding about what to expect from your story, and whether it’s within their literary tastes, so they don’t waste their time reading something that doesn’t suit them.
Knowing your genre helps you to target your “perfect reader” with advertising energy and dollars, again, limiting the wistfulness of those resources.

In addition, stating your genre clearly helps editors, beta readers, contest juries, and reviewers do their jobs more effectively. Let me put it another way:

It’s sailing analogy time… knowing if the water is salt or fresh, and understanding the current, temperature, and depth helps sailors know what kind of boat will be best for the day’s sail.

Remember, your declared genre doesn’t prohibit you from adding more to the mix as you write… readers LOVE complex stories. However, choosing one primary genre helps you describe simply and elegantly what they’ll get when they open your book. No one will tell you what genre to write, or how many you can include in a single volume… Okay, to be fair, agents and publishers might have mandates on this stuff. But if you’re an Indie Author, you get to choose. Just make your declarations so readers get what you’re writing. Confusion about what kind of story you write won’t help sales.

So, with all that in mind… and so you don’t have to spend the afternoon surfing Google and perhaps getting stuck in a briar patch of rabbit holes… here’s a brief list of Fiction genres and their basic definitions to help you identify your particular story. Keep in mind, each of the multitude of genres also can come with a delicious mixture of sub-genres. The layers and complexity of your book is only limited by your imagination. Also, bear in mind that non-fiction, poetry, short story, essay, and children’s literature has their own set of genre definitions, so if your writing doesn’t easily fall into the list below, have the genre conversation with your editor or writing coach to be sure you understand where your story fits best in the world.

Adventure: stories in which characters are involved in dangerous and/or exhilarating exploits.
Allegory: a story using symbolism (sometimes the personification of animals) to express truths about the human condition.
Comedy: a story with elements and situations intended to amuse.
Crime: stories based on the commission and/or investigation of wrongdoing.
Epistolary: stories constructed as a series of letters exchanged between characters.
Folklore (folktales): stories, myths, and/or proverbs of a people as handed down through generations, usually cautionary tales or inspirational tales.
Fantasy: stories involving imaginary beings in the real world or in an alternate reality and assuming suspension of disbelief about magic and/or supernatural powers.
Science Fiction (similar but different from Fantasy): often set in the future, these are stories that often explore futuristic technology, scientific concepts, and communities, which may include strange worlds, creatures, and cultures.
Memoir/Autobiography/Biography: a story structured to resemble a factual life story.
Horror: stories incorporating supernatural and/or inexplicable elements and intended to arouse fear and dread.
Historical: stories that take place in a past time or place with researched and verifiable details which influence plot, character, and setting.
Mystery: stories that detail the discovery, hunting down of clues or secrets, and the solution of an unknown perpetrator, reason, or source of a crime or other wrongdoing.
Romance: a love story that explores relationships between characters, and ALWAYS has a happy ending… or at the very least, happily ever after – for now (as with a series).
Poetry: works focused on aesthetic language, emotion, rhythm, and imagery.
Satire: a story that pokes fun, sometimes in a covert manner) at human shortcomings such as arrogance, greed, and vanity.
Thriller: a dramatic story often punctuated with action, adventure, horror, mystery, and suspense. This one’s a melting pot of edge-of-your-seat wonderment!
Travelogue: a story with a plot centering on a significant amount of travel.
Children’s: stories specifically written for a juvenile reader.
Western: stories set in the American West, often involving cowboys and outlaws.

Again, this is a very basic genre list, but it’ll get you started on how to classify your books so readers can find you easier. For those who are curious, Wikipedia has an extremely extensive list of genres and subgenres at this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Literary_genres

The point of all this classification isn’t to force you to push your writing into a particular little, tiny box. The point is to easily, simply, and quickly describe your book so readers can find your work and recommend your books to their friends.

Indie Author Pro Tip: Knowing your genre makes it easier when you’re selling at in-person events. When you ask passersby, “What do you like to read?” You can easily help them to discover one of your titles, of if you don’t write what they read, perhaps you can recommend another author’s work. This is how our community thrives. I don’t write mystery (yet) but I know some wonderful people who do; just ask!

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