Knowing Your Genre

Do you feel as if you know your genre? Do you feel as if you're grasping at straws when you write, hoping that what you put out in the fantasy, Christian fiction, or YA genre is correct? Do you hope you are doing it right?


Photo by: Ben Oh, courtesy of Flickr

Straw grasping may work for getting a soda at the local McDonald's, but it doesn't work when you're trying to create a real world on another planet without having read any other fantasy authors who have dealt with the subject.

What about writing YA, when you have a difficult time relating to teenagers? What if you're unaware of the current lingo or concerns today's teenagers are facing?

What if you're writing a historical fiction book without doing any research?

Writing a mystery novel is different from writing even a fantasy novel.

And writing for children is different from writing for adults.

If you're feeling a little shaky....

1. Learn from novelists that write in your genre. That means reading their books and taking their classes.

2. Take time out to smell the roses. If you don't have children of your own and want to write for this age group, for example, offer to do some babysitting, make some time to go to a park and observe, take a visit to the zoo. Ask questions of your nieces of nephews. Take them overnight.

3. Study. Study the craft of writing as well as the genre in which you want to write.

4. Practice. You may find through your writing that what you thought was your strong point (general fiction) is in fact (fantasy). You learn what you're good at by writing and that includes writing exercises and writing prompts.

5. Don't guess. If you're not sure what the capitol of Oregon is, don't guess. Look it up.

6. Have readers who read your genre on a regular basis read your book before it goes to print. Listen to their concerns. Makes some editing decisions to improve your work.

 

Photo by: panduh, courtesy of Flickr



Above all, don't give up. Knowing your genre is a bit like knowing how to mow the lawn or weed the garden. It takes some training, dedication and experience to turn the average, stumbling effort into something truly beautiful.

Knowing Your Genre

Knowing your genre is kind of like knowing how to bake a cake. Without all of the right ingredients, your cake might come out flat or lopsided. It might even taste funny.



Photo by: Rhonlynn, courtesy of Flickr

I remember the time I mistakenly put in salt instead of sugar. We keep both our salt and sugar in large white tubs, preferring to buy it in bulk, and this one time I mistook the one for the other.

Nasty, I can tell you.

Photo by: Rasdourian, courtesy of Flickr

We may even bake our cake too long or put in the wrong ingredients, especially if we think we can remember the ingredients in our head and don't need at recipe.

Consider a cake that's frosted before it's cooled.

A science fiction book can be like that, or a murder mystery or a Christian fiction novel. Keeping in mind that not one of the options I've listed above is written the same as the next one, you need to know some specifics in writing the genre of your choice. You need to know the ingredients, the temperature it needs to be cooked at and how long.

If you've never read a science fiction novel you shouldn't be writing one, and that goes for a murder mystery, a Christian fiction novel or anything else. It just doesn't work for you to guess. Trust me.

I tried to write a romance once, having never cared to read one. I thought mine would be better. What I soon discovered was that I had no idea what I was doing and eventually scrapped the project. Sure, I write very small scenes sometimes with a little romance in them, but I haven't considered starting a romance novel since.

Another good way to know your genre is to read nonfiction books from authors who also write the fiction variety. Orson Scott Card, for example, writes Science Fiction and Fantasy. His book, "How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy," offers writers knowledge in time, space, magic and story elements needed for these two genres of writing.

Some writers will tell you that the best genre to write is the one that's selling the most, but I beg to differ. Write what you love.

The bottom line is like the bottom of the cake. You don't want it to be burnt so do all you can to know what you need to know to write it right.