WRITING ADVICE: Absolutely Basic Genre

GENRE: the French term meaning “a type of”. A literary genre is a recognizable and established category of written work employing such common conventions as will prevent readers or audiences from mistaking it [with] another kind. writing2.richmond.edu/jessid/eng216/216terms.html

OK: now that we’ve defined it, let’s say it together: “g” – pronounced the same way as the name of the elderly actress Zsa Zsa Gabor; or the sound represented by the “s” in Asia – “ah” – as in “open your mouth and say…”; and “nra”, as in the middle part of corporate cheats, E“nro”n.

CONTINUING: What’s it all mean? The absolute basics of genre are this: you can clearly recognize what you like to read and there’s a place for it at Barnes & Noble/Borders/Waldenbooks/Half-Price Books. If you say, “I want a romance,” and the floor clerk leads you to a section that has a sign above it that says ROMANCE, then that’s a genre.

FINALLY: The genres listed on Wikipedia are: action-adventure, crime, detective, fantasy, horror, mystery, realistic fiction (historicals are part of this), romance (historicals are also part of this), science fiction and western. ALL of these have “special divisions” such as action-adventure (thrillers), crime (true crime), detective (hard-boiled), fantasy (urban), horror (slasher), mystery (cozy), realistic fiction (history), romance (historical, steamy), science fiction (cyberpunk – the word invented by Bruce Bethke) and western (historical here, too).

LAST OF ALL: If genre is what you enjoy, the go forth and WRITE IT!