Hey there.
I have an awesome idea for my story in November, but I don't really know what Genre it should go under. I go to look at the list, and I realize I don't know what some of the Genres even mean! I know Romance, I know Adventure, and I know Horror, but stuff like ... I don't know, Literary Fiction and the others ... I don't know what any of that stuff is. My novel might go under there and I won't even realize it!
I'm asking for a description of the Genres, so I can pick one for my story and know that I made the right choice.
RW
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60,054 / 50,000
Jul 22, 2008 - 16 14
Don't worry about it. Seriously; genre is a shelving technique, used to categorize finished novels so they're more easily found by those who are interested in that sort of writing. A fantasy buff, for example, is more likely to hit the fantasy section because there are similar books there.
To decide what genre your book truly is, if it's not an easy to categorize one, write the book... then figure out where it fits. :)
It';s also easier to tell someone what genre something is by reading the story or overarching theme because oftentimes, even the writers of a given genre can't agree on what counts. You can have fantasy that is young adult because of the audience. Or a story that seems like a mystery on the surface, but is really an adventure. Something that looks like a plain old romance might turn out to be epic fantasy. :)
And now that I've confused you thoroughly, here's a good, but not exhaustive, genre description list from Writer's Digest"
http://www.writersdigest.com/article/genredefinitions/
----------Heather
Forums Moderator