Genre, Part III

This is the final stop in the genre journey. It covers romance, science fiction, speculative fiction, thriller, urban fiction, and westerns.

ROMANCE

Romances are about relationships, generally between a man and woman.  They often cross over into other genres, and many stories in other genres include some romantic element. Some subgenres include Christian romance, gay romance, historical romance, lesbian romance, multicultural romance, paranormal romance, present-day romance, Regency romance (set between 1811-1820 in Regency, England), romantic suspense (man rescues woman), sensual romance.

Erotica is another word for sensual romance, and is now emerging as a genre of its own. It is about sexual relationships, fetishes, and sometimes taboo subjects. They are usually written by women.

SCIENCE FICTION

Science fiction is based on some type of plausible science, such as machines, travel to alternate places, genetics, or technology. The subgenres include alien invasion, apocalypse or post-apocalypse (end of world), artificial intelligence, biopunk (uses biological or genetic research), cyberpunk (futuristic story with cybernetic enhancements of characters), extraterrestrial, hard sci-fi (detailed scientific information), gothic (macabre stories), lost worlds, military (soldiers and conflicts in another world), nanopunk (uses nanotechnology), shapeshifting, soft sci-fi (science isn’t detailed), space opera (space travel), steampunk or gaslamp (involves the Victorian era), time travel, xenofiction (strange cultures).

 SPECULATIVE FICTION

Speculative fiction takes place in a different world. It crosses several genres: fantasy, horror, science fiction, and their subgenres.  It also includes its own subgenres: dystopia (nightmare world), slipstream (fiction that leaves the reader feeling strange or weird), supernatural fiction, utopia (perfect world).

THRILLER

Thrillers are exiting, and have an extreme level of fear.  The subgenres include conspiracies, crime thrillers, disasters, environmental thrillers, espionage, legal thrillers, medical thrillers, mercenaries, paranormal, political thrillers, psychological thrillers, survival, and techno-thrillers (involves technology).

URBAN FICTION

Urban fiction is also called Street lit. The story takes place in a city, and is defined by the underbelly of the race and culture of the characters. It includes raw profanity, sex, and violence.

WESTERN

Westerns are usually set in the American west, although Australian westerns have been popular.  Some of the subgenres include buffalo soldier (the protagonist is not a white man), family sagas, gunfighter, Indian, lawmen, outlaw, prospecting gold, settlement of lands, trappers, wagon trains.

 

 

Genre, Part II

Here is the second installment in our genre journey, covering children’s books, fantasy, historical fiction, horror, humor, and mystery.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

There are several categories of children’s literature.

 

Picture books are mostly illustrations with few words, and are intended for an adult to read out loud. Picture books can include: 1) lullabies and nursery rhymes for young toddlers, 2) books that teach numbers, colors, letters, shapes, and animals to early learners ages 1-3, or 3) books with a simple plot (one main child character with a problem to resolve) for ages 4-8. 

Easy-to-read books are for children ages 6-8 who are getting used to reading on their own. The plot is still simple, and the books include pictures and large print, with only a few sentences per page.

Early chapter books are for children ages 6-9 who have advanced past the easy-to-read books. There are fewer pictures, and the books are a little longer with a more involved storyline. Manuscripts are roughly thirty pages, and the chapters are only two or three pages long.

Chapter books are written for children between the ages of 7-10. They have longer sentences that are more complicated, and few, if any illustrations. The manuscripts are no more than sixty pages, with chapters that are three or four pages long.

Middle grade books target ages 8-12. These stories have subplots, more characters, complex sentences, and start to expand into different genres. Often, the books will be a series so the children can follow the characters through several different adventures.

Young adult books are for age 12-18. They focus on the real-life struggles of teenagers, or take children away to another time and place where they get lost in the story. The young adult books are intended to help transition the children into the world of adult fiction.

 

FANTASY

Fantasy stories focus on the supernatural or magical worlds and creatures (elves, fairies, etc.). Subgenres include dark fantasy (includes gothic or horror elements), epic fantasy (long adventure), historical fantasy (with a setting from Earth’s history), medieval fantasy (with knights, dragons, sorcerers), superheroes, urban fantasy (modern environment with fantastical characters), and vampires.

 

HISTORICAL FICTION

Historical fiction tells a story about a true event or an actual person. It usually has vivid descriptions of the setting, clothing, homes, and furnishings. Historical fiction includes biographies and period pieces set in a specific period of time.

HORROR

Horror stories are intended to scare the audience, and usually contain gruesome content.  Most of the time, evil wins. The subgenres include aliens, ghost stories, gothic, grindhouse (explicit gore and violence), hauntings, monster or other critter (spiders, lizards, etc.), noir (urban setting with weary characters), paranormal, stories of the occult, serial killers, supernatural, and zombies.

 

HUMOR

Humor deals with comedy, and is meant to make the reader laugh. It crosses into any genre (romantic comedy), and sometimes is a spoof or parody.

 

MYSTERY

Mysteries have a puzzle that must be solved, and the reader tries to solve the mystery along with the protagonist. It includes several subgenres: crime stories, courtroom stories, cozies (small town, amateur female sleuth) hardboiled (male private investigator, corrupt setting), heists, historical, legal thrillers, medical detectives, murder mysteries, police procedurals, private detectives, supernatural (crime with a supernatural villain), and whodunit.

 

On Thursday, I’ll post the last installment in the genre journey.

Genre

I wanted to enter a contest where I was to submit the first ten sentences of my science fiction novel for an agent to review. The guidelines were simple enough, but I got stuck in my own brain.

The novel I’m working on has a paranormal theme, but I didn’t know if it was science fiction.

I never entered the contest because I couldn’t get past the genre question. I did some research, and don’t think my book fits the “sci-fi” definition. I discovered that paranormal is typically a subgenre of horror, but I’m not so sure my book fits the definition of “horror” either.

I have another novel that is complete, and I’ve always called it a mystery.  But when I was doing my one millionth edit (at least it feels like I’ve read it that many times!), I started to question whether or not it really fits into that category. I submitted it to a publisher, but I’m still not sure if I’ve classified it properly.

There is a lot of crossover in genre, and a lot of subsets within each major category.  Over the next few posts, I will share a basic definition for each major category and the subgenres under each one. I hope this will be helpful to you if you get stuck in the “genre” quandary, especially when you’re submitting your work.

COMMERCIAL V. LITERARY FICTION

One of the common questions writers ask is, “What is the difference between commercial fiction and literary fiction?” The easy answer is that commercial fiction is genre fiction that is heavily plot-driven, and literary fiction is more character-driven. What this means is that commercial fiction focuses on the storyline and the external and internal conflicts that are resolved in some manner. It moves at a quick pace and keeps the reader entertained. Literary fiction is based on a character with internal and emotional conflicts and how that character reacts to events that occur. It moves at a much slower pace, with artistic prose, and invokes deeper thought.

ACTION AND ADVENTURE

Action and Adventure stories are often lumped together, but they also have distinct differences. Action involves the main character in dire situations with scenes that include elements such as fighting, escapes, and buildings blowing up. Adventure is a journey that the characters take to accomplish a particular mission. Action and Adventure can occur across any genre, meaning any story can have an element of Action and/or Adventure, even if it’s not the main focus. Some subset genres include spy stories, military stories, crime stories, and thrillers.

 

CHICK LIT

Chick lit is a category of writing for women by women. It tells of real world experiences younger women face, in an entertaining manner. It includes some type of glitz and glamour, and addresses the wants and needs of its audience. Chick lit is light, easy to read, and quick-paced. It crosses other genres, such as chick lit mystery and chick lit humor.

 

Next week, I'll post the next installment in the genre journey!

Fresh Pages

When I received the galley copy of my book, 2012: The Rising, I was appalled at the errors that still existed. I edited my book, my beta readers edited my book, the content editor and the line editor edited my book. And yet I had pages and pages of corrections to submit.

Even with all those people finding and fixing errors, something went wrong. But what was it?

You’ve probably heard of “fresh eyes”—letting a manuscript sit for a few days, weeks, or months between edits. It is a helpful tool, because when you come back after a short recess, mistakes seem to pop out and you wonder how you missed them before.

What about “fresh pages”? Maybe it’s me, but I think I noticed the errors because my book was in final format. There were fewer words per line, fewer lines per page, different font, and different font size. It was like seeing my manuscript for the first time. Call it what you want: a change of perspective, a change of scenery, a change of view. Whatever it is, it’s a new instrument in my editing arsenal.

I just finished the edits on the second book in the trilogy, Chasra: The Homecoming. But before submitting it, I changed the format. I put my manuscript into two columns per page, and found silly mistakes that were suddenly noticeable.

From now on, I will edit with both “fresh eyes” and “fresh pages” to try to ensure that I can catch my errors. It may not be a foolproof method, but if it means even one less mistake, it’s worth the effort.

Love Letters

Valentine's Day is a day we should share with the person we love. When I was a child, my friends and I looked forward to Valentine’s Day. Every year we made our Valentine boxes so our classmates could deliver cards to us. We spent our nights writing Valentines and putting candy in the envelopes. Sometimes we purposefully choose those conversation hearts that said what we wanted to say.

Valentine's Day is still a special day that I share with my husband, but this year, we’re going to have a third wheel.

I’m going to pour my heart out and write my love letter to another man.

My letter is going to tell him how much he means to me, but it might also include other feelings I have toward him. I may tell him about the times that he has annoyed me, or surprised me, or made me downright angry. I may tell him how I wish he would behave, or how I want him to change.

I’m writing my love letter to one of my characters.

Through this exercise, I hope to learn more about him, and improve my story. If it works, I may celebrate Valentine’s Day more than once a year and write love letters to other characters.

Checking the Resolutions

For 2013, I made some resolutions, and am checking in with my progress.

First, I decided to write 2,000 words a week. I have admittedly failed so far. However, I've written five to six hundred words a week, and I spent the last six weeks doing heavy edits on the second book of my trilogy (that I just submitted to my publisher). Hopefully it will be accepted!

Second, I vowed to read ten pages of a book each day. I have admittedly failed so far. But if you count my own book, then I read twenty-five to thirty pages or more each day.

Third, I said I would be content. This is a toss-up. Some days I achieve this, some days I don’t, but I’d like to believe I’m content more often than not.

Even though it’s the second week of February and it appears I haven’t been one hundred percent true to my resolutions, I’m not beating myself up. I’ve done good work so far, and will keep plodding along as best as I can. I didn’t abandon my goals, just took a small detour.

Now it’s back to the path…

Have a Healthy Heart

My husband and I went for heart tests today. We each had a cholesterol/triglyceride/glucose blood test, baseline EKG, and vein check. It took less than twenty minutes for all three tests, and now we have peace of mind that our hearts are healthy.

Heart disease, stroke, and diabetes are prevalent on both sides of my family. My father died from a stroke, and I would like to stay on Earth for as long as possible. Preventive tests are a must.

Because I would like everyone to stay on Earth for as long as possible, I’d like to take a moment to remind people to protect their hearts. There are simple ways to do so:

1)     Get the same heart tests as my husband and I had done.

2)     Keep your weight down, and be especially mindful of your waistline.

3)     Keep your mouth healthy, which means flossing and brushing your teeth.

4)     Watch your sodium and alcohol intake.

5)     Quit smoking.

6)     Exercise more and sit less.

7)     Eat more fruits and vegetables and less red meat.

8)     Don’t stress out.

9)     Laugh more.

For your peace of mind and that of your family and friends, please take care of your heart. Low cost tests are available everywhere in the month of February, so take advantage of them.

Turning a Bad Day Around

My mother-in-law is very ill. She has good days, and she has bad days. On good days, it's like old times where she's happy, and content. On bad days, she can be downright mean. We all like the good days better than the bad days!

As writers, we also like the good days better than the bad days. The nice thing is, a bad day can be turned around, and can be salvaged. There are many times that I'm in a non-writing mood where I don't want to turn on my brain and write. But if I force myself to do it, I can make those non-writing days a semi-productive, or even a completely productive day.

Sitting down to write doesn't mean that we have to work on our novel or on our short story. Sitting down to write sometimes means getting our feelings down on paper, or daydreaming about something pleasant, or getting to know our characters or our setting better.

Writing can take many forms, and just because we aren’t working on something we will submit for publication, it doesn't mean that we’re having a bad day. I struggle to write almost every time I sit down in front of my computer. I struggle with wanting to write every day. It's not always a pleasant experience, so I tell myself that fifteen minutes is all I need. When fifteen minutes are over, I know I can stop. More often than not, I continue writing because something good is getting out.

Sometimes I write about someone who annoys me, and find that personality ending up in one of my characters. Sometimes I write about a place that I'd like to return to, and find a new setting for a story. Sometimes I write about my favorite food, and suddenly my characters are eating it. Whatever you put down on paper might come in handy down the road.

Even if the day doesn't feel right for writing, it doesn't hurt to sit down and try. You never know what will come of it.