Welcome back readers! As always, thank you so much for checking back in with me and my ridiculousness. One day in the future, once I’m a successful author with several of my books having been made into movies, and I’ve achieved personal fishing success with multiple championships, you’ll be able to look back on this blog and say, “I was a fan from the start, back when he was less famous.”
Yeah, right.
Enough daydreams for now. Today I wanted to share with you something which has been on my mind for a while, but I haven’t put much time into it so I wouldn’t get distracted. That is figuring out the genre of my novel. Actually what started this was the first time I attempted to put together a synopsis about it, which is still not altogether there, and to identify which genre it is.
For a while I really worried, bordering on panic, that I didn’t know what genre my tale could be. In my novel, there are elements of horror, the paranormal, and it features the YA (young adult) crowd, among others. When you stop to think about your story’s genre it can be quite maddening as it’s so important to know in order to properly market your book! Then at my writing club meeting the other night, we had a discussion about genre and it finally got me completely side-tracked. I had to have the answer before I could do any more editing!
Thankfully, a little bit of searching online using the, “how to…” phrasing led me to a multitude of articles. After comparing several articles/sites, I settled on one in particular which helped me a great deal. I wish I could give props to the writer but it appears to be a stock article owned by RockYourWriting.com. The link is embedded below, but I’ll provide a sample of what they call the “Umbrella Genres.” Rock Your Writing How To Find Your Genre
- Action/Adventure — stories including epic journeys, lots of conflict, high stakes, some violence.
- Erotica — stories of sexual exploration.
- Fantasy — stories usually involving magic, other worlds, mythological/mystical figures.
- Horror — stories that invoke fear.
- Literary Fiction — stories with a focus on the quality of the prose over the narrative arc.
- Mystery — stories that involve solving a crime, usually a murder.
- Thriller/Suspense — stories of high tension that can involve either action or mystery.
- Romance — stories about love/intimacy.
- Sci-fi — stories usually involving technology, aliens, science-related alternative worlds.
- Westerns — stories taking place in America’s “Old West,” often with focus on justice.
- Women’s fiction — stories about women experiencing emotional growth. Primary emotion: hope.
Based on this, and other information provided in the article, I’ve settled on Paranormal Thriller for my novel’s genre. If you too have struggled with genre, and this has helped, please let me know. I’d love to hear what you’re writing!
Thanks for stopping by!
Jason A. Meuschke 