Understanding genre

Genre is like a label that tells your readers what kind of story they're getting into. As a fiction writer, understanding the different types of genres is crucial to meeting your readers' expectations and crafting a compelling story. So, let's look at five types of fiction genres: form, reality, style, structure and two content genres, and how they combine to create a story worthy of your readers.

Robert McKee introduced these genres in Story: Style, Structure, Substance and the Principles of Screenwriting, and Shawn Coyne further explained them in his book, The Story Grid. Both books are excellent places to start if you want to dive more deeply into the mechanics of storytelling and genre.

Form genres

There are three primary story forms in fiction:

• Short story: The short story has a limited number of characters and a condensed plot, often with a surprising or open-ended conclusion.
• Novella: A novella is a longer work of fiction than a short story but shorter than a novel, typically with a more focused plot and fewer subplots.
• Novel: A novel is a longer work of fiction than a novella, typically with a more complex plot and multiple subplots, including a climax and resolution.

Knowing what form your story will take is an essential starting point for any writer, as it can significantly impact how the story is structured, the pacing, and the level of detail required.

Reality genres

Reality genres are based on the level of realism and fantastical elements in a story, ranging from strictly factual accounts to entirely fantastical worlds. Here are some examples of reality genres:

• Factualism: A genre focused on presenting facts and accurate information, often found in non-fiction writing but applied to fiction grounded in actual events.
• Realism: Fiction that presents a story in a true-to-life manner, with believable characters and situations, often focusing on everyday experiences.
• Absurdism: A genre that explores life's chaotic and irrational aspects, often featuring characters who struggle to find meaning in an unpredictable world.
• Human Fantasy: Fiction that features fantastical elements and experiences or an anthropomorphised reality that requires a considerable suspension of disbelief.
• Contemporary Fantasy: Human fantasy can be contemporary – set in the modern world but with fantastical elements woven into the story.
• Historical Fantasy: Human fantasy can be historical – combining historical settings with fantastical elements.
• Magical Fantasy: Stories that centre around magic, magical creatures, and enchanted worlds, where magic can be mastered by some, but not everyone.
• ‍Alternate History Science Fiction: A genre that reimagines history by introducing alternative outcomes or events, often involving advanced technology or scientific developments.
• Cyberpunk Science Fiction: A subgenre of science fiction focusing on a dystopian future characterised by advanced technology, artificial intelligence, and societal upheaval.
• Hard-Science Science Fiction: A subgenre that emphasises scientific accuracy, often exploring the impact of technology or scientific discoveries on society.
• Military Science Fiction: A subgenre that explores warfare in futuristic settings, often focusing on advanced technology and military strategy.
• Post-Apocalyptic or Dystopian Science Fiction: Stories set in a world that has experienced a catastrophic event, often exploring themes of survival, oppression, and societal collapse.
• Romantic Science Fiction: A genre that combines elements of romance with futuristic or fantastical settings.
• Soft-Science Science Fiction: A subgenre prioritising character development and storytelling over scientific accuracy, often exploring social or psychological themes.
• Space Opera Science Fiction: A subgenre characterised by epic, galaxy-spanning adventures, often involving interstellar travel, advanced technology, and complex political dynamics.

Style genres

Style genres define a story's overall tone and narrative approach, setting the mood and atmosphere. They can be applied to any reality or content genre. Examples of style genres include:

• Drama: Fiction that explores serious themes and emotional experiences, often featuring character-driven stories and conflicts.
• Comedy: Stories that incorporate humour and wit, often with the intent to entertain or provide social commentary.
• Documentary: A genre that presents a story in a factual and informative manner, often used in non-fiction writing but can also be applied to fiction that draws heavily on actual events or issues.
• Literary: Fiction that prioritises language, style, and thematic depth, often exploring complex ideas and emotions through character-driven narratives.

Structure genres

• Arch-plot: The arch-plot is the classic story form. It's often called the "quest" story, and it is virtually irresistible to readers. Most commercial stories conform to this structure genre, and the primary feature is a single lead character with an external object of desire who mostly confronts external challenges.
• Mini-plot: The mini-plot is most often associated with literary style genres and concerns stories where most of the conflict is internal, where time is manipulated, where multiple lead characters and points of view come into play, and there are few (if any) external challenges.
• Anti-plot: The anti-plot is the rebellious rule breaker. Often the lead character(s) are unchanged by the end of the story. Time is a construct that you don't really need to adhere to. There might not be internal or external antagonistic forces. It can be paired well with absurdism as a reality genre.

Content genres

Content genres centre around the type of conflict and plot in a story, divided into internal and external content genres. Internal content genres focus on the character's inner conflicts, while external content genres are more plot-driven.

Internal content genres

• Status: Stories that explore the dynamics of social status, ambition, and personal growth.
• Worldview: Fiction that examines characters' perspectives on the world and how their beliefs evolve throughout the story.
• Morality: Stories that delve into moral dilemmas, ethical choices, and the consequences of characters' decisions.

External content genres

• Action: Fast-paced life vs death stories centred around physical challenges, combat, or exciting events.
• Horror: These life vs death stories are designed to evoke fear or unease and often feature supernatural or grotesque elements and the potential of a fate worse than death (i.e., dying would be a mercy).
• Crime: Stories that revolve around criminal activity, investigations, and the pursuit of justice.
• Mystery: Fiction that focuses on solving puzzles or uncovering secrets, often involving complex plots and unexpected twists. Mystery is technically a sub-genre of crime, but we're giving it its own bullet point out of love.
• Westerns: A genre often set in a frontier setting, where the primary concern of the story is good vs evil, weak vs strong, and civilisation vs wilderness.
• War Novels: Stories that explore victory and defeat, the experience of war, its impact on individuals and societies, and the complexities of conflict.
• Thrillers: Fast-paced, suspenseful stories that keep readers on edge, often involving danger, intrigue, and high stakes. Thrillers can be considered a combination of action, horror and crime – and explore the horrors of real-life, everyday monsters in the real world.
• Society Novels: Fiction that examines social issues, class dynamics, and the intricacies of human relationships.
• Romance: Stories that centre around romantic relationships, often exploring themes of love (and hate), passion, and commitment. They also often examine independence, miscommunication, morality, approval and loneliness.
• Performance Genre Novels: Fiction that concerns the protagonist overcoming a big performance or professional challenge. It deals with themes of respect and shame – will they win the big game or face relegation? Will the business deal succeed, or will it fall through?

Genre conventions and obligatory scenes

Understanding and adhering to genre conventions is crucial for meeting reader expectations and creating a successful story. Genre conventions are a specific genre's typical elements, themes, and characteristics. Additionally, each genre has obligatory scenes that readers expect to encounter in a story of that genre. These scenes are crucial turning points or moments that define the genre. Remember that obligatory scenes and genre conventions are not the same, but both genre conventions and obligatory scenes are essential for crafting a story that will resonate with readers.

How the five types of genres combine

The five genres listed above can be considered categories that contain choices you must make when crafting your story. Each genre has certain conventions that you must follow. To meet reader expectations, you must select one option from each category and then adhere to the conventions of that genre when writing your story.

Fiction writers must understand the various genres, their unique conventions, and obligatory scenes. By mastering these concepts, you will be better equipped to create stories that captivate your readers and meet their genre expectations. In upcoming articles, we will take a closer look at each genre, discussing its specific conventions and obligatory scenes to provide more guidance for writers.

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References

1. Coyne, Shawn. 2015. The Story Grid. New York, NY: Black Irish Entertainment.
2. McKee, Robert. 2010, Story: Style, Structure, Substance and the Principles of Screenwriting. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

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