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odd_buttonsGenre: In my experience with fanfiction I have encountered many of the dynamics described below. I wonder if in the future fanfiction will take its place alongside romance, Western, or science fiction.
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The following is an excerpt from Part III of the book Making Shapely Fiction, by Jerome Stern. The first two parts are very much worth reading as well. The book is available in paperback.
Genre
For fiction, genre means specific categories like science fiction, fantasy, horror, espionage, detective, Western, romance, young adult. There are also subenres like erotic romance, quiet horror, and police procedural. The principles and rules that govern each genre can be quite specific.
Writing successful genre fiction demands serious professional craftsmanship. You need to know the genre to get a feeling for its demands. These demands include such matters as optimum length, best ages for main characters, desired number of subplots, satisfactory endings, and so forth. There are many helpful manuals and guides available.
If you try to do original or striking work that violates the genre, there can be a serious marketing problem. Genre publishers may not feel comfortable with the manuscript because their readers tend to have certain expectations. Non-genre publishers may return the manuscript because to them it looks like a genre book.
Some writers, though they neither enjoy nor know much about a genre, will cynically try to turn out a romance or a Western. The effort usually ends up being a waste of time; their lack of belief in what they're doing shows through.
A sellable genre novel has to have its own freshness, its own originality, its own integrity. Character, dialogue, description, and plot must be energetic and captivating. Within its particular galaxy, the genre novel must create a world.
See Cliché, "Don't Do This," Melodrama, Science Fiction.
*
The following is an excerpt from Part III of the book Making Shapely Fiction, by Jerome Stern. The first two parts are very much worth reading as well. The book is available in paperback.
Genre
For fiction, genre means specific categories like science fiction, fantasy, horror, espionage, detective, Western, romance, young adult. There are also subenres like erotic romance, quiet horror, and police procedural. The principles and rules that govern each genre can be quite specific.
Writing successful genre fiction demands serious professional craftsmanship. You need to know the genre to get a feeling for its demands. These demands include such matters as optimum length, best ages for main characters, desired number of subplots, satisfactory endings, and so forth. There are many helpful manuals and guides available.
If you try to do original or striking work that violates the genre, there can be a serious marketing problem. Genre publishers may not feel comfortable with the manuscript because their readers tend to have certain expectations. Non-genre publishers may return the manuscript because to them it looks like a genre book.
Some writers, though they neither enjoy nor know much about a genre, will cynically try to turn out a romance or a Western. The effort usually ends up being a waste of time; their lack of belief in what they're doing shows through.
A sellable genre novel has to have its own freshness, its own originality, its own integrity. Character, dialogue, description, and plot must be energetic and captivating. Within its particular galaxy, the genre novel must create a world.
See Cliché, "Don't Do This," Melodrama, Science Fiction.