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When someone innocently poses the very legitimate question, “So, what kind of writing do you do?”, here is my typical, and utterly unsatisfactory response:
“Umm… fiction?”
Of course, before I come up with this brilliant answer, this is what’s going on in my overwrought mind:
I think I’m writing commercial or women’s fiction—as opposed to literary fiction (wait…are they different?) There’s some mystery, some romance, some humor, and a hint of the supernatural. Hang on—if I say supernatural, are people going to think it’s sci-fi or fantasy? Some of it takes place in the 1940’s and 1950’s– does that make it historical fiction? But that part is just heavily fictionalized biography, based on my mother’s childhood. I’ll just say ‘fiction’… I can’t go wrong with just ‘fiction’, right?
For all sorts of reasons, I’m going to have to do a MUCH better job of answering this question: where would my book fit on the proverbial bookshelf? If I ever gather the courage to enter a writing contest, or send out my manuscript to agents (after finishing it, of course) mislabeling my writing could take me out of the game before it even starts.
Genre-ly speaking…
If there’s one thing I’ve learned at the various writers’ conferences I’ve attended, it’s that agents and publishers can be pretty specific about what kind of writing they’re seeking to represent. From horror to sci-fi to mystery to historical- paranormal-romantic-suspense—you need to be able to describe your book by genre, and potentially subgenre. Or, alternatively, you might be able to compare your book to popular authors or titles. For example, I’d like to say my book is Maeve Binchy meets Janet Evanovich with a touch of Cecelia Ahearn. (I can dream, can’t I?) The point is, in order to convince agents and publishers that they should represent you, you must assure them that your book fits neatly into their “list,” and that it will be a snap to market your book, since you already know the type of readers who will be interested in buying multiple copies! And a quick and easy (well, not always easy) way of introducing your writing someone is to identify your genre.
For me, many of these considerations are quite far down the road. At the moment, I just want to be able to speak intelligently, or at least coherently, about “what I write.” But deciding on a genre can be tricky business. There is a lot of blending and cross-over between genres, and it’s quite possible someone’s writing can fall into several categories. If you, like me, are struggling to nail down your genre, here are just a few links that might help us get started on figuring out how best to answer the question, “So what kind of writing do you do?”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_literary_genres
(The subgenre list here might make your head spin!)
http://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=578
(The Romance Writers of America website gives helpful guidance on what elements are usually present in the “Romance” genre and subgenres.)
http://www.pnwa.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=210
(A thoughtful guide to their Literary Contest Categories provided by the Pacific Northwest Writers Association.)
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-different-book-genres.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/list/booksgenres
Do you know any other websites or blogs that can shed light on genres? If so, please share! Are you having (or did you have) trouble landing on your genre or genres? Do you think it’s necessary to identify a genre for your writing?
What a great post Adrienne. I’m in the same boat and unfortunately “a little of this, a little of that,” doesn’t make for the most intelligent sounding answer! I’m definitely genre-less at the moment. True life novel seems to work but apparently you have to be as famous as Jeanette Walls to create your very own category ( :
Thanks, Susan! If anyone can pull off category creation, it’s you!
Great post, Adrienne. This is something I think about a lot. In MFA programs you’re so clearly funneled into one chute and I chose poetry. Then, bam, I started to write creative non-fiction (and had to learn all kinds of things I didn’t know). Lately I’ve been writing short stories! So for me, genre is a huge question and I am probably doomed to obscurity unless I choose one genre and stick with it. But for now, it’s fun to play around.
Thanks, Susie– I’m so glad to know I’m in such excellent company here! I’ve ALWAYS liked to keep my options open… I think that’s why it’s hard for me to pick just one…. It seems like you are on the right track– to play around with a bunch of different types of writing, see what sticks.
What a timely post! I’ve definitely been wrestling with figuring out how to define my genre(s) (and therefore my niche) in a way that makes sense–mostly because I really want to publish in more than one genre. The novel I am revising now is easier to define: middle grade urban fantasy. But the novel I am starting think about and research next is harder to define so far, right now it promises to have elements of historical fiction, women’s fiction, hopefully a little romance.
To me, there’s an artistic and thematic continuity among the things I write. I don’t want to present myself as indecisive, I just have different stories to tell, for different audiences. Hm…I’ve always been more of a “both/and” person rather than “either/or,” so your post and the other comments here really resonate with me.
Thanks, Alisha, for reading popcorntheblog and for your comment! It’s reassuring to me that I’m not the only one trying to sort out the ‘genre’ question. (And publishing in more than one genre seems to be the most sensible approach anyway– I’m a both/and person myself!) Kudos to you for being at the revision stage of your middle grade urban fantasy novel! A huge accomplishment!
Adrienne, what a great post! And it’s totally true – the genre question is an important one and really tricky. I think it’s most important at the agent-getting stage, when you have to get across who you are, what you write as quickly and effectively as you can. After that, it seems a bit more fluid, at least in my experience. For example – The House Girl has recently been described (by separate people, in separate publications) as literary fiction, historical fiction, women’s fiction and (most surprisingly) a thriller. Go figure.
You’re right! At the conferences I’ve been to, during “pitching sessions”, agents seemed VERY specific about what they were looking for, so aspiring authors should have a grasp of what genre or genres their writing falls into. Yet, when it comes down to marketing/selling a book– it seems like the more ‘crossover’ appeal a book has, the wider the audience it will have. Yet ANOTHER great sign for THE HOUSE GIRL, since it will appeal to readers of many different genres!!