Genre

Officially: a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.

It’s a box that gives someone a snapshot of how your work. Literary agents often want to know what your genre is so they don’t have to spend a lot of time thinking.

There are four different genres: fiction, non-fiction, and creative non-fiction. There is tremendous variation within category.

Fiction is work that is not objectively true but is intended to lie in order to get at a deeper truth. The writer announces that the story or whatever it is made up, and the reader agrees to be misled in order to learn something or be moved or changed in some way. Examples of fiction include full novels, novellas, or short novels, short stories, and plays. Graphic novels are now common, stories told with cartoons. Some are quite powerful. And there’s also flash fiction, or short, short stories, complete stories in a page or two. 

Non-fiction is work that is intended to be true to the writer’s best understanding, though it may not actually be true if the writer is just guessing, is misinformed, misunderstands or is deceiving him- or herself. Sometimes the work can be written retrospectively, in which case the writer may have had time to change his or her mind about things as he or she grows up or becomes educated. Historical works are non-fiction, as are biographies, and “How to” books. It is permissible for the writer to make reasonable guesses when there are certain gaps in the historical record as long as the writer notes that’s what he or she is doing and explains why they are doing it.

Creative non-fiction is work based on truth but has been messed with by the writer for narrative simplicity or for altered for dramatic effect. Maybe characters have been added or subtracted, or details have been changed to make the story more entertaining or interesting. I was in a writing class once when several of the students were writing memoirs of their 18th century grand-ancestors about whom, other than the general outlines of their lives, very little was known. They filled in the gaps with best guesses.  

Genre fiction, also known as popular fiction, is a term used in the book-trade for fictional works written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre, in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre. It’s good to read works of different genres so you know what not to steal.

Whatever you write, in whatever genre you choose, should come from your heart!

NEXT TIME ON THE BOSWORTH BLOG: WRITING STRONG SENTENCES.