Knowing Where You're Going (aka Genres)

Are you close to querying your manuscript? Do you want to enter a shot story in a contest? Need an easier way to describe what you're writing to those distant relatives who ask?

Turn to Genre.

Genres are the way writers and the publishing industry categorize their story in a simple way.

Here's a list of common genres:

Action
Adventure
Biography
Mystery
Satire
Humor
Memoir
Erotica
Fantasy
Science Fiction
Cooking
Gay/Lesbian
Self Help
Inspirational
Romance
Political
Thriller
Suspense
Young Adult
Middle Grade
Commercial Fiction
Graphic Novel
Historical Fiction
Literary
Western

Many more exist, and in addition, these can be combined to better describe the manuscript you wrote. For example, I've seen many Action/Adventure, Thriller/Suspense, and Literary/Young Adult stories.

While many writers don't want to be confined by genre or labeled as writing one genre and not others, you will need to know your genre if you're going to query agents, or if you plan to traditionally publish, or find your book a home in a bookstore.

Genres also offers the writer a way to see what's been done before. Take Western, for instance. If you're writing a western genre novel, you can study the ones already published (the massive collection of Louis L'Amour at your local library, perhaps?) and see what's been done. Twist it, reimagine it, and come out with a story that isn't predictable, but is still publishable.

Genre is not a coffin wrapped in chains and locks. Genre is a fantastic tool to research other books like yours and to help those who ask (or those you tell) about your novel understand it via an established system.