Hellooo, everybody!
So what the hell is genre anyway? According to dictionary, it's a category of artistic composition.
It's also something a ton of writers don't understand, at all.
Genres exist for a reason. They give readers a brief overview of what kind of story
they're about to consume. This is important because people have preferences. Some want to
be scared shitless, others want to be transported to faraway lands, and some people just wanna get
off. Thus, as writers, it's really important for us to understand which genres our story fits into,
that way we reach the correct audience. Because if you reach the wrong audience,
prepare for a whole lot of one star reviews and humiliation. Today I'm breaking down the basic
most important parts of understanding genre and choosing the best one for your story.
This topic was requested by one of my patrons over on Patreon, AJ Mason. Like most of you,
AJ wanted to get a better grasp of genre. There are so many out there and it can be super
confusing. Let me show you the way. If your book seems too obscure to fit into any genre, or maybe
you've decided it fits into ten genres, I'm here to slap you upside the head and get you back on track.
You're wrong, but I'm gonna help make it right.
(The sound of a pen scratching. LOGO.)
Before we get started, today's video was sponsored by Milanote. Milanote is an easy
to use tool that allows you to organize your thoughts and ideas into visual boards. It's not
the same as traditional software. Most software works as a linear document, whereas Milanote is
more like a studio wall, or a poster board. Which makes a whole lot more sense because creativity
is anything but linear. Milanote allows you to take your big mess of ideas, and move them
around however you please. Which is perfect for mapping out ideas, for organizing, and of course
for brainstorming your book and its genre. It serves as a creative hub for whatever you're
working on. Like planning your author platform, creating characters, structuring your novel,
world building and every other facet of planning your book. On top of that you can share your work
with critique partners if you want comments or feedback. Personally, I'm a huge fan of Milanote,
I use this platform every single day. I use it to plan out my YouTube content. I use it to workout
my newsletter. And of course I use it to map out my writing, including the world, plot, outline,
and of course building and creating my characters, and figuring out which genre my work fits into.
And even better you can use Milanote for free! $0! If you're ready to start planning out your
book and seeing what genre it fits into, check out Milanote, it's linked in the description below.
You can try it for free, or you can upgrade to their premium platform. You're very welcome for
your newest obsession. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel. I post new videos on Wednesdays and
if you wanna be alerted as SOON as I upload, ring that bell. The Savior's Champion and The Savior’s
Sister are available in ebook, paperback, hardback and audiobooks. So if you love yourself some dark
fantasy, and you'll love yourself some romance, and you'll like it all very bloodthirsty and
violent, definitely check this series out. It's linked below. Now I'm breaking down the basics to
understanding genre, and determining which genre your story fits into. Number One (1): Understand
the main types of literature. Before we even dive into genre, it's important to have an
understanding of the main types of literature you are either going to dabble in or read throughout
your writing career. First is fiction, which is defined as literature in the form of prose
that details imaginary events and people. In other words, it's fake. Second is nonfiction,
which is prose based on facts, real events, and people. In other words, it's not fake. Third
is poetry, which is a form of literature that expresses ideas and feelings in a distinctive
rhythm and style. Fourth is drama, which is the portrayal of fictional or non fictional
events through the art of written dialogue. That's a fancy way of saying it's a play more or less.
And lastly, there's folklore and mythology, which are fictional stories that originated
a long ass time ago and typically hold value in particular regions. For the sake of this video
we will be focusing solely on fiction and fiction genres, we can save the other types of literature
for another time. Number Two (2): Understand the main fiction genres, there are roughly a
bazillion genres thanks to the existence of sub genres. We'll talk about that later. But you
can't understand the nooks and crannies until you get an idea of the bigger picture, which is what
we're looking at right now. When you look up Main Fiction Genres, everyone has a different list.
Apparently ‘main’ is too broad of a qualifier. So I'm listing the genres that I believe are the main
genres. Note these are not necessarily my favorite genres, or my biased opinions. These are just the
most notable genres I've noticed that breed the most sub genres. This is not an exhaustive list,
and I'm only going to give you a general overview of each genre because this bitch doesn't have all
day. This is just the starting point. All right, here we go. First we have romance, the most
popular fiction genre by a landslide. Romance covers the journey of a romantic relationship
between two or more people, and said romantic relationship needs to end in a happily ever after,
or a happy for now. Second is mystery, another popular genre that follows a crime,
usually a murder, from the moment it happens to the moment it is inevitably solved. Often
readers are along for the ride to try and figure out who done it. Third is the thriller genre,
which is dark and suspenseful. It's designed to make readers anxious; it's supposed to evoke
surprise and anticipation. Fourth is horror, which to put it simply, is designed to scare
the shit out of you. Fifth is fantasy, a genre involving adventure, usually in another world
and often featuring magic. Quite often fantasy is influenced by mythology or folklore, but
it doesn't necessarily have to be. Pro tip, your story doesn't have to take place in another world,
so long as magic is involved. Sixth is sci-fi, a genre that takes place in the future or involves
futuristic components and technology. It's often set in space or involves aliens and planets
somehow, but it doesn't necessarily have to. If you're not sure if your book is fantasy or sci-fi,
take a look at the fantastical components of your story and what causes them. If your
fantastical components are caused by technology or science, then your book is most likely sci-fi.
If the fantastical components are caused by magic, then you've most likely written fantasy. Of course
sci-fi-fantasy is also a thing, but we'll talk about that later. Seventh is historical fiction,
historical fiction, like its name suggests, takes place in the past and covers accurate details of
that time in history alongside a fictional story. Eighth up is contemporary fiction,
which is most anything that takes place in modern times or somewhat modern times. And lastly,
we have children's books which are books written for an audience zero to eight years old. Again,
this is just your starting point for learning these genres. Be sure to do thorough research on
your own. Number Three (3): Genres have rules. A lot of genres have strict rules. If you break ‘em,
your story is still valid, it just doesn't qualify for that genre. For example, the romance genre
requires a happily ever after or a happy for now, which basically means that by the end of the book,
the couple needs to be together and in love. Thus, if one or more party dies at the end,
it's not a romance. If they break up and go on to lead happy lives on their own, it's not a
romance. If they stay together in misery, it's not a romance. You can absolutely write these stories,
but they wouldn't be labeled as romances. They'd be labeled some other genre. Like a tragedy,
a love story, or a drama respectively. The point is before you shove your book into a genre,
do some basic research regarding its rules. If you don't want your story to follow the rules,
or you don't think it's possible for it to follow the rules, that's fine, but it is not that genre.
Don't go around saying that your book fits a genre that it does not fit into, you will piss off so
many readers. Number Four (4): Sub genres are a thing. Maybe you're writing a fantasy book, but
it's kind of dark. Good news, dark fantasy exists. Maybe you're writing a thriller with heaping doses
of sex, it could very well be an erotic thriller. Welcome to the world of sub genres where genres
get a whole lot more complicated. Nearly every main genre has a bunch of sub genres. The purpose
is to better hone in on your target audience, so your readers have a really good idea of what
they're getting themselves into. For example, the fantasy genre is broad. It includes adventure,
it includes magic, and possibly another world. That describes everything from My Little Pony
to Game of Thrones. That's where sub genres come into play. For example, epic fantasy
is typically a lot longer than standard fantasy. There's a lot more world building, there's often
traveling, or quests. Portal fantasy involves characters moving from one world to another,
often via a portal. Sub genres make categorizing your novel a whole lot easier. You will likely be
able to find something that fits all of the quirks and nuances of your story. Number Five (5): Multi
genre is also a thing. “But Jennaaa, my novel has futuristic elements, and magic. Is it sci-fi
or fantasy?” It's probably sci-fi fantasy. “But Jennaaa, my story takes place in modern times,
and it's a romance. Is it a contemporary or a romance?” It's probably a contemporary romance.
A multi genre novel is exactly what it sounds like. The main plot of your story fits into more
than one genre. And believe it or not, this is super common. Contemporary fantasy, sci-fi horror,
historical romance. These are all multi genres, and they are all very popular. Now. I'm not
telling you to throw the whole kitchen sink at your novel. Two, maybe three genres should do the
trick. Anything more than that, and you're just jerking yourself off, get a room. But speaking as
the author of dark fantasy romance novels, I can tell you that multi genre books exist, they are
prevalent, and you don't gotta be afraid of ‘em. Number Six (6): Subplots do not count. If you're
trying to tell me you wrote an epic fantasy crime thriller sci-fi novel, I'm gonna to tell you that
you're full of shit. The odds are you've included the subplots into your classification, and those
bitches don't count. A subplot is a smaller story that occurs alongside the plot. Often it relates
to the plot, but it doesn't overtake it. The easiest way to determine a subplot from the
main plot is to remove it from the story entirely. If you remove the story, and the plot can still be
told with little issue, then congratulations, you got yourself a subplot. An example of this would
be a story about a prince fighting to reclaim his kingdom, and along the way he falls in love with
the mercenary he hired to help him get his throne back. The book is still about him reclaiming the
kingdom, the romance between him and the mercenary is just a subplot. Thus we would not add romance
to the overall genre description. Number Seven (7): Pay attention to setting. “But Jennaaa,
I still don't know what genre my book fits into.” Really? Okay, well then it's time to look
at context clues. When and where does your book take place? If your book takes place on another
planet in a galaxy far, far away, you probably written sci-fi. If your story takes place in the
magical world of elf and dwarf, where fairies float among the clouds, and unicorns graze,
then I have no idea what the problem is, because you've clearly written a fantasy story. Use your
brain for God's sake. The book’s setting will help guide you along the way. Number Eight (8): Pay
attention to relationships. Does your main plot revolve around people falling in love
and living happily ever after? Well, then you got yourself a romance. Does your story predominantly
focus on genitals smashing together? Then you've probably written it erotica, you little minx.
Characters make up such an important part of your story, so turning to them and your relationships
will definitely help you nail down the genre. Number Nine (9): Did you bring the weird? Got
any monsters? What kind are we dealing with? If they're aliens from another planet, we are almost
definitely looking at sci-fi. If they're horrific monsters designed to scare the shit out of your
readers, then we're probably looking at horror. If you've got ghosts then we're most likely looking
at a ghost story or paranormal fiction. And if we got fantasy creatures, like dragons or goblins,
then well we're looking at fantasy. The point is you need to turn to your own creation for context
clues in order to figure out your genre. It's right there in the story. Read it. I mean, you
wrote it for crying out loud. And lastly, Number Ten (10): Categories and genres are not the same.
“But Jennaaa, you didn't list the young adult genre, or the middle grade genre.” That's because
they're not genres, ya limp noodle. Category refers to the age of your target audience.
For example, middle grade refers to an audience of middle school aged readers. Young Adult refers to
high school aged readers. And adult refers to anyone eighteen and over. This is not the same
as genre. Categories are something you include alongside your genre in order to better hone
in on your target audience. You tell readers: I've not just written a sci-fi novel,
I've written a young adult sci-fi novel. Which means that I wrote it with high schoolers in mind.
I'm just saying categories and genres are not the same thing, so don't get them confused. Category
is a reflection of the target audience's age, and genre is a reflection of the content of the story,
period. So that's all I got for you today. Thank you so much to Milanote for sponsoring today's
video. Like I said guys, I literally use this platform every single day. They are so helpful for
organizing your entire life, let alone your book. Best of all, you can try Milanote for free right
now. I've got ‘em linked below. Click it, check it out. If you love it and you want even more access,
definitely upgrade to the premium platform. That's what I use and I am obsessed. Don't forget
to subscribe to my channel. I post new videos on Wednesdays, and if you wanna be alerted as SOON as
I upload, ring that bell. The Savior's Champion and The Savior’s Sister are available in ebook,
paperback, hardback and audiobook. So if you love yourself some dark fantasy, and you love
yourself some romance, check out this series. It's award winning and every time someone new reads it,
it warms my heart and soul. And you wanna do that for me, don't you? I know you do. Check it out,
it's linked below. And be sure to follow me on social media, I'm on Instagram, Tumblr,
Facebook and BookBub. And of course you can tweet me at @JennaMoreci! Bye!
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Now, press the goddamn button, and the bell, too…