Genre and How it Matters
Story genre matters. Every book is given a genre label whether it is romance, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, western, or cyberpunk. Each book has a genre, oftentimes several. Also, genre comes in all manner of types and forms. Romance and steampunk are very different genres but can coexist in the same book.
Types of Genre
Genres are different from each other. As I have said previously, romance and steampunk are different, not just in subject matter, but the way they are structured. Romance informs the plot and the character, while steampunk decides aesthetics and worldbuilding. To settle this, I have decided to lump genres into three different categories: Setting, plot, and aesthetic.
(Note: this only applies to subgenres of prose. I will not tackle sub-genres of poetry or nonfiction)
1: Setting, this describes what kind of world you are going to have. It outlines the base rules and objects. Is their magic, fantasy; ghouls and vampires, supernatural.
Examples include (but are not limited to):
Fantasy
Sci-fi
Horror
Supernatural
2: Plot, this describes the plot. It informs how characters act and the kind of story you write.
Examples include (but are not limited to):
Romance
Mystery
Slasher
3: Aesthetic, this is the most nebulous of the three types. It describes genres that provide small tweaks to your world without informing the overall whole. For example, Firefly is space western. But, space and sci-fi nature of it dominate. So its western nature is less pronounced. So, Aesthetic is for genres that add to the story while still being overshadowed.
Examples include (but are not limited to):
Western
Cyberpunk
Steampunk
Genre as classification
The main purpose of genre is, of course, classification. It gives you information about what you’re reading and It allows you to curate the media that you consume. This may be the most obvious point, but it is still important to establish. After all, this fact allows us insight as to the true purpose of Genre, it is mostly for you, the consumer. An author won’t rewrite a book because it isn’t ‘sci-fi enough.’ However, this doesn’t mean that genre can’t be useful for authors.
Genre as organization
For example, genre can be useful for organization. While one can certainly create great stories combining spaceships and wizards, it can be useful to organize one’s thoughts. By limiting the genres (and ideas) one pulls from, one can instead go deeper into what they have already created. Having a few ideas that are fully fleshed out is preferable to having a lot of ideas that have nothing to do with each other and aren’t explored. By focusing on a set amount of genres one can make their story more cohesive.
An Example
A good example of a story having multiple genres is Star Wars. Though it is most known as iconic sci-fi films (some of them anyway), it also has elements of fantasy. After all, the Jedi are just space wizards. One of the reasons why it works so well is because it chooses one genre as its main focus. Its sci-fi nature dominates. Theoretically, the weight of Star Wars and its sci-fi worldbuilding can stand on their own. After all, Rouge One did well in the box office and it didn’t have any Jedi.
Also, the Jedi complement the rest of the setting and aren’t intrusive. The Jedi don’t overshadow the other aspects. Even though they are powerful and have large effects on the plot, their powers are unobtrusive. Things like mind tricks and telekinesis help build the Jedi’s mysticism and can fit in with the world. If the Jedi had thrown fireballs it would have just seemed goofy.
Star Wars can be an example of how to blend two different genres. By making sure that the two aspects mesh well with each other, Star Wars provides an enjoyable experience that is part sci-fi, part fantasy.
