Fiction Genres

Busy Writer's Guides #11

by Marcy Kennedy

Genre confuses writers, but everyone who buys, sells, or reads our books wants to know what genre we're writing in.

This mini book will demystify genre so we can better understanding what we're writing and who might want to read it. In Fiction Genres, you'll learn what qualities make a book one genre rather than another, and the smaller “genres” that fall under the larger umbrellas of fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, suspense, thriller, and romance. For each, you'll also see examples of published books or authors whose books exemplify the genre.

This mini-book is part of the Busy Writer's Guides series. The books in this series put writing craft techniques into plain language alongside examples so you can see how that technique looks in practice. In addition, you’ll receive tips and how-to exercises to help you apply what you learn to the pages of your own story. Most importantly, every book in the Busy Writer’s Guide series cuts the fluff so that you have more time to write and to live your life.

Genres: Writing

34 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 25, 2016

About the author

Marcy Kennedy is a science fiction and fantasy author who believes there's always hope. Sometimes you just have to dig a little harder to find it. In a world that can be dark and brutal and unfair, hope is one of our most powerful weapons.

She also writes award-winning mysteries under a pen name, but that's a secret. Shhhh...

Marcy lives in Ontario, Canada, with her former Marine husband, Boxer mix, eight cats (all rescues), and budgie. In her free time, she loves playing board games and going for bike rides.

Reviews

[Alina · Rating 4 out of 5]

“My goal is to give you the main categories so you can better understand where your book might fit or what you might be interested in writing in the future.” (Loc. 105)

Fiction Genres is the eleventh book in Marcy Kennedy’s series A Busy Writer’s Guide, and it is aimed at aspiring and newbie writers who struggle to choose the genre of their book. Whether you like it or not, picking the right genre matters because it’s a crucial step you need to take for your writing career. That’s why this guide is a handy tool for the confused or indecisive newbies.

“Genre helps you find your ideal reader, the people who are most likely to turn into diehard fans, because people who read books similar to yours may enjoy your books as well.” (Loc. 75)

Fiction Genres comprises of an introduction, a general discussion on genres, six chapters dedicated to popular genres (Fantasy, Science Fiction, Thriller and Suspense, Mystery, Romance, Horror) and their subdivisions, a conclusion, a free special offer and a brief author bio. Marcy Kennedy explains each genre revealing its characteristics and differences between them, highlights the most important subgenres, quotes other literary sources and gives some examples of famous books belonging to a certain category.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this guide because I learned something new in each chapter about the genres I love, but also about those I’m not a fan of. The book is short yet informative, easy to follow, coherent and well-structured. Though Fiction Genres is a good starting point for aspiring writers, it’s not enough. If you want to dive deeper into a certain genre, read books in your category and do a thorough research.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of the basic differences between the major genres, within the larger ones, and the numerous "subgenres" within those. I think it's important to review this before you decide to start a new story, whether that story be a novel or short story, which you intend to complete to a serious degree and hope to publish. If you're not really hoping to make it polished or publishable I don't think this very to worry about this. But again you are going to make a serious effort to write a a piece of fiction which is of publishable quality, then you need to make some decisions concerning the genre sub genre of your story. And then it's important to read this book. All that having been said, considering that Ms. Kennedy is one of the best writing teachers I know of I was disappointed by the lack of detail in this book. For example, I think there was more that could have been said about the differences between thrillers and suspense stories. And why thrillers and suspense stories, where the billing is known to the reader but not the investigator, seem to be more popular nowadays then traditional who done it "mysteries." Or the differences between different types of fantasy or different types of science fiction. I think given the fact that Marcy Kennedy was supposedly writing this book for writers and not just for bookstore shoppers, I think she could've gone into more detail concerning the finer points in the more you genres and how the genres have evolved over time, which may have led to the confusion.

[K. Counihan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good to Have for Reference

At 38 pages it is more of a pamphlet.
Still good to have in your writers toolbox.
Written in concise clear English and organized .

[Daniel B-G · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skim read, the advice was quite generic.

[Willow Woodford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre has always confused me. I can usually pick out if a book is a romance, or sci-fi or fantasy, but get much further from those and I start getting foggy. As you know I recently finished writing my first novel, An Amethyst in the Rough and as it sits with my beta readers I am considering what to do with it. I’m also signed up to go to a writer’s conference in March where I may have an opportunity to pitch something to agents who are there. In light of those thoughts I figured I should know definitively what genre Amethyst is.

Genre’s is not a definitive guide designed to define every possible genre but Kennedy does highlight the most common ones and explains what makes them tick and where they might crossover. She also explains how to differentiate them when they do cross over and decide which one your book should be placed in. As a writer I can also understand better how to present my story so my readers will enjoy it by understanding the expectations of the genre.

Why is this important? Marcy Kennedy give several reasons.
If I decide to pitch to an agent I need to state what genre my book falls into so that they can decide if they’re interested or not.
As an Indie author I need to be sure to list my book in the right category so that fans of that genre can find it.
When a book is listed properly by genre it is more likely to be discovered by fans of that genre and read.
I can answer questions about my book when asked, letting them know the genre up front tells them a lot about my book.
Potential readers know what to expect by genre and aren’t disappointed when they read it.

As Kennedy says, “if you’re craving chips and someone tricks you into eating a piece of cake instead, you’re probably not going to feel satisfied.”

Overall, I enjoyed Kennedy’s guide on Genre’s and felt it taught me a lot. It is a brief book, only 38 pages long which makes it an easy read. I will probably look for a more in depth guide to follow up with but Marcy Kennedy’s quick guide gave me a great jumping off point to begin with.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

At last a genre book!

I've been waiting for something like this for a while and now it's here! Finally a book that helps demystify genres for newbies like myself. Classifying your book can prove to be rather challenging. So I appreciate the work that Marcy Kennedy has done to put it into one short book. Thanks!

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marcy Kennedy does a fair job summarizing the key features of popular genres. I disagree with a few of her assumptions, but on the whole, the book is easy to read and somewhat informative.

[Jane K. Stecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Great Explanation of Genres

A new writer always wonders where his or her book fits. Is it mainstream fiction or genre fiction? If it's genre fiction, where does it belong? This book is a quick read that explains the various genres of fiction in a concise way. It's an excellent resource for the new writer's toolkit.

[Pat Hauldren]

This was a very good book on genres. She is very clear and gives examples. I'll be using it for advice in my upcoming "Generating Gorgeous Genres" online class Dec 11 at SavvyAuthors.com.