Sorcha Mowbray's Blog

Let's Talk About Genre & Why It Matters

Let's start by defining what a genre is.

Merriam Webster defines it as a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content. But what does that mean? In simple terms genre is a way of clearly labeling art, music, and literature into categories that allow a viewer, listener, or reader to begin the experience with an understanding of what they can expect.

For example, as a viewer, you would be pretty upset if you went to see the latest blockbuster horror flick at the movies only to have the actors begin to sing and dance and then ultimately fall in love without a single drop of blood being shed. That's because the movie was identified as being part of the horror genre of films. You had an expectation of death, mutilation, and bloodshed, not singing and dancing and romance.

Now, let's be honest. Art and movies and literature do not always align along genre definitions. And it causes a LOT of confusion. Especially between movies and literature because there is so much cross-over. It also does not help that there is no body of experts out there who define genre for all areas of artistic expression. So, groups that are engaged with a genre typically come together to define their genre of interest.

For example, the American Publisher Hugo Gernsback was a major driver of the establishment of the Science Fiction genre in the early 20th century. Horror fiction has existed as a genre since the 19th century. Romance as a genre has existed since as far back as ancient Greece, but the modern genre has a definition generally driven by the Romance Writers of America. Each genre has evolved over time to meet readers expectations.

Why does that matter?

As an author, when you identify your book as belonging to a certain genre, then you are essentially making a promise to your readers. If you identify your genre as horror, you make the promise that you will provide a story that has elements that will elicit a sense of dread by including frightening images, themes, and situations.

It would be very upsetting for a reader to open a "horror" book and find instead a hardcore science fiction plot full of future technology and alien's with no horror elements. That is not what they signed up for. So really, identifying your book by a specific genre is like making a promise to the reader. If you buy my book I promise to provide a story that includes X, Y, & Z elements.

Now, that does not mean you cannot establish a new genre or sub-genre. But you must be clear about what you are doing.

You can't choose to break the rules until you know what the rules are.

So, whether you are publishing with a traditional publisher or out there self-publishing your masterpiece, just remember genres are your friend. They help readers find your book more easily based on their reading preferences. Don't be a rebel without a cause. ;-)