Essentials Of Genre Writing: Part II – Paranormal

This is a guest blog by Yawatta Hosby, writer and blogger. This post is the second of a 2-part series on the basics of genre writing. Over to Yawatta.

I’d like to thank Hemanth for letting me be a guest on his blog again! Last week, I talked about writing thrillers. This week, I’d like to follow that discussion with writing for the paranormal genre.

The paranormal and thriller genres seem to be really hot right now. If you’re a writer wishing to write in any of these genres, there are some hygiene factors you may need to ensure. Apart from this, make sure you do more research on the topic, and marry it with your imagination. This is Part II of this blog post series where we will look at the paranormal genre.

First and foremost, if you have very interesting characters, you should consider creating a series. Each book should end in a cliffhanger. The paranormal genre lends itself very well to sequels where the main character(s) go through different challenges or grapple with situations which are outcomes of the prequel.

Also, have characters that readers can fall in love with, though this goes without saying. Essentially, this genre requires heroes and villains. Hopefully, your main characters are the heroes. This way if you do create a series, then readers will be motivated to continue the journey.

Consider writing a love story between a human and a supernatural being. A love that is forbidden within the character’s world, so that it has a Romeo/Juliet feel to it. Although this theme has been oft-used, you can be a bit clever about it by changing the world that the characters have to exist in. This way you can attract the readers who are romantic-at-hearts, and you’ll be able to raise the stakes. Will they survive? Will a sacrifice be made on their relationship?

Don’t make all your characters unlikeable. Though some readers love the bad guys, there are many readers who will get turned off if they can’t root for anyone.

Importantly, don’t create a world for your characters that are different from reality without explaining any of the rules. If you write like your readers should already know what’s going on, without a little back-story, then they will get lost. For example, if your story requires that vampires can walk in the daylight, then say so.

Finally, never ever write a lovey-dovey story where it’s only about the romance without any action involved. If readers aren’t concerned with the characters’ safety, then they may get bored with the story and put the book down before reaching the ending.

Are there any tips you’ve learned along the way that you’d like to share?

Keep smiling,

Yawatta Hosby