On Genre Formulae

Readers and authors, I have a question for you. Must a story in a particular genre adhere strictly to a formula? Is there some rule, for example, that a mystery must have x number of plot twists? Must the protagonist follow some requisite assortment of false leads? Must the reader be totally dumbfounded when he discovers (on the last page) who done it?

I don’t pretend to answer these questions definitively. What follows is merely my opinion.

I don’t like formulae. They are confining, and confinement is the enemy of creativity. However, the reader has a right not to be the victim of false advertisement. If he buys a thriller, by golly, he wants to be thrilled. If he buys a mystery, he wants to be mystified (at least for a good portion of the story). If it’s horror, he expects to be frightened. If adventure, thrilled. If . . . Well, you get the picture. But a story goes where it will. At least, mine do.

The hardest genre for this author is mystery. The reason for that is the expertise of mystery readers. A dedicated aficionado is almost impossible to mislead for an entire book. They’re sharp and very experienced. You had better not try to fool them by some gimmick or “tomato surprise.” They will often figure things out midway through. The author’s only recourse then is to make them say to themselves, “Well, maybe not.”

I don’t concern myself with it too much, because I think a good story will save the day. I try always to increase the tension near the end. If I can carry the reader through to a breath-taking ending, he will enjoy the book, and then congratulate himself on knowing that he was a better investigator than the protagonist.

My only formula, whether I’m writing mystery or a thriller is to give the reader someone to be, someone to love, and someone to fear. A new plot? There are none. The Greeks invented them all (or stole them.