The differences between genre

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LMR
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The differences between genre

Post by LMR »

what are the main definitions regarding each genre etc? what makes a book sci-fi rather than just fantasy? and do some books cross into more than one genre? what about young adult? what makes them young adult versus fantasy/sci-fi/crime etc?

I know these may sound like silly questions.
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Post by Qew »

No, they're perfectly legitimate questions, it's just that, really, you could write a thesis as an answer for each genre alone.

I would say defining a genre is less useful than seeing how it developed and identifying the characteristics that evolved therein. Boundaries tend to get blurred, but for most genres you can identify some core idea or theme.

This relates to the more I guess typical or classic genres such as sci fi/fantasy/crime. With these you get the genre effect of writers being readers and building from works that already exist that they enjoy.

In comparison, the young adult style 'genres' are really just demographics so they can make sure the shelves they sell the books on are the right height. A book can be young adult and sci fi. You do tend to have a convergence of themes and ideas, once again from writers being readers, but in this case it's usually themes and ideas that appeal to the demographic (for instance, having characters their age dealing with issues they would deal with).

Of course you can do away with the tradition entirely and write whatever you want marketed to whoever you want.

But that's just me talking incredibly generally.
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Post by Gravy »

I find this an interesting question.
I was actually going to start a thread somewhat along these lines.
I guess I'll steal this one for my own purposes :lol:


My interest in this subject is in how many different genres there are (not generalized but detailed) and how people catagorize them in their opinions.

Personally these are my thoughts

Fantasy:
Magic and a medieval world/feel.
I usually think of quests and expect something epic when I think of fantasy.
Although, to me in this instance, fantasy and high fantasy are interchangeable.

Urban fantasy:
Elements of fantasy but set in modern times.
Romance, to me, is almost expected but is secondary to the main story.

Paranormal romance:
Exactly what the name implies.

Of course there is no end to the amount of genres you could list.
Sub-genres upon sub-genres.
Alternate history
Adventure
Weird western
Steampunk

They also all blend
And almost every genre would need a secondary sub-genre for ya.

I would like to hear how others classify there prefered genres though.
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Post by castor »

wikipedia has a list of the genres with a small description that i find useful. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_genre
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Post by Gravy »

castor wrote:wikipedia has a list of the genres with a small description that i find useful. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_genre
I know I can look up genres

I'm curious to hear (well read) other peoples veiws and opinions.

I don't really agree with the mass catagorization anyway.
Just hoping for a bit of a discussion. :D
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Post by Liot »

As above one can categorize novels into genre using the various definitions but I think what makes a novel more interesting is when they don't fit into a genre.

As an author I have read much of the advice about targeting your market and keeping to a genre so as not to put your readers off if they are expecting a particular type of read. But that can make them repetitive and boring after a while.

So I'm developing as a writer without hemming myself into a genre.

Fran Connor
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