Understanding what genre is and being able to play with those expectations can be really hard when you’re starting out as a writer. I’ve certainly fallen foul myself. So, in this blog I’ll break down what genre is and ways to avoid the pitfalls that catch many of us out.
What is “Genre”?
Genre is not theme. It’s a little crazy how often they’re confused for one another. Genre is the one that comes with expectations. That might be things like jump scares or similar in Horror. It might be a crime with a culprit that may or may not get caught in Crime.
1. Know Your Genre
Picking apart the genre you’re writing in will put you in good stead. Watch or read what has come before. Weirdly, it seems a little contradictive as people may believe it could influence their idea if they watch or read something similar. In fact, it’s a perfect example to see what has been done before. Seeing how the genre has developed over the years has also been rather useful for my second point.
2. Navigate Tropes and Cliché
Knowing what has come before means you can avoid the pitfalls of using outdated and stale tropes and clichés that have been done to death. Yes, I am talking of things like the cop with a dead wife and a drink and/or drug problem brooding in the corner. These are two a penny. It immediately makes us as an audience disinterested because we’ve seen it so many times.
That doesn’t mean all of them are bad. What I’m saying is find those tropes or clichés and twist them into something new. Play with our expectations as your audience.
3. Play With Expectation
Genres and their moving parts help an audience go “oh, this is a Sci-Fi”. This means their parts have been played with for years. It can mean it’s quite difficult to do something new and fresh. There has also been a time where different genres were mixed together to get a new twist. A few years ago, actor Daniel Craig was in a film called Cowboys and Aliens, playing with the Western and Sci-Fi genres. It wasn’t something I thought of initially, but it worked to twist our expectations.
Try playing with a genre or two and see how you can give your audience what they expect from the genre/s with a twist. The same, but different.
Understanding how genre works is how we writers can stand out in the crowd. If you can use the rules of a genre and twist them into a new and fresh version, this will get you on your way to being noticed. So best of luck.
Happy writing!
If you’re looking for inspiration on stakes, writing strong story ideas or writing an opening image, you can check out my previous blogs for tips.