Genre Specification

[Deleted member 4007]

For many writers, it is absolutely obvious what genre they are writing in. Here's my thing: I don't know the genre of my novel, beyond saying that it's "fiction". I'll describe so you can help me out.

My novel is set in another world, during the industrial revolution. The characters are involved in gold rushes.
In my world, I use animals which are extinct in our own: for example, the New Zealand moa (which went extinct in the 1450s). The moa, a flightless bird, replaces the horse in my story. The purpose of this is simple: to make it stand out from all the cowboys on horseback in Westerns. People ride around on these giant birds.

There is no instance of supernatural or use of magic in the book. The aim is to achieve realism. Furthermore: my story ends as a semi-tragedy, and there are also some detective elements to it. My writing style does feel like Noir, but - that's a film term.

So my ultimate guess would be - Realism Fiction? Fantasy is less likely - since there is no magic. Historical fiction (I think) is wrong, because it is not set in the past, even though the era feels like the past. "Drama" is wrong, as again, that term is only used that way in film.

HELP!

 

[CupofJoe]

You could probably hyphen yourself to pieces with a tight definition [minimalist-gritty-period-detective-melodrama-fantasy etc... ] but as soon as you mention "Cowboys on giant flightless birds" I think most people will stop at "Fantasy" as the genre...
I have a noir style [for some reason I spell it Noire...] and in my last few works I have little to no magic, the gods of my world don't turn up at all and I try to be small scale realistic even with the fantastical and I consider everything I write to be solidly "Fantasy".

 

[Mythopoet]

If it's in another, made up world then it's fantasy.

 

[Garren Jacobsen]

I wouldn't worry about what genre your work is in until you finish and start marketing your book.

 

[Xitra_Blud]

Not everything has to fit into a genre. There are different types of books:
Genre Fiction
Literary Fiction
General/Mainstream fiction

From what I've read, genre fiction is formulaic. These are your fantasy, horror, comedy, mystery, etc. These follow tropes and formulas readers expect to see. They are usually more plot driven than character driven and the purpose for these stories are typically for entertainment. They are often shelved beneath their specific genre in the library and bookstores.

Literary fiction is said to be more "high Brow". These stories are not formulaic and are very thematic and full of metaphors and symbolism. They are character driven and plot tends to take a back seat in these sorts of stories. The pros in these books are expected to be original. That's not to say that the pros are "fancy" or "velvety", but readers of literary fiction tend to read for pros as well as story, and they want something that is unique. A voice that stands out from others. The purpose of literary fiction is to make the reader think and ponder issues, life, and the human experience. These books have something to say, and are not often referred to as "an easy read". These kind of books do not often have as big a fan base as genre fiction, however, these are the books that tend to win literary awards and such things. You will find them shelved in the "literature" or "literary fiction" section at the bookstores and libraries.

General/Mainstream fiction, at least from what I understand, does not quite fit into literary but it doesn't quite fit into genre either. It does not have to be formulaic and often times it may encompass more than one thing (fantasy/drama/mystery, horror/drama/romance, sci-fi/romance/mystery, etc.) There are no rules. Often times they are both character driven and plot driven. There may be more emphasis on character than plot and vice-versa. There really is no rules to it. If you are not sure where exactly your book goes, this may be the place for it.


Here's a link that will explain this more in depth: Types Of Novels: A Complete Guide | Novel Writing Help

This is stuff I never really knew about myself until I came across a few writing sites, and I'm glad I did. It helped me figure where to store my work and I also found it really interesting.

 

[FifthView]

My novel is set in another world, during the industrial revolution. The characters are involved in gold rushes.
In my world, I use animals which are extinct in our own: for example, the New Zealand moa (which went extinct in the 1450s). The moa, a flightless bird, replaces the horse in my story. The purpose of this is simple: to make it stand out from all the cowboys on horseback in Westerns. People ride around on these giant birds.

That sounds like an alternate history approach. Is the world our world, altered, or a totally fictional world?

Edit: Not sure if "another world" means a totally different world or is being used metaphorically. It could well be science fiction if all of your technology and description of the biosphere adhere to science. So it could be an alien planet. Or, an alternate universe in which things developed differently but not wildly differently.

 

[Deleted member 4265]

I would call it fantasy simply because I feel like that's who your audience is. I could be wrong, though.

 

[Deleted member 4007]

These are all helpful, thank you all.

I'm going to have to say that this should not be classed "fantasy". I feel like people go into fantasy looking to go "oooh", and they may interpret metaphors as magic; they may even think something supernatural is happening when my characters hallucinate (though the genre is quite broad, and I should not assume). Also, there are many sexual themes in the novel, and while fantasy is not specifically for younger folks, it does feel like an odd branding for this one.

I'd like to say that I'm doing literary fiction, but in truth, I am not trying to convey a large message, beyond drawing parallels to the oppression of the Chinese during the gold rush, and vaguely criticising large industries (by making them the antagonist).

My other option which I did not mention before would be "adventure". The pacing seems to agree with it.
Again, thanks for your combined help.

 

[skip.knox]

Alternate history should do just fine. But, why do you care? If you are going to submit to traditional publishing, then the publishing house is going to decide for you, and it won't matter what your opinion is. If you are going to self-publish, then every platform as a host of categories and keywords, so you'll just shop from their menus. Meanwhile, just write the book and don't worry about it.

Is there another reason to try to nail down genre, that I'm missing?

 

[Deleted member 4007]

Thanks for this info, skip.knox.
I wasn't sure if traditional publishing did it themselves: though I believe that when you submit the first few chapters or pages to a publishing company, I thought they wanted an abstract of the story + genre description? I've seen ono publishing sites that they state: currently interested in science-fiction, uninterested in fantasy, etc.. This is what I was wondering about it for.

For the record: I am just writing it! But I just started thinking about this.

 

[skip.knox]

Ah. WRT trad publishing, provide a genre if the house specifically requests it. Then again, if it's a genre house, you should already know the answer. But where they do not ask specifically about genre, it's much better to say your novel is reminiscent of, or in the style of Famous Author X. For example, my query says my novel is in the tradition of Harry Turtledove and Naomi Novik. Any agent or editor will instantly be able to place me.

If you are looking for further guidelines, I suggest browsing the categories at Amazon, iTunes and B&N. See what kinds of books are there. Read the blurbs, read samples. That should help give you an idea of where to pitch yours.

One thing I haven't done, but intend to, is take a look at amazon.uk as well as amazon.com, just to see what the variations in sub-genre and keywords are. If I find anything of interest, I'll report back to The Group.

 

[Mythopoet]

These are all helpful, thank you all.

I'm going to have to say that this should not be classed "fantasy". I feel like people go into fantasy looking to go "oooh", and they may interpret metaphors as magic; they may even think something supernatural is happening when my characters hallucinate (though the genre is quite broad, and I should not assume). Also, there are many sexual themes in the novel, and while fantasy is not specifically for younger folks, it does feel like an odd branding for this one.

I'd like to say that I'm doing literary fiction, but in truth, I am not trying to convey a large message, beyond drawing parallels to the oppression of the Chinese during the gold rush, and vaguely criticising large industries (by making them the antagonist).

My other option which I did not mention before would be "adventure". The pacing seems to agree with it.
Again, thanks for your combined help.

Different people read fantasy for different things. You should definitely not assume. There are a lot of people who like fantasy without anything overtly supernatural. Titus Groan, for instance, has zero magic or anything supernatural in it, but is widely considered to be one of the masterpieces of the genre.

 

[johnsonjoshuak]

I would say that you're right in a spot where you can go a couple of ways.

Is it set in our world?
If yes, Historical Fantasy

If No,
Does your world include fantastic steam inventions (airships are common, steam tanks etc); if yes, then steampunk.

If no, you have a pretty strong case for "Gunpowder Fantasy".