Do i need to classify my writing at all?

[A. E. Lowan]

Here's a question I've been running into the past couple of weeks - what is the difference between urban fantasy and paranormal? Is there a difference?

 

[buyjupiter]

Here's a question I've been running into the past couple of weeks - what is the difference between urban fantasy and paranormal? Is there a difference?

Urban Fantasy would include The Dresden Files, while "Paranormal" screams out to have "romance" follow it. I've seen Laurell K. Hamilton's classified either way, depending upon which series you're talking about (Merry Gentry would probably fall more in the Paranormal side of things, while Anita Blake might fall more on the Urban Fantasy side of things). Sookie Stackhouse would be paranormal as well.

I would say a better definition would be Urban Fantasy happens within urban environments, it can have romantic elements in it but doesn't have to include them, and does not primarily feature werewolves/vampires/Fae.

Most people use the terms interchangeably, I've found.

 

[wordwalker]

These days they amount to the same thing, although Paranormal also includes the ghost/demon/psychic side of the genre that's verging on horror. But really they've become half taken over by "Paranormal Romance" to various degrees.

All highly subjective anyway: what's one person going to call something, what's a reader going to infer from it?