Writing Tips Wednesday – Know your Genre

Every Wednesday I’ll be sharing some hints and tips about how to improve your writing. These are basic things I have learned over the years, from writers websites, published authors and constructive feedback from friends, family and online pals.

There is an argument that fiction writing cannot be taught because it comes from talent alone, it is in your nature to be creative. Whilst there is some truth in that, even the most creative person needs to learn how to use their ability and make the best of their craft.

This week: Understanding your chosen genre!

This weeks topic should be entitled Writing Tips Thursday because for the unpublished, penniless writer a living must still be earned via the dreaded “day job.” So I cry your pardon, dear blog reader, for the lateness of this weeks topic. With my most humble apology out of the way let’s get cracking. Did you know the word “Genre” comes from the French word meaning “kind” or “style”? Wikipedia describes Genre as: 

Genre is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time as new genres are invented and the use of old ones are discontinued. Often, works fit into multiple genres by way of borrowing and recombining these conventions.

Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genre

Okay, that’s the boring stuff done. Let’s talk about your chosen style of writing. For the purpose of this topic let’s assume you’re not a seasoned writer with a well established history of writing for a specific genre. This is about identifying how your story works within a genre and understanding how it relates to the list below, if at all! You never know, maybe you’re on the brink of introducing the world to a fresh new genre niche!