Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Genre, what genre?

::Blinks:: Oh, hi! Readers, yeah, need to talk to the readers. ::Slaps self across face:: ::Vigorously shakes head:: Di-i-i-i-i-i-i... ::Presses brain reset button::

Don't you wish you had a brain reset button? I do. Sadly, one has yet to be invented. You are now the recipient of a musing on genre (ie. romance, erotica, mystery, etc.) as I have just spent some time, enjoyably, debating what makes a book a certain genre. I really hope I don't lose the argument, but I am prepared for the possibility. It won't horribly wound me if I do lose it, anyway, because it's a day profession argument.

These days, so many books are "cross-genre" books. At what point does a book no longer belong in a certain genre? What do you expect out of "cross-genre" books when you're reading it mainly for one of the genres? What do you think of authors who write "cross-genre", but maybe not that successfully? Are there any authors out there you think who do "cross-genre" very well? What authors are out there that you think are great examples of their "named" genre, but would greatly appeal to readers of another genre (and which genre would that be)?

I'm really interested in what readers have to say on this topic because of the day profession argument/discussion. From an author perspective this is also important to me because my stories are usually a mix of genres, though I try to focus on a main genres with supporting elements from other genres. What readers have to say is very important. You're the ones buying our books, and if we're not meeting your expectations to the best of our ability, you're not going to buy our stories, which means, we're not making any money. So, as a reader of genre fiction, tell me what *you* think of the concept of genres.
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1 comment:

Sierra Dafoe said...

Kelly, ya know, it's a really good question. Actually, one of the best discussions on it I ever heard was by Blake Snyder, who's a screenwriter, and in the context of film scripts sat down and really nailed what genre is by viewer expectation. What do you come to that film (book, story, tv show) looking for? To laugh, be amused, be aroused, get your testosterone pumping with a good shoot-em-up, to be challenged, filled with wonder, comforted by the universality of love and human kindness even in a cruel world, to be frightened, awed, shocked? It was really fascinating -- I wish I could remember more of it, but he really came at it from an emotional perspective -- what's the emotional ride your audience is paying to be taken on?

That part really stuck with me. And that's the part that, for me, really defines genre -- I don't think of it ass cross-genre, really. I think of it as genre-plus. Romance is a great example for that, because we all know what we're looking for in romance -- even erotic romance. (Erotica's a little different, but we'll leave that aside for now!) We're looking to rediscover the wonderment of falling in love. Plain and simple. With all the aspects that entains, if it's erotic romance -- the excitement of sexual discovery, the incredible power of that first rush of physical attraction... But whether graphic or not, for me, at least, what I expect, want, and as a writer try to deliver, is a Love Story.

And if that's there? Hey! You can add anything! Action, adventure, mystery, horror, sci-fi, you name it -- as long as it's plus. As long as it's in addition to the primary "ride" I sugned up for. Give me more than I expect! Go ahead. But on our peril as a writer, I think, can we give them less.

In other words, the second that plus genre detracts from the primary genre, to me, it becomes a negative. On a different example -- murder mysteries. Murder mysteries are great, and I love 'em, and I love 'em even better if the author includes a healthy dollop of humor, or a great love story, or hey, it's a murder mystery set in outer space... Great! So long as the plus doesn't overwhelm the mystery. Could you imagine, for example, reading a murder mystery that was fabulous and had all these other elements going that were totally cool and fun -- but then the author didn't bother solving the mystery? Or worse, gave it just a quick nod and unsatisfactory "Jack out of the box" ending? I see that happening a lot in romance-plus, and it irks me.

Because the danger with cross-genre is that, not only do you have to deliver on the promise of your primary genre, if you're going to include other elements, you have to deliver on them, too. And you have to do it well, capably, and completely.

Gods, you raised so many good points in your post we could talk about this all week! You and me is definitely gonna have to hook up at a convention sometime and hole up at the bar and talk!

-- Sierra

sierradafoe.com

October 12, 2007 at 12:19 PM

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