What would be your complete list of genres? |
Post Reply | Page 123> |
Author | ||
DocI
NYC Midnight Addict Joined: 13 Jul 2019 Location: California Status: Offline Points: 893 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Posted: 02 Feb 2020 at 5:43pm |
|
Ooh, it's funny how two different people can see the same prompt. I'm not sure what the other required element was, but I was immediately inspired to go dark and write about the increasingly toxic relationship between someone being persuaded to steal documents and their emotionally manipulative handler in another country. I'd have loved to get that prompt.
Edited by DocI - 02 Feb 2020 at 5:46pm |
||
jennifer.quail
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 07 Feb 2018 Status: Online Points: 7931 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Ehhhhh....I would disagree, as it's VERY hard to call, say, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or Smiley's People or Our Kind of Traitor action-adventure or thriller. The books, and especially the Gary Oldman film of the first one, are downright sedate. Even some of the Bond novels and short stories aren't really action per se. But it's REALLY easy to cross over--The Cardinal of the Kremlin is a spy story, but being Tom Clancy it's heavily into techno-thriller, too. And they can definitely be political commentary, too (not satire necessarily, but politics obviously is highly relevant to espionage.) I also don't think horror and ghost story belong together automatically. I just read a ghost story on here that's really not at all scary but is downright excellent, while horror kind of has to be at least gross-out or disturbing or it isn't really horror.
|
||
LackofBetter
Newbie Joined: 28 Jan 2020 Location: Richmond Status: Offline Points: 11 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Exactly. Because SPY isn't really a genre, it's a subject or topic in itself. Trying to write a spy story about a long distance relationship was a challenge. Everyone knows that spies avoid relationships lol.
|
||
www.lackofbetter.com
|
||
NorthernPixels
NYC Midnight Addict Joined: 28 Jan 2020 Location: Toronto Status: Offline Points: 647 |
Post Options
Thanks(1)
|
|
To your point, in regards to the contest, the genre requirement is absolutely something I appreciate. Let me tell you, I'd have never tried to write a political satire story on my own (or mystery, or romance, etc.) Having to do so requires research and getting out of your comfort zone which will make you a better writer. As far as the great genre debate, I understand it's a necessary marketing tool to get your story to the correct audience and, from a pure sales perspective, I really value that. People like to know broadly what they might be getting into. |
||
chrissie0707
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 07 Feb 2018 Location: Indianapolis Status: Offline Points: 4005 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Spy should definitely be absorbed into A/A or Thriller. I would *almost* put Ghost Story and Horror together, too.
|
||
A.J. Gemick
NYC Midnight Addict Joined: 15 Jan 2020 Location: East Coast, US Status: Offline Points: 514 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
This is pretty close to how I'd reorganize the genres too- except I would have Fairy Tale lumped into fantasy (hey, if you want to write about fairy tales you can, but you're totally not obligated too), Rom Com would also be folded into Romance. I might even fold crime caper into Mystery as well. I'm on the fence as to whether or not keep comedy... some people really do like it. Political Satire would be tossed into a burning dumpster fire, where it belongs. :P
|
||
orion323
NYC Midnight Addict Joined: 09 Aug 2017 Status: Offline Points: 1186 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
I appreciated the microfiction contest's blended take on genres. If I were queen of the genre realm, I would separate as such:
Action adventure/crime caper (don't really see the difference) Mystery/suspense (again...fairly malleable) Fairy tale/fantasy (yes!) Comedy/Rom-Com (boo to the meet cutes) Drama/Historical fiction (they seem to mostly blend anyways) Horror (stand alone) Sci-Fi (most people seem to be genre bending that way no matter the prompt) Pol Sat (I'm on the fence about this one. Seems everybody plays it safe and writes different renditions of the same theme. Keep hoping I'll get it truthfully but I'd probably get banned from this site because I'm a political atheist and think everything is fair game) And...I may stand alone in this, but I can't comprehend why there isn't a straight up Tragedy genre (which could contain ghosts if the urge struck). I would read every single one of those mofo's. Bring on the pain!! ** I would totes sh*te can the spy genre. Selfishly I think it's super boring to write and read**
Edited by orion323 - 29 Jan 2020 at 12:04am |
||
OKCryptid
NYC Midnight Regular Joined: 29 Jan 2019 Location: Seattle, WA Status: Offline Points: 481 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
YES!
Hard agree. Got fairy tale last year and was a tad annoyed at the lack of distinction between it and fantasy where judges were concerned. Better to just lump them together.
|
||
jennifer.quail
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 07 Feb 2018 Status: Online Points: 7931 |
Post Options
Thanks(1)
|
|
Action/Adventure (Spy would fall under here)
Thriller/Suspense (because those two are not THAT different) Western (guess The Arcanist just put out a call for? If you said Western flash fic with a speculative element, you'd be right.) Mystery Fantasy Horror Ghost Story Historical Fiction Contemporary Fiction (replaces Drama) Romance Science Fiction Goodbye, political satire, which is too subject to personal taste, goodbye Fairy Tale, freeing up people to do that for fantasy if they liked.
|
||
taaaylor
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 14 Jul 2018 Location: Idaho Status: Offline Points: 6946 |
Post Options
Thanks(1)
|
|
Meh. Suggesting that we should get rid of genres all together is like saying there is no point distinguishing between fiction and nonfiction either, right? Because creative nonfiction can absolutely have the plot, character, and structure that you're talking about. The genres matter for more than marketing. They are a means to find the stories that speak to us. it's true that we existed for millennia without genres, but that's because we existed for millennia without easy access to widely available methods for printing books. Also, there is enough subjectivity in a contest like this without throwing one of the few objective rubrics we have. I value genres, because in my experience writing for online audiences, different genre readers have wildly different expectations from one another. That is a reality that impacts you even if you never market your material at all, assuming you ever want more than an audience of one. However, I think that the story should come first and the genre label should come second. (Outside the contest context, of course.) Tbh I LOVE the fact that we have so many new sub-genres appearing, because it means that we are not forcing stories into a box that they don't quite fit into.
Edited by taaaylor - 27 Jan 2020 at 9:34pm |
||
Post Reply | Page 123> |
Tweet |
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |