Subverting your genre (and/or mixing genres) ? |
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taaaylor
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 14 Jul 2018 Location: Idaho Status: Offline Points: 6946 |
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Sounds like Tucker and Dale Vs Evil ;) Fun combo!
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sidle_by
NYC Midnight Addict Joined: 10 Jul 2018 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 1392 |
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Pretty sure I've turned every prompt I've ever had into some sort of magic fantasy mash I'm always at least half convinced I didn't hit genre, but so far I've never been dinged because of it (at least not that I'm aware of anyway). Overall, I seem to progress more than i don't, so i figure whatever I'm doing must be at least semi-okay
I've stopped worrying about it now. Am i on genre? Possibly not, but who knows? The important this is that i wrote a story and had a good time messing around with the prompts :)
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FF23 Rd1 - Special Frame Diner
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Emfizz
NYC Midnight Regular Joined: 31 Jan 2017 Location: London, UK Status: Offline Points: 271 |
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I can only speak from my own experience of course but all the mixed genre stories I've ever written were well received and progressed to the next round (drama that was futuristic/sci fi; drama set in the real past so historical fiction; spy that had fantasy elements; suspense with fantasy/afterlife elements), but as you say that could've been luck with the judges who were open to that. The assignment email we get has this to say about it:
To me that implies that they very much enjoy genre mixing as long as your comedy, whether it's set in a fantasy world or not, reads as funny (although comedy is so subjectve anyway so that's tricky in itself) or your fantasy, whether it's funny or sad, reads as a fantasy.
Edited by Emfizz - 06 Apr 2020 at 4:13pm |
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A.J. Gemick
NYC Midnight Addict Joined: 15 Jan 2020 Location: East Coast, US Status: Offline Points: 514 |
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Thanks all!! Very helpful to read... I think you're right- just write the story that makes you happy (& make sure the cover the prompts well) and just let the chips fall where they may. Otherwise writing something that doesnt feel authentic to you, just ends up making the process miserable.
@suave -I certainly hope the NYCM judges go to such extreme measures! and now I'm wondering, the comment from KLNorman- about the idea that some genres lend themselves better toward mixing- I wonder if it's that some genres are better for it than others or maybe any genre can be mixed, just depends on the skill or unique ideas of the mixer, it's kind of like a philosophical question. :)
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2021 FFC1 Gr40 Romance A Long Walk
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Dvmason
NYC Midnight Regular Joined: 27 Jan 2018 Location: Galveston Status: Offline Points: 423 |
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Hey! Same here. I’ll try to keep an eye out for you this round :) For the OP, I’ve never had any feedback or heard of anyone being dinged for being too on the nose with their genre. I think in this kind of competition, tropes won’t loose you points. Maybe as we get closer towards the end, they will hinder the interestingness of your story, but in general, going straight down the line is a safe bet. I personally can’t help myself from being a little subversive myself, but that’s my own gamble. For my first comp ever, I drew suspense involving gemstones. I did a retelling of Snow White where she was the bad guy. I got honorable mention because it was literally based on a fairy tale, which is an actual genre. That said, every other pull I’ve ever had (except polsat) has been blended and I haven’t gotten a ding because of it. Some genres need blending, like action/adventure: unless you are writing about a heist of some sort (or even if you are), you probably are going to be in space, or the adventure is going to be a magical one (maybe that’s just me!). Anyway, all of that is to say, sticking with your genre is safe. But who likes to be safe?
Edited by Dvmason - 08 Apr 2020 at 9:52am |
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H213 "In Between & Through"
Suspense [Adventure/ Fantasy] |
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Lord Xoon
NYC Midnight Addict Joined: 15 Jul 2017 Status: Offline Points: 1215 |
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My somewhat hot take on this subject is that there are no good stories that couldn't fit into two or three different genres. There's no reason a fantasy can't also be a thriller or a drama or have romantic elements, or have jokes in it. And I think stories that are so one dimensional as to fit into only one genre tend to be a little flat and lifeless.
And that being said, I've written several one-note stories in these competitions, and they never seem to perform well with the judges.
Edited by Lord Xoon - 08 Apr 2020 at 7:27pm |
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