thoughts, words, deeds

the question of genre

War Chest Wednesday! From the vault...

Is there a form or genre in writing you're afraid to try? What about it scares you or causes apprehension?

Okay, this question is more complicated than it looks, because depending on who you are talking to, genre can have different definitions.

As an MFA student, my first instinct is to go with the definitions we go with in academia—where there are four genres: fiction, poetry, drama, and creative nonfiction. Each one has different categories within it—novels, short stories, free verse, formal verse, comedy, tragedy, personal essay, travel writing . . . the subgenres go on because there are so many different things to write.

I personally have written or tried to write all four major genres. I write fiction, mainly short stories, all kinds of poetry, creative nonfiction (mostly personal essays, but I’ve written things that don’t have me in them and called them CNF), and a few short drama piece—skits really (generally comic). The only one that felt difficult enough I might hesitate to write another are the dramas. I don’t think in terms of plays and actors. I’m not afraid of it, it’s just that I’m not familiar enough to be comfortable writing it.

As a reader, I also have to look at genre in terms of types of popular fiction. These are categories created for convenience of readers which tell them what kind of story they are buying (or checking out of the library): romance, fantasy, science fiction, western, mystery, horror. Within those broad genres there are subgenres like erotica, steampunk, high fantasy, space opera, detective, murder mystery . . . again, the subgenres can go on and on because there are so many different things to write. Young adult fiction is treated as a separate genre, although within it you can find elements of any of the genres of adult fiction. Children’s fiction is categorized more by age group than by genre.

I’m not afraid to try any of those genres. I would hesitate to write western or mystery, not because I’m scared but because I’m unfamiliar with the genre. I have read some, but it’s not my favorite so I don’t have the background to know where my voice would be an addition to the genre. I tend to write the kinds of things I read.

Last, there's the WDC genres. I'm willing to write something that would fit any of them. If I'm so inspired.