There are a lot of different genres out there. Here are what I think are the top ten.
Please know that this is just from my head and not some secret top ten list…
- Romance
- Thriller
- Fantasy
- Mystery
- Historical Fiction
- Young Adult
- LGBTQ+
- Christian
- Children’s Lit
- Memoir
The common denominator for all of these genres (each that has sub-genres and off shoots… to encompass all issues and then some…) is characters.
Unless you’re writing academic non-fiction, chances are pretty good that your story involves someone who does something… somewhere.
What’s that got to do with anything?
Well, I was thinking the other day that I write thriller, mystery, suspense, young adult, sometimes literary, and sometimes a tad bit of romance but to me, it’s all Women’s Fiction.
Regardless of age and any other factor, my stories for the most part are for all women or those who identify as human.
Why should I have to break it down and say that it’s romance or social issue? It’s human and of the female persuasion–aka Women’s Fiction.
It may be literary. It may be commercial. or it may be High Market Fiction… but you can bet that unless otherwise stated, it’s Women’s Fiction.
Regardless of age of the characters, the physical traits, the race, religion, or economic status of the character… its all women’s fiction.
You may even regard my poetry as being women’s fiction–perhaps on a spectrum of speculative fiction… some may learn toward nonfiction or even autobiographical, but it’s mostly women’s fiction…
Let’s call it Women’s All Inclusive Fiction or WAIF for short…
I want a new genre.
Just saying…
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The lines between the genres are blurry and increasingly mixed. However, I want specific genres, like romantic comedy or paranormal romantic, not women’s fiction as a generalized category. I don’t want to read about human trafficking, survival of abuse or multi-generation sagas. Just sayin’.
Lol… Just Sayin’… Hey Aggie. I get what you’re saying. I guess for me, with agents and publishers, I’m tired of being boxed into specifics… like “romantic comedy”… The industry does that and unfortunately it doesn’t reflect me or my writing. I want to write what I want to write without limitations or restrictions… does that make sense? I want the new over-inclusive genre as an additional choice, not necessarily in-spite-of…
That’s what makes life so interesting… we all like and gravitate towards different things. Imagine how boring the world would be if we all just read bland old blah…
It is hard to escape our own bias. Maybe try writing a war story or something like that, interview some soldiers to get some perspective…just spitballing here.
Hi Mike and welcome. Very interesting advice. Sometimes we really do need to get out of our own way, don’t we? Let me think about it. 😊
I’m a Black-American author who’s from a conservative family. However, I like to write gay fiction on the side since I like to read it on Wattpad since 2016. I never let my family see my work that isn’t the usual family-friendly superhero teen fiction stuff, so I like to keep that to myself. But on the main topic, I mainly like to write not only LGBTQ fiction but also supernatural/fantasy, mystery/suspense, and even genres that are mainly the usual NSFW type. For me, branching out and trying new things is like expanding one’s tastes in ice cream- there’s so many flavors to try that it can be confusing to choose which one is the best. My plan for 2021 is to write a more-contemporary fiction novel that’s for adults only and even have it published soon! I hope this helps. I can’t wait to see more!
Hi Jarrick! Sorry this took me so long to answer. I like that you’ve branched out beyond expectations of others. To me, that not only helps a writer grow in scope and perspective but also in life. Keep writing. Keep reading. You say your plan for 2021… I sure hope you meant 2024.