ChristianFictionMentors.com

The vast majority of novels in print today follow set genres, or types, set down by the publishing industry. These are closely defined and must be followed by the novelist. If you have a favorite genre, that should be the first area for you to explore in your writing. Love to read mysteries? Study the various sub-genres of mysteries (yes, some genres has several sub-genres) and choose which you would like to explore. Some authors write in several genres. The wider your personal reading base, the more you can branch out into various genres, since you should write what you know and what you love.

When dealing with story media, a genre is simply a type of story, be it romance, suspense, western, etc. Due to the vast array of writing fields today, defining all the possible genres is difficult at best. Few experts agree on where these categories should be split, and almost all books encompass more than one of them at a time. To give you a close estimate of the possibilities, I’ve compiled an annotated list and designed a Genre Worksheet chart.

Many beginning writers assume that genre doesn’t matter at all, that the story alone is enough. However, an author’s success depends on booksellers and those pesky bookstore shelves. Publisher’s catalogs are divided into types of books, and bookstore owners order product to fill their (labeled) shelves. The canny writer will take note of this and plan his stories accordingly. Not that the genre dictates everything about the story, but each genre has its own rules, and these must be adhered to in order to fall into the proper category on the catalog page.

Another issue to remember is the hook. Every story should have a selling point. It should hook into a niche market, a group of people who are passionate about its focus. This is a widely varied subject. Think of sports and the multitude of avenues that could be hooked into. Is the hero an avid golfer? Does she live to play tennis? Or maybe she’s a member of a profession—a pharmacist, a nurse, a lab technician. Is the story set in a popular location—the West, the South, Vegas, New York, or Tahiti? What about the main conflict? Does it link to some heartfelt issue—Alzheimer’s, abortion, drug addiction, animal rights, or cancer? Does it happen within the confines of a certain type of business? Both Denny’s and Wal-Mart have had novels written about them. These hooks draw in a specific segment of the population. Choosing a hook from the beginning will help you to focus your publicity campaign, bring you loyal fans, and boost your sales.