“Hang on — which genre does this fit into?”
I found myself asking that exact question roughly halfway through writing my third novel.
What started out as a science-fiction mystery for adults seemed to have quietly transitioned into some sort of horror aimed at a teenage audience. It was completely unintentional and I didn’t even know it was happening until I stopped to review my progress one day and realised the driving forces in the story’s narrative were all teenagers.
In fairness, I’d established an adult protagonist in the first third of the novel purely as a red herring — he was suddenly and unexpectedly killed off, and the story’s POV switched immediately to its other main characters, all of whom were teens. Hence my eventual confusion about who the book was actually aimed at, and which genre those readers were likely to gravitate towards.
In the end, my wife read the book and declared it to be an adult horror (good, I like those best), so that loose end was tied up nicely.
But the whole episode forced me to consider the role of genre in fiction: is it set in stone? Or is it something fluid, and maybe even impossible to properly define?
Genre itself can be a trap of sorts. Writers can, indeed, find themself bouncing around in a sealed box of their own making if they decide early on that they’re a “horror” writer, or a “romance” writer, or slot themselves neatly into some other category perpetuated by the industry as a whole.
If you limit yourself to writing in just one genre, or for just one age group, you run a real risk of extinguishing the joy of your craft. You may even give up on your work-in-progress, or dilute a story that could have been the next best seller, just to contain it within the genre you chose for it.
Don’t get me wrong, though — if you feel comfortable with one particular genre and know you can produce fantastic works of fiction that fit it perfectly, then by all means, write your brains out.
Because of course, like most things in life (and literature), there are two sides to every coin. Let’s argue both, shall we?
To read the rest of this article (and unlock full access to my entire catalogue) simply upgrade to my paid plan - it costs about as much as one coffee per month.