Why Your Novel Should (And Shouldn’t) Fit A Particular Genre

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“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?

The Case For Genre

Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash

Sticking to one defined, established genre while writing your novel can be extremely beneficial, for several key reasons.

First, word count. It’s generally agreed that novels should fall within the following word count lengths:

• Mainstream Romance: 70,000–100,000 words

• Subgenre Romance: 40,000–100,000 words

• Science Fiction / Fantasy: 90,000–150,000 words

• Historical Fiction: 80,000–100,000 words

• Thrillers / Horror / Mysteries / Crime: 70,000–90,000 words

• Young Adult: 50,000–80,000 words

So, for instance, a 100,000-word novel for teenagers probably won’t cut the mustard with literary agents or publishers, while a 70,000-word high fantasy would be considered far too short.

Keeping within the accepted word count for your genre is a simple and effective way to increase your chances of gaining literary representation and a publishing deal further down the line. Those numbers aren’t hard and fast rules, of course (Stephanie Myers’s Midnight Sun is 240,095 words long), but for new authors, it’s advisable to stay within the boundaries.

Secondly, sticking to a defined genre can help your book match reader expectations. For instance, most die-hard horror fans would stop turning the pages of a novel if they discovered it was actually a gushy romance piece set in 18th-century rural England (I don’t know why a story like that would be packaged as a horror, but you get my meaning); equally, a reader expecting a light comedy would feel completely blind-sided if their chosen book contained a brutal torture scene, or if it simply wasn’t at all funny.

If you write to your audience’s general expectations, you’ll have satisfied readers who’ll come back for more of your work in future. If you don’t, you’ll close the door on a huge portion of your fanbase, and what’s the point in that?

And thirdly, keeping to a clear genre in your novel helps you maintain your tone and voice as the author. If you’re not entirely sure what your story’s supposed to be or who’s most likely to read it, you’ll stray off on tangents your readers struggle to follow.

Yes, it’s good to let your characters take the narrative wheel sometimes, especially if you’re feeling stuck, but establishing and sustaining a clear tone throughout your novel will make the experience that much better for your audience.

Why Genre Isn’t Set In Stone

Photo by Kristen Sturdivant on Unsplash

Naturally, many authors choose to disregard the perceived rules around genre and plough their own furrows, and it’s vitally important that at least some writers do that from time to time.

Think about movies you’ve watched that break the rules of their genre — I’m willing to bet you remember them better than the cookie-cutter versions churned out by streaming platforms on a weekly basis. This piece from The Script Lab names a few well-known films that broke convention.

In the same way, some authors choose to deliberately push the boundaries of the genres in which they’re writing, testing reader perception, sometimes catching them off guard altogether. Not every writer is equipped to do this effectively, though, but those who can should.

Sometimes, of course, books are simply hard to define. What one person might read as a mystery, another might see as a slow-burning romance. And a story that’s aimed at children might also resonate just as profoundly with adults (Harry Potter, anyone?).

Genre can be a hindering crutch or a sharpened blade, depending on how the author chooses to use it. It can keep a writer on the straight and narrow, or it can bottleneck them into producing a forgettable story that might otherwise have broken the mould.

Either way, before putting pen to paper it’s worth setting aside some time to think about which genre your novel will fit into, and which age group you’re writing for.

That way, you can decide for yourself whether to stick to the established rules or take a sledgehammer to them from the get-go and just see what happens.

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