What's Your Genre?
Knowing what genre your writing fits into is an essential step in finding the right magazines, journals, and publishers for your creative piece. Editors are often looking for very specific styles.
Genre Writing vs. Literary Fiction: What's the Difference?
Genre writing, sometimes referred to as commercial writing, is writing that typically follows a specific plot formula though the setting and characters vary. Often the pace of the book is quick and easy to read with a focus on plot, suspense, or romance. For example, the editors at Harlequin have plot guidelines for the romance novels they seek. (Click here to see the guidelines).
Most genre fiction falls into the following categories, but many are a mix of these genres and the sub-genres:
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Within these genres there are many sub-genres. Listed are a few examples:
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Literary Fiction
Literary fiction can take the form of short stories or novels. It can be tricky to define, but generally it is writing that tends to be more poetic than genre writing. Careful attention is paid to how word choice and sentence structure affects the overall aesthetic of the story or novel. For writers of literary fiction, how the story is written is just as important as what happens. Often novels that are considered literary fiction win the National Book Award or the Pulitzer Prize for fiction or poetry.
Some examples of authors who might be considered writers of literary fiction are:
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For examples of short literary fiction:
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Other Writing Styles
Poetry
Many literary magazines have a focus on poetry. |
Essay/Memoir
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Children's books
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What's Your Style?
Keep in mind that distinctions between genre writing and literary fiction can be subjective. Some writers who are considered 'genre writers' craft their stories artistically. And authors who write literary fiction use techniques common in genre or commercial fiction. Unless you are targeting a publisher requesting specific plot guidelines, just write what comes naturally. Make yourself happy and write something people are excited to read. There is a publishing option out there for you!
Short literary fiction, short creative nonfiction, or poetry?
Short literary fiction, short creative nonfiction, or poetry?
- Check out the publishing resources and submission process pages to learn how to find the right literary magazines for your work!
- Most book publishers won't take manuscripts from just anyone. Because of this, you may consider small press publishers or self-publishing and promoting the work yourself. Who knows, you may get discovered!
- Because many literary magazines tend to look for writing in the literary fiction realm, self-publishing is can be a great option for new writers of strictly genre fiction. Books like 50 Shades of Grey and Eragon were originally self-published. You could also look into small press publishers. Go for it!