This month’s tips topic is: GENRES AND MORE You’ll see some advice repeated in these tips because it’s important. We’ve tried to cover all definitions of genre. Please let us know how you like our tips as well as sending along any tip topics you’d like to see covered.  Thanks!

Here’s what the Mavens have to say: 

Judy Enderle: Imagine a gigantic library with only two signs: Fiction and Nonfiction. How will you find the book you want? Wait! There’s a librarian putting up more signs: genre signs!  Genre means the type of story you are writing (or love reading) or the category where your book fits. Fiction genres include mystery, romance, thriller, humor, historical, science fiction, and more. Nonfiction is divided into topics that include nature, sciences, biography, how-to, etc.

But you want a book for your seven-year-old? Follow that librarian! There’s a special section for young readers. Along with genres and topics, the signs there also indicate categories or specific formats: picture books, early readers, middle grade, and YA.

See how helpful genres, topics, and categories are? See how helpful librarians are!

Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton: Let these three questions help you: 

What comes naturally to you? I could never write horror. It scares me to death. Even Indiana Jones type stories keep me up at night. I am truly a five-year-old at heart. I’m always excited to discover something new. The most important things in life to me are family, friends, and nature. I love the settings that encompass those parameters. If you look at the developmental stages of a five-year-old child, they are into discovering their family, their ever-growing circle of friends, and their world. Therefore, picture books work best for me.

What age is your inner voice? Look at the vocabulary and length of sentences you write. Is your written language developmentally accurate? Is your character able to tackler age-appropriate problems for the genre? I have a client who consistently wants to write picture books, but who writers with the voice of a middle grader. I have told her many times, “This is a great story that needs to be written with a better-developed plot requiring the length and details that will do the story justice.” Recently she began working on a middle grade story. She said, I feel set free. I was afraid to tackle a longer piece. Now that I am doing it, I feel like my main character has been set free from a straitjacket.”

What genre do you read? If you want to write picture books, you must read picture books. (Yes you are allowed to read grownup books) but you must read, read, read the genre you wish to write. How else are you going to learn the right feel for pacing, word counts, plot structures that appropriate for the protagonist of your chosen genre?

Ultimately, my best advice is to: Write what you know and love, NOT what you think will sell.

Cheryl Zach: Obvious but true: don’t try to write in a genre you don’t enjoy reading. I remember when Harry Potter was at its peak and I was critiquing manuscripts at a conference. I saw more manuscripts than you would believe from brand new writers who had never read fantasy, didn’t even know if they liked fantasy, certainly were not familiar with the genre, just wanted to be instantly rich, famous, and wildly successful–which is like trying to fly to the moon on a paper airplane. Read widely and write in the genres you love–it will show! Not to mention, the more you write and and read and study and hone your craft, the better writer you’ll become.

Dawne Knobbe: One thing to keep in mind when you are deciding on a genre is that Young Adult is not a genre of fiction. Like adult fiction, YA can be written in any genre. So if you want to write YA, you must narrow it down. Here are few to ponder: mystery, thriller, adventure, fantasy. Always best to write in the genre you like to read.

Stephanie Jacob Gordon: Good luck! If you are like me, you don’t get to choose. Some writers do have a genre they write in exclusively. I don’t. I love writing picture books. I love writing middle grade novels. I love writing short chapter books, poetry, young adult (started out doing YA romances, a very popular genre). I hated writing for TV, but not because of the writing. I loved writing the scripts and being the story editor for our television show. I hated being the editor of a kid’s club magazine. I loved writing for a kids’ airline magazine. (I love writing and gathering material.)

I loved writing for Hamilton High School newspaper, The Federalist–the very important gossip column and the popular music scene articles. Okay, I hear you laughing. I even loved writing a few spec TV sitcom scripts no one will ever see. Genre is as temporary as the last gust of wind for me. I flow with the blow. Did I say I love writing To Do lists that I never ever Get Done? Did I say I Love Writing in many genres?