What Writers Need to Know About the Importance of Genre

What is a genre, and what is its purpose? This is a question that many, new, inexperience writers have. Many new writers of books and scripts alike first learn about genre when querying agents. Knowing the genre, for an agent, is just as essential as knowing what the soliciting story is about.

What Is Genre?
A genre is a category of books or movies that share a set of common features in structure, plot, and subject matter. These stories are classified as mystery, romance, fantasy, and so on.

Genre Purpose
Agents want to know a story's genre category because it is used as a marketing tool. In the case of books, it is a marketing tool that tells which section of a bookstore your book will appear. Being with books of the same category gives a book exposure to the audience of that genre. Books grouped in the same genre can compliment each other in sells. For instance a Harry Potter fan who has read all of the Harry Potter books may be in the fantasy section of the book store searching for a book along the lines of Harry Potter. Thus he or she will become interested in works by other authors.

In the case of movies some genres are more popular that others. For example fantasy movies geared to children and teens are very popular and profitable, but drama movies have been hitting the low end of the market. Therefore agent and producer demand that a writer state in his or her query the genre of his or her script. If the script is of a profitable, popular genre it will be requested for review. However, if the script is of an unpopular genre there would least likely be a request for it.

Simply put, genre is about the expectations of the audience. According to this expectation the genre to a point follows a formula. When a writer of books or film script write their stories they must cater to these expectations of readers and audiences. So it is important for writers to know the rules and formula of the genre for which they are writing. The best why to do this is to read books, read scripts, and watch movies similar to the story you are trying to create. This can provide a good sense of a genre's conventions.

Combining Genres
Some writers try to enhance their creativity by combining genres, such as mixing romance with fantasy as in the Twilight books and movies and horror with comedy as in the movie "Bride of Frankenstein." Doing this can enhance a story and make it more interesting. However, a writer must decide what will the base genre be. The story may have elements of romance, comedy, fantasy world, and horror, but this does not mean it will come under all four genres. You have to decide which genre will be the focus of the story. Also when organizing your plot you must decide what will it be centered on when combining genres. For instance, is the story based on two characters developing a romance, finding a murderer, or in search of a fantasy creature?

Books and scripts with clearly defined genres are easier to sell. Publishers and movie producers know how to evacuate their story and market them.

The best thing to do when writing is not to fret over the genre. If you were inspired with a idea, go ahead and write it the best way you can. Then decide what genre it will fit under. Even if it falls under an unpopular genre, according to market standards, if the story is remarkable and unique and its remarkableness and uniqueness is realized by publishers and producers, it will surely reach audiences and readers and become successful.