Exploring Genre 2017

by Jeanette O'Hagan

This year, the cross posts between Christian Writers Downunder and Australasian Christian Writers are focusing on genre. I've found it an interesting series and some more in depth look at different sub-genres in more depth. So just to recap -

Why Genre?

Iola Goulton started off the year asking the question - why genre?  She reminded us that genre's are useful for managing reader expectations and in helping to target promotion and marketing.

Then over the next several months we've looked at specific subgenres - or some broader categories - in fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

Fiction

Fiction has a number of broad categories such as romance, speculative fiction (science fiction and fantasy), crime and detective fiction, historical dramas, thrillers, military, women's fiction and literary - among others.  Fiction can also be aimed at children (picture books, chapter books, middle-grade), young adult (teens), new adults (teen-early twenties) or adults.

Romance

While romance can often be a subplot or theme in a range of other genres, in category romance the focus is on the relationship and the obstacles to a romantic relationship between the hero and heroine or romantic couple.  Category romance is hugely popular and generally has some firm expectations. It can also range from sweet to steamy (or blend into erotica, which is really another category).

There are a wide range of sub-genres with romance.

Carolyn Miller introduced us to historical romance (romance set before the present day) and in particular regency romance - romance inspired by Jane Austen and set in or around the regency period - eg. early 19th century.  You can find her delightful post here.

Nicky Edwards took us on a tour of rural romance (set in the country) and medical romance (with nurses or doctors as protagonists and which includes medical drama), usually set in contemporary times. You can read more here.

Speculative Fiction

Speculative Fiction images a different reality - whether that be a variation of earth as we know it or different world altogether. It is generally divided into Science Fiction (where science or a imagined science explains the world) or Fantasy (in which a non-scientific - often super-natural - explanation is given), though these can cross-overs such as science fantasy and mixtures. There is easily over 100 sub-genres within this field - including crazy mash-ups like gaslamp fantasy or weird west.

Adam Collings  introduced us to Space Opera - epic Science Fiction set in space with a focus more on the story than a detailed or hard science - think Star Trek or Doctor Who.  And, also the Superhero sub-genre which can used a scientific (Superman) or a supernatural (eg Thor) explanation for the special powers.  Read more here.

Jeanette O'Hagan introduced Secondary World and Portal fantasies - both of which are set on an alternative (non-earth) world. In the first the world exists without reference to earth, whereas in the second, the protagonist travels through a door or portal to the other world. Read more here.

Ian Acheson introduced us to Supernatural Fiction - which focuses on supernatural beings such angels, demons and/or ghosts (and is related to paranormal and urban fantasy). It can have a faith or Christina focus or be more 'secular' in its approach. Read more here.

Shorts

We also looked at 'short fiction' from flash to novellas (though it could also be non-fiction). Read more here.

Poetry

Poetry can be non-fiction or fiction, it can be strongly narrative (ballads, for instance) or focus on a moment or a feeling or be metaphorical.

Valerie Volk gave a wonderful introduction to Poetry (here)  while the following week we explored Free Verse (poetry without a set rhyme) and Verse Novels (telling a narrative in verse)  (read more here).

Non-Fiction

And finally, Nola Passmore introduced us to creative non-fiction (and how that differs from reportage). Read more here.


It can be tempting to see genre as a straitjacket or a way of pigeon-holing our fiction.  It can be seen as restrictive or reducing writing to formula (the HEA, the red herrings and clues, etc).  Some genres have stricter guidelines  - the category romance, the cozy mystery - while others almost by their nature tend to push the boundaries  or like cross-overs with a meld of different genres (speculative fiction, Young Adult).

Writing within a genre still allows amazing variety and ingenuity, especially when there are so many.

ACW & CWD are thinking of extending this dip into genres and subgenres next year. With that in mind,

Have  your found the series helpful? How?
What did you learn (if anything)?
And are there any particular genres you'd love to find more about?

List of posts (chronological order)

Genre  

Space Opera and Superheroes

Portal Fantasy and Secondary World Fantasy

Poetry

Free Verse and Verse Novels 

Regency and Historical Romance

Rural and Medical Romance

Supernatural Fiction

Short Fiction

Creative Non-Fiction

Spaceship image courtesy of digitalart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Cover Image Valerie Volk  In Due Season
Other images copyright Jeanette O'Hagan

...............

Jeanette started spinning tales in the world of Nardva at the age of eight or nine. She enjoys writing secondary world fiction, poetry, blogging and editing. Her Nardvan stories span continents, time and cultures. They involve a mixture of courtly intrigue, adventure, romance and/or shapeshifters and magic users. She has published numerous short stories, poems, two novellas and her debut novel, Akrad's Children. Find her on Facebook or at her webpages Jeanette O'Hagan Writes or Jenny's Thread.

Great (Genre) Expectations ...

By Iola Goulton

Welcome to the first Australasian Christian Writers/Christian Writers Downunder joint post for 2017. This year, we’ve decided to theme our posts, and our theme is GENRE.

Genre is important in publishing, in fiction and in non-fiction. If you’re anything like me, you have favourite genres, not-so-favourite genres, and read-on-pain-of death genres. And you can get a little upset if a book doesn't meet your expectations.

Genre is like food.

My husband and I often go out for Saturday brunch together, sampling some of the many cafes in our area. He has two go-to orders: the big breakfast, or the hash brown stack. Each café tries to make their offering a little different, so what you get with each order varies.

The hash brown stack has several hash browns, and may come with bacon or eggs or sliced tomato or sliced avocado. The eggs might be fried, poached, or scrambled. But the key is that it’s a stack: there are two or three hash browns in a stack, with the other ingredients layered in between the hash browns. The clue is in the name.

Or so we thought.

We tried a new café recently, and my husband ordered the hash brown stack. But it wasn’t a stack. It was three hash browns slapped on a plate beside some fried eggs, with a bowl of slushy baked beans on the side.

Not what he’d expected.

When we visit a restaurant and order a meal, we have expectations about what we’re going to get. If I order a hash brown stack, I want hash browns. In a stack. With stuff in between them.

It occurred to me there are a lot of similarities between café menus and bookstores, real or virtual.

We look around, decide what we want, and feel unhappy if our expectations aren’t met.

How many times have you finished a perfectly good book with a "meh" feeling, because it wasn't what you expected? Perhaps it had been billed as romantic suspense, but there wasn't enough romance. Or enough suspense. Perhaps you'd bought a tell-all biography and found most of the information was stuff you'd already read online. Perhaps you'd been looking for a devotional with new insights into the Bible, and got the same tried-and-true clichés as in the last three you read. Or worse, perhaps you got a "creative" interpretation of the Bible.

As authors, we need to understand our readers and what they expect. 

We need to understand our readers, and manage their expectations. Part of the way we understand and manage reader expectations is through genre.

If you're not sure what genre you write, then I suggest you need to read more. I'm not the only person who suggests this. So does Nola Passmore, in her recent post at Christian Writers Downunder. And so does Stephen King, who says:

We've talked a bit about genre before at Australasian Christian Writers, including brief explanations of several major genres:

• Romance
• Mystery, Suspense and Thrillers
• Fantasy and Speculative
• New Adult

Our 2017 joint ACW/CWD posts are going to go into these genres in more detail, and investigate some lesser-known genres.

Here's another reason to consider getting your genre right: marketing.

Selling books.

Genre is vital for selling books. The recent Author Earnings report shows that 69% of all US book sales are online. That's not just ebook sales, but ALL book sales. Many of those sales are through Amazon, and the key to Amazon sales success is getting your book categorised properly. Meaning, getting your book categorised in the right genre.

Last week, I read a blog post from an author who was disappointed by the sales of her first solo single title novel (she'd co-written other single title novels, and had a number of category romance novels published). When I checked her book on Amazon, I saw her publisher had messed up her categories: they'd categorised her novel as historical ... and as contemporary.

That's not going to help sales. Sure, readers might find the novel, but it's also going to confuse them—and potentially lead to critical reviews from authors expecting a contemporary mystery, and getting a historical adventure/mystery.

I see this a lot. Novels categorised as non-fiction. Novels listed in the wrong category, or one that doesn't seem consistent with the book description.

In other words, a lack of understanding of genre, and the way it influences and reflects reader expectations.

Take my food example: my husband was disappointed with his hash brown stack because it didn't meet his expectations of what a hash brown stack should be. It's not that there was anything wrong with the individual components of the meal, or that the meal didn't taste good. It's just that it wasn't what he was expecting.

Readers are the same. They're not browsing the Classics shelves looking for the latest Love Inspired Suspense (or vice versa). They're not cruising the romance shelves looking for poetry.

Readers know what they want, and they expect those expectations(!) to be met.

And that's why we're going to be looking at genre in our joint posts during 2017. Please join us!

About Iola Goulton

I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction. Visit my website at www.christianediting.co.nz to download a comprehensive list of publishers of Christian fiction. 

I also write contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist—find out more atwww.iolagoulton.com.

You can also find me on:
Facebook (Author)
Facebook (Editing)
Instagram
Pinterest
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Snapshot Of A Writers' Retreat

The Romance Queens in their element! 

The Romance Queens is a group of writers who chat online about all things life, love and writing. Whilst chatting is one of their gifts from God, they’re also good at making plans. 
Plans to meet.
Eat Tim Tams. 
And steal time away from the ordinary for a few days of solid writing. I know this because I am one of the Romance Queens, and the only one who couldn’t make it to their recent writing retreat in glorious Queensland.

But because the Romance Queens are generous souls, they kept me up-to-date with their mischief progress on an hourly basis. Between the four of them, Andrea Grigg, Catherine Hudson, Skye Wieland and Nola Passmore, I heard FOUR daily points of view, often contradictory and always hilarious.

My inbox pinged all day and most of the evening with the latest version of their merry making and such high adventure should never be contained. I decided to interview these four and share with our ACW friends a little of their writing retreat, hosted by the lovely Andrea Grigg in her beautiful home by the sea.

Andrea ~ The writers' retreat was held at my home on the Gold Coast, Queensland, the second week of the Easter school holidays, April 12-19. Being together was terrific, but the perfect weather made it even better. We made the most of it and walked along Currumbin Beach, over beautiful Burleigh Hill and around the lake system where I live. There was even swimming involved! 

Once we'd exercised and breakfasted, it was straight into writing. Basically, we ate and wrote and ate and wrote. We went out for dinner at the local surf club on Cat's birthday and again for kebabs on Thursday night (a tradition in the Grigg household) but we'd always have another writing session afterwards. What a dedicated bunch!

Dotti ~ Dedicated, indeed. I don’t know what I envied the most. The morning swimming report or the writing sessions! Both, I’m sure.

Now tell us, why is dedicated writing time alongside other authors so important to you? 

All smiles at the Romance Queens' writing retreat

Andrea ~ I got a kick out of watching the others at work. Nola was totally focussed, but Cat and Skye were much more like me ... easily distracted! The best part about being together (other than having fun of course! ) was being able to discuss things then and there, bandy ideas around, brainstorm solutions. Nothing can beat that.

Catherine ~ Writing is such a lonely job - and one prone to make you a little crazy due to the nature of the craft. There's so much to learn, but stories burn in your heart, urging to be put on paper. Being with other writers reminds you you are not alone in doubting yourself - not alone in occasionally thinking "hey that scene I wrote is pretty good!" (And hating it the next day, loving it the day after that, then thinking it's award winning...You get the picture)

Skye ~ I love spending time with other authors! It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or a seasoned writer, there’s always something new that can be learnt from networking, hanging out, and just having a good laugh with fellow authors. Who knows what could transpire? In between bouts of Tim Tams, morning runs, lamenting over the fact that I don’t have a paddleboard or kayak, something amazing could happen - even collaborative works…who knows?

Nola ~ When you commit to writing with others, it's like that time is sacred. You can't not write. You can't make excuses, you can't procrastinate until the muse strikes. You have to put derriere in chair and write. Since you're with other authors, you know they share the highs and lows with you. They know this is important and they're going to encourage you. They "get" you in a way that non-writers don't (no matter how supportive those non-writers are). The bonus of being with other Christian writers was that we were also able to pray for each other's projects and discuss controversial issues relating to Christian and mainstream markets. Plus it was fun being able to bounce ideas off of other people who are as crazy as you.

Heads down for hard work

Dotti ~ Did you set any personal writing goals before, during or after your retreat, or were you happy to see what came of it once you arrived? 

Andrea ~ I figured I wouldn't get a whole lot of writing done seeing as how I was the host and there were things to be done. I edited instead, so, while Nola achieved 10 000 words over 4.5 days, I lost 1500! I didn't mind at all - I got a kick out of seeing three happy campers.

Catherine ~ Before retreat I was really considering giving up writing for a multitude of reasons, perhaps none of them very good reasons but it felt real to me. I could not seem to get my first novel's introduction to flow right, and the standard I wanted to attain seemed too hard. I set some tasks for the retreat but didn't know what I would achieve out of the list.

I discovered I need to RELAX. This was my key word. I am the boss of my writing and since I've already decided I want to self publish, and I generally take constructive criticism well, I don't think I'm at risk of producing works I'll be embarrassed about. I just need to RELAX and enjoy the process.

Skye ~ I was really excited leading up to this retreat - and it wasn’t just because Andrea lives near the beach. :) I have been working on editing my work-in-process for some time, and I’ve struggled to find the motivation to pick it back up again after going through a stage of feeling that it was rather - well, lifeless in many aspects. Just prior to the retreat, Cat introduced me to a new teaching program geared towards helping authors with deep editing techniques. I went ahead and bought the first module. This started me on a whole new journey with my manuscript and brought back some of the excitement for the story. My personal goal before the retreat was to both continue studying these modules, as well as applying it to my work. During my retreat, I found myself someone distracted at times, but I was still able to plod through with moderate levels of success. Since returning back to the “real world” I am still excited, but need to discipline myself now to find that work/life balance so I can make the time required.

Nola ~ I had a goal to write 10 000 words on my novel during the four full days I was there.  The reason I was so specific is that I've applied to an Editor's Boot Camp being run by the Queensland Writers Centre in August and I need a full draft for that.  Not only would writing 10 000 words boost my word count, but it would also let me know whether I really could get this draft done.  I met the goal with time to spare.  It really boosted my confidence and showed that I can do it when I set my mind to it and have help from above.  

Happy Birthday, dear Catherine

Dotti ~ Taking yourself away from family and other commitments for a writing retreat often feels like logistical gymnastics. What did you achieve during the writing retreat which made it worth the sacrifice? 

Andrea ~ Hosting the retreat was easy. I planned the menus in advance and shopped the day before everyone arrived so it was all good. I have to say, my husband and daughter were wonderful about having three extra women in the house - mind you, they both worked during the day so they were only subjected to our craziness at night. I'd do it all again in a heartbeat which is just as well because apparently they're all coming back next year!

Catherine ~ Peace, relaxation - and more laughter than I've had in months. Need I say more? Oh yes I do - it was worth my husbands gratitude upon me returning to our kitchen, he he he. 

Skye ~ I can honestly say that regarding my work, I got several chapters through some deep editing techniques during the retreat, but spending time talking about these techniques with friends and being able to spend that time sharing about our journeys with our work was something that I found the most valuable.

Nola ~ It was definitely worth it.  I met my personal goal of writing 10 000 words, but I also learned from the others.  It was great to be able to throw ideas around with other authors.  I was the "ring-in" because the others were more in the romance genre, but we were all working on such different things. We spent some time one afternoon reading some of our work to each other and getting feedback. That was really valuable. Whether you were writing adventure, suspense, romance, historical or contemporary, I think we all learned from each other. It was also helpful to hear about different tools and strategies that others have found helpful. Plus it was a whole lot of fun. We had designated writing times, but we also swam, walked on the beach, watched movies, ate great food and generally chilled out. I'd love to go again and would definitely recommend it to others.

Dotti ~ So there you have it. The wrap up of a highly successful writing retreat with goals met and kindred spirits stirred for what we must all return to when the fun is over… the solitary world of writing.

Have you attended a writing retreat? What impressed you most about the Romance Queens’ week-long gathering?

Blessings

Dotti 

*****

Dorothy Adamek lives in Melbourne with her Beloved and their three gorgeous kids. 

She's the winner of the 2013 FHL ~ Touched By Love Competition, 
and the 2104 Inspirational Category Winner of the TARA Writing Contest. 

Enamoured by all things 19th century, she writes The Heartbeat of Yesteryear, Historical Romance - Aussie style. Come say G'day at her blog, Ink Dots. 

Writing Poems

by Jeanette O'Hagan

'Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful.' Rita Dove

A Poem is a 'literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm.' (OxfordDictionary)

Why read or write Poetry?

Poetry is a great way of expressing deep emotion or crystallizing an idea. Wordsworth said poetry is "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” As such it can give release of deep emotion or evoke like feelings in the reader. It often gives words to the inexpressible.

In the past, many stories and ideas were told through poetry because the rhyme, rhythm and repetition aided memory (e.g. Homer’s Iliad, Proverbs). 

Poems in fact are all around us – in the psalms, lyrics of worship songs or popular music (rock ballads, love songs), children’s picture books, proverbs, greeting cards, limericks – even advertising jingles. Poetry doesn't have to be so erudite and literary that we have no idea what it is about. Nor does have to be doggerel.

Most modern poems are relatively short and may only take a few hours to write and minutes to read. 

Writing poetry also hones skills that can help other creative writing forms – whether fiction or non-fiction. It emphasizes word choice and imagery, helps one be succinct and enhances a feel for the rhythm of language. The discipline of fitting words to a particular pattern often pushes one to look beyond the common or even cliched choices.

The one thing it probably won’t do is make you rich. Poetry books are harder to sell to publishers than novels. Even so, there are plenty of opportunities to submit work (including paid submissions and competitions).

Now you may think that writing or reading poetry is not for you. Fair enough. After all, often our encounter with poetry as school kids in the classroom was enough to inoculate us against it for life. 

But if you do have an inclination that you would like to indulge, then I say give it a go.

Month of Poetry

I've been doing just that with Month of Poetry (MOP). MOP is a challenge to write a poem a day during the month of January. This is the second time I've signed up and I’m enjoying it as much as I did last year.

I’d written a handful of poems before MOP, usually when profoundly moved (about my brother, for instance, or a pressing social issue) but with only a vague idea of what I was doing. After two MOPs, I feel like I've taken my trainer wheels off but I’m still very much a learner with, perhaps, the occasional flash of brilliance.

As with most writing, the more you do, the more you learn how to do it and the more your creativity expands. The added advantage of MOP is that we read and comment on our fellow poets' poems in a safe environment. I've read so many fantastic poems during MOP – funny, moving, deep, inspirational, personal. They are poems I relate to – about the everyday, about things that impact our world, and about faith. I've also continued to learn about new forms – the pantoum, tritina, abcdarian, sevenling etc – and to revisit forms from last year such as the trimeric, found and erasure poems.  (You can check different forms here or here or you can google them.)

Having a Go

Think you can’t do it? These days poetry is extremely flexible.

There are the more traditional forms that place stress on rhyme, rhythm, patterns and/or verse structure – ballads, sonnets or epics.

Then there are poetic forms that borrow from other cultures – Hebrew poetry which uses repetition of concepts and chiasmic structures; syllabic Japanese poetry such as the Haiku, Senryu or Tanka; Spanish poetry, etc.

However, modern poetry often dispenses with rigid rules on rhyming (blank verse) and even a set rhythm (free verse). It also experiments with new forms such as found poetry, erasures, shaped poetry.

Each Saturday, as part of MOP, we've been given specific challenges. These might relate to:

• Trying out or experimenting with different forms – e.g. haiku, erasure or an abcdarian.
• Playing with a concept – writing a colour poem, using personification or erasure.
• Or perhaps focusing on a particular image or topic – for instance, fairy tale adaptations or a particular place, season or holiday.

Then there is performance or open mic poetry, where poets get up in front of an audience and ‘preform’ their poems. But that’s another story.

Free verse is perhaps the easiest to write. Here’s an example of one of mine.

Last year Nola and I had fun adapting a new form – the trimeric invented by Charles Stone – to scripture to form scriptural trimerics. The trimeric has four verses with 4 lines in the first and 3 in the rest (4, 3, 3, 3). Lines 2-4 of the first verse take turns as the first line of the last 3 verses. A Scriptural Trimeric uses a paraphrase of a bible verse in the first verse, and then expands on lines 2, 3 & 4 in the following verses. You can find an example here.

A simpler poetic form to try is a Cinquain – a 5 line poem with a pattern of 1/2/3/4/1 – for instance it can be words, parts of speech or syllables.

Here’s an example:

Snake

sinuous, green

winding, writhing, gliding

graceful backyard dancer hiding

treehugger

Jeanette O'Hagan 19 January 2015

Maybe you could give it a go – and even share your results in the comments below J.

If you do want to give poetry a go or to improve your existent skills, there's plenty of resources available – websites, workshops etc. Nola Passmore's The Write Flourish has a series on poetry at the moment. Reading poetry also helps - maybe try Andrew Lansdowne or Cameron Semmens.

I think the biggest thing is just to have a go.

So tell me – do you read and/or write poetry. What do you like about it? Who's your favourite poet? Are you willing to have a go?

For a bit of fun, I've included my MOP Abcdarian challenge – 

An acrostic plumbs down the line

Bold ballads boast of love and epic deeds

Canticles waft praises to Deity

Doggerel descends sublime to ridiculous

Erasure applies rubbers artistically

Found verse catches the everyday with finesse

Grammar essential if sometimes bent

Haiku nature's simple syllabic cadence

Iambic feet stamp the beat

Jingles send verse out to beg and entreat

Kumbaya my Lord, come by here

Letters, limericks, ladders, laments and lyrics

Metaphors and metonymy our wordcrafters' tools

Narrative verse tells us stories

Odes uplift just about anything

Performance poets brave open mic

Quatrains queue in four neat lines

Rhyme and rhythm gild the lily

Senryu, Haiku's anthropomorphic cousin

Trimerics expound three of four lines

Upside down and downside up

Villanelles interlacing recurring refrain

Weaving wondrous word tapestries

X a greek chiasma linking structure

Yesterday's forms and today’s new ruptures

Zestful, zany, sorrowful or funny

26 letters twirl and weave

an ABCs of poem for you and me.

Jeanette O'Hagan c 10 January 2015

Jeanette has practiced medicine, studied communication, history and theology and has taught theology.  She is currently caring for her children, enjoying post-graduate studies in writing at Swinburne University and writing her Akrad's fantasy fiction series.  You can read some of her short fiction here. She has recently had a short story published as part of the general market Tied in Pink Anthology  (profits from the anthology go towards Breast Cancer research) . 

She is actively involved in a caring Christian community. 

You can find her at her Facebook Page or webistes  JennysThread.com or Jeanette O'Hagan Writes .