Write Stories Using Appropriate Genres for Audience Appeal

Are you ready to write an amazing story? You’ve been thinking about it for a while, and now the time has come. You may have gotten your high concept out of the blue or from a conversation you had with someone who ignited a creative spark in you. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s original or a new twist on an old concept. First, you must learn to write stories using appropriate genres.

What will your story be about? Will you write about a character traveling into the future, a modern superhero, or a woman braving bears in Alaska searching for her missing adventurous husband?

Depending on your idea, you will need to choose the correct genre for your story. There are many genres, and as my grandmother used to say regarding a plethora of items, “There are more things than you can shake a stick at.”

Write Stories Using Appropriate Genres to 
Up the Ante to Your Story’s Success

Let’s look at some of the genres you can choose from. We will not list them all, but here are some interesting ones and popular ones:

Historical fiction. These novels are set in the past and showcase historical events or characters. These novels transport readers to another time and place. Some historical novels tell stories that involve actual historical figures or events.

Literary fiction. These novels are considered works with literary merit and often include political criticism, social commentary, and reflections on humanity. Literary fiction novels are usually character-driven instead of plot-driven and follow a character’s inner story.

Romance. This genre focuses on two characters' relationship, three if it involves a love triangle. These novels tell love stories and tend to be lighthearted. The conflict in a love story is secondary to the love relationship. The outcome is an optimistic one.

Fantasy. This genre has themes of supernatural and imaginary worlds. Readers find that these novels involve mythology and folklore. Magic is often an element. An example of a fantasy story is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

Science fiction. These stories focus on science and technology in a setting with imagined elements that are different from the real world. Science fiction further explores futuristic scenarios for society or individuals. Sci-fi novels commonly include themes of time travel, space exploration, and futuristic society.  Star Trek and The War of the Worlds are examples of the science fiction genre.

Horror. Horror novels at their core are crafted to scare and shock readers and sometimes repulse them. These themes are often centered on ghosts witches, monsters, death, demons, and so forth. When one thinks of horror novels, Stephen King may come to mind. He is the master of the horror genre.

Drama. This literary genre showcases conflicts, emotions, and resolutions through dialogue and action. Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. Drama novels cover fictional themes involving crime, romance, horror, and family life. Everything I Never Told You and The Hacienda are examples.

Fable. This literary genre provides a lesson in a short fictional story. It features animals, plants, inanimate objects, and others. Plants and animals are anthropomorphized. That is, they are given human characteristics such as speech or behavior. The fable delivers a moral at the end of the short story. "The Hare and the Tortoise" and "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" are examples.

Fairy tale. This is a short story under the umbrella of folklore. Here we have such imaginings as elves, goblins, magic, and mythical creatures. Fairy tales incorporate fanciful beings and enchantments. They often use anthropomorphized animals or objects, and there is a moral to the story. "Sleeping Beauty," "Cinderella," and "Little Red Riding Hood" are examples.

Western. This genre denotes stories set in the American West during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This genre tells the stories of cowboys, settlers, and outlaws who traverse the western frontier. The popularity of Western novels has now waned. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, True Grit by Charles Portis, and Hondo by Louis L’Amour are examples of Western novels.

Thriller. Thriller novels are a type of mystery with some differences. Thrillers are action-oriented and are filled with tension and fear. They are plot-driven and provide many plot twists. Thrillers are dark and suspenseful usually devoid of comedy but use other devices such as red herrings and cliffhangers. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Shining, and The Hunger are examples of thriller novels.

Speculative fiction. This genre includes science fiction, fantasy, horror, fairy tales, cyberpunk, dystopian, and others. The stories entice audiences to explore worlds different than their own and modes of existence beyond their reality. Examples of speculative fiction novels include The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Chronicles of Narnia.

Dystopian. These novels are to be found in the genre of science fiction and the subgenera of speculative fiction. This speculative fiction shows a futuristic society. Dystopian fiction is set in societies that are considered worse than the ones in which we live. Contrast dystopian fiction with utopian fiction, which is set in societies considered better than the one in which we live. Dystopian stories contain messages of criticism of today’s society that have themes of restriction of freedom of expression, poverty, anarchy, and other conditions. Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, and Lord of the Flies are examples of Dystopian novels.

Write Stories Using Appropriate Genres by Following These Examples

Magical realism is a genre not listed above. But it is a fascinating one. Let’s give it its own section and discover why it must take its rightful place in fiction literature. The magical realism genre melds the ordinary with the extraordinary. What results is a natural, familiar setting with elements of magic. 

We find this type of genre in the roots of Latin American Literature. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is an author and a frontrunner who used magical realism. This genre denotes magic and offers a common ground where everyday events are transformed into something extraordinary. The lines between reality and fantasy become less defined, becoming more enthralling for the reader.

Magical Realism Novels:

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells of the Buendía family's multi-generational saga in the mythical town of Macondo. In this novel, magical occurrences are commonplace. A girl ascends to heaven to a massacre that without rhyme or reason erases itself from history.

Find the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude on Amazon.

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende tells the story of the Trueba family across generations. The novel is rich with supernatural phenomena, such as precognition and spirits, blending with the political upheavals of twentieth-century Chile. 

Beloved by Toni Morrison examines the complex relationship between slavery and motherhood. This work explores the legacy of a slave, a woman named Sethe, and how it tragically interferes with her love for her children. After the Civil War, there is a house, which is haunted by the presence of a dead child.

All three stories illustrate why magical realism is so enthralling for both readers and writers. Ways to improve creative writing often involve exploring genres like magical realism, allowing authors to push their imaginative limits and captivate their audience in new and exciting ways.

These magical elements are woven expertly into the story’s fabric, creating a tapestry of awe that tickles the limits of imagination. This genre thrives on subtlety. It creates in the reader both a sense of familiarity and enchantment.

Hopefully, this article has shown some of the more popular literary genres. There are more. Find and explore them on your own. When you write stories using appropriate genres, you treat your audience to plot twists, futuristic societies, tales of the American Old West, anthropomorphized animals, tumultuous love relationships, and more. Make your writing fantastic by learning to write stories using appropriate genres.

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