Genres are more frustrating than I thought...

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authorMAF

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The more I work on my new manuscript, the less I know what genre it is...

I had initially gone with Thriller, then to Mystery, then to Paranormal Mystery, and now I'm thinking Paranormal Thriller maybe even Horror....enough to make me rip out my hair!

Should I just relax about it at the moment, finish writing it and maybe get opinions from Beta Readers? Or should I already know what genre I'm writing - and if yes - how?

Thank you! :)
 
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Feldkamp

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Is the genre label going to affect what you write? Hopefully not.

You answered your own question - relax. Worry about getting it finished first. You seem to have a general idea of what genre you're writing in. It's not like you're torn between high fantasy and historical fiction. Mystery/Thriller are close enough that you really don't need to fret about whether or not you're staying true to either genre.
 

authorMAF

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Is the genre label going to affect what you write? Hopefully not.


It will affect to some extent since, if I'm writing a Mystery, there are certain aspects that make Mystery Novels a mystery, versus thrillers, for example.

Many writers' websites recommend that before even starting a story, a writer should know the genre they're writing...I thought I knew, but now I'm not so sure anymore, and that's why I'm asking


You seem to have a general idea of what genre you're writing in.

For sure that helps a little, but when querying, I can't really say something like "It's a Paranormal Mystery with a dash of Thriller and a lot of Horror" ;)
 
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thedark

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Just a cheerful second to that. It's easier to figure out your genre when your WIP is complete, and especially with the helpful reflection of your beta readers.

I did that too with mine -- it's general fiction. No, it's erotica. No, it's a thriller. It might be New Adult.. wait.. no, it's not... until I settled on the delightfully accurate genre of Psych Thriller. If it wasn't a psych thriller, it'd be a general thriller. It didn't inform the writing, but the writing certainly fits the genre. Part of how I got there was from what I wanted it to be (not just thrilling, but about changing psychies throughout the story), and feedback from beta readers. They described the novel using words like "intense" and "fast pacing, thrilling from one scene to the next, there's always tension..." - that's what a thriller does.

But it's hard to figure out at first, especially while you're still in progress. Write the story you are going to write, then peg it into a box later. :)

Or, you know, stretch and reshape the box like silly putty until it fits your novel..

~ Anna
 

authorMAF

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Just a cheerful second to that. It's easier to figure out your genre when your WIP is complete, and especially with the helpful reflection of your beta readers.

I did that too with mine -- it's general fiction. No, it's erotica. No, it's a thriller. It might be New Adult.. wait.. no, it's not... until I settled on the delightfully accurate genre of Psych Thriller. If it wasn't a psych thriller, it'd be a general thriller. It didn't inform the writing, but the writing certainly fits the genre. Part of how I got there was from what I wanted it to be (not just thrilling, but about changing psychies throughout the story), and feedback from beta readers. They described the novel using words like "intense" and "fast pacing, thrilling from one scene to the next, there's always tension..." - that's what a thriller does.

But it's hard to figure out at first, especially while you're still in progress. Write the story you are going to write, then peg it into a box later. :)

Or, you know, stretch and reshape the box like silly putty until it fits your novel..

~ Anna

Thank you for the feedback! I'll definitely finish writing and then I'll start finding a place for it ;)
 
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