Since we're talking definitions here...

DocBrown

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Perhaps the synopsis is just a natural byproduct of discussing the elements of the story itself.

Still, it'd be nice to have an elegant definition of critique.

I'll keep thinking on it.
 

kkbe

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What about a novel that moves toward the mc's slow dawning of something horrifying or abhorrent, or the shocking realization that what the mc thought isn't the reality. . . wondering if that's psychological suspense and if that should be noted in one's QL.
 

heyjude

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Possibly. I'd have to know more. And that slow dawning should be nicely reflected in your query letter. :)
 

vagough

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Love the MysteryNet.com posting -- thank you for sharing the link! I've been thinking of my work-in-progress as a murder-mystery, but reading this makes it clear to me that it really is a suspense novel, since the killer's identity is gradually revealed during the course of the investigation, building suspense. (At least, that's the plan!)

Thanks again!


A much-loved topic.

Links below

This is the place to discuss, debate, and link to pertinent articles.

I found an interesting one on the difference between mystery and suspense. Of course, there's always Nathan Bransford's informative blog post on the subject, including the spot-on advice: "These labels slosh around a whole lot, so again, don't sweat them too much." A similar post from BookEnds.

There is some good advice differentiating thrillers and suspense in the comments section of this Miss Snark post. Follow the links to this page, scroll a third of the way down (or whatever, I'm no math major) to Lit Tip: Thriller or Suspense?

It says, in part, "You know you’ve written a suspense novel when: Your protagonist is in terrible personal danger and fighting for his or her life against disproportionately high odds. Suspense novels are breathless page-turners that focus more on a pivotal character, but often include high-stakes elements of thrillers."


Here's a blog post on cozies, as well. And here on the MTS forum there are discussions on All Things Cozy, What makes a "cozy" mystery, and Cozies *without* recipes...

I hope these are helpful. Anyone have any other links, thoughts, opinions? Please share!
 
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The WIP I've been stuck on for awhile concerns a haunted teenage girl volunteering for a genetic experiment and becoming a human specimen, only to find herself playing mind games with the boy genius project head after stumbling upon his scheme to turn society into an anarchist utopia. I'd like to think of it as a psychological paranoia-thriller with sci-fi elements, but I may be off.
 

onesecondglance

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There is much fun to be had with trying to needle down your exact genre - see this example from my current sig:

near-future SF noir

near-future - i.e. not set in a completely alien future world
SF - because the main plot incidents and much of the surrounding elements are SF
noir - because of the general tone and atmosphere being aimed for

If I wanted to be really specific about the genre, I would have to throw in the following phrases:

crime - the two main characters are detectives trying to solve a crime / series of crimes
mystery - the main plot is a mystery the detectives are trying to crack
thriller - the major plot incidents are framed within action sequences and there is an overall pace being aimed for

Put all that together and you get this huge mouthful:

near-future SF noir crime mystery thriller.

It's pretty accurate, but it's actually not all that useful to either readers or agents / publishers.

Let's break it down, then. Near-future and noir aren't genres - they're just descriptors. So let's put them to one side. Crime, mystery, SF, and thriller are genres, but which one is the main genre here? SF trumps all of them in terms of setting reader expectations - because if you said it was crime or mystery, then readers expecting a police procedural could be sorely disappointed by the SF elements. I'd say the same for any other non-real elements, like paranormal, fantasy, UF, etc.

I think of this as a bit like saying whether a meal is vegetarian, vegan, whatever. It doesn't matter what's actually in there, but you need to know that high level stuff up front. But simply calling it SF is a bit like calling a guitar band "rock". It may well be accurate, but it's so vague as to be useless. We need to narrow it down a bit more.

So which of the other genres is most relevant here? While there is a mystery at the heart of the story, it's not the driving force of the plot. Yes, the detectives want to uncover what's going on, but the reader often has more information than they do. So on that basis I would say not mystery.

While the mystery the 'tecs are working out is to do with a crime, and crime(s) instigate and propel the main plot, I am unsure whether this is the right genre tag. It's a multiple-POV story, and while the major ones are the detectives, there are plenty of other POV chapters and story threads outside the police.

Thriller is a good catch-all term for action-heavy stories, but what it really implies to me is a tone. Is it an exciting read, or at least intended that way? That's certainly what I'm going for, so I think this is an appropriate tag.

That leaves gives me SF thriller. I'm reasonably happy with that, given that such a description almost never exists in a vacuum. It will always be accompanied by other materials - a query letter, back cover blurbs, etc. - and those should help bring out the mystery, the near-future setting, the crime elements, and the noir atmosphere.

... not changing my sig line, though. Too lazy :D
 

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humor and fear are diametrically opposed emotions.

You might have gallows humor, but you won't have "comedy" mixed with "horror". Shawn of the Dead shows what happens when comedy wins over horror in the genre war. And characters might crack jokes when they're nervous and think they're about to die, but I don't think its possible to have both humor and fear fully expressed in the same story.

True Lies was more of an "action" genre, not "suspense", anyway, wasn't it? A good example of action/comedy would be something like Beverly Hills Cop.

I think of that scene in the movie Jurassic Park, when the T-Rex is chasing the Jeep, and Malcolm keeps saying, "Must go faster, must go faster." After they escaped, then there was humor to lighten the tension, when he said, "You think they'll have that on the tour?"

Shakespeare did this often - the Gravedigger and the musicians are two cases I can think of off the top of my head.
 

heyjude

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I think of that scene in the movie Jurassic Park, when the T-Rex is chasing the Jeep, and Malcolm keeps saying, "Must go faster, must go faster." After they escaped, then there was humor to lighten the tension, when he said, "You think they'll have that on the tour?"

One of the best scenes of any movie ever. :)

Objects in mirror closer than they appear. Heh.
 

Amy_D

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Suspense can have a paranormal; neither mystery nor thriller will. I don't know why this is the case though.

This is an interesting observation. My book has many elements of Fantasy/Sci-Fi but it's heart is based in Suspense. I have trouble figuring out which forum I should post in.
 

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I'm not writing horror, of course, but I would assume somebody enjoyed Shawn of the Dead! (Who, I don't know. ;) ) But Janet Evanovich has mixed suspense with humor, and I like it. Hers are not thrillers, since the MC is a bounty hunter, not seeking to save the world but usually trying not to get her car blown up. But there are moments when I'm reading those when I truly am on the edge of my seat, worried for the MC.

Also, I guess I should clarify what I'm thinking when I refer to humour - I don't really mean like slapstick comedy, but more like the characters' witticisms and outlook on life...Yes. I like Arnold S. type of humor! <Groan.> It can't be helped. I am who I am and I like silly jokes. I just do!

And I like big, save the world plots. And I don't care if they're unrealistic, if they are at least realistic within the parameters of the story world. So, Arnie, he's one of my favorites. And Will Smith. And Stephanie Plum. And Bruce Willis in the old Die Hard days. Oh, and the whole Incredibles family.

I'm not proud. I'll admit it. I have the sense of humor of a seven-year old boy. :D

Anyway...thanks for the input everybody!

ltd.
I guess it might be called humorous action/adventure, but I'm thinking of Romancing the Stone?
 

cdecho

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There is much fun to be had with trying to needle down your exact genre - see this example from my current sig:

near-future SF noir

near-future - i.e. not set in a completely alien future world
SF - because the main plot incidents and much of the surrounding elements are SF
noir - because of the general tone and atmosphere being aimed for

If I wanted to be really specific about the genre, I would have to throw in the following phrases:

crime - the two main characters are detectives trying to solve a crime / series of crimes
mystery - the main plot is a mystery the detectives are trying to crack
thriller - the major plot incidents are framed within action sequences and there is an overall pace being aimed for

:D
I read somewhere, think about which shelf would it go on in the bookstore. That's what agents and editors are wondering.
 

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What genre might a book about a natural disaster be?

Is environmental thriller an actual thing? (She asks doubtfully.)
 

triceretops

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I've tried to classify King Kong ever since I could remember. The closest I've come to is Action/Adventure. It's definitely a hunt (trip) for an illusive creature. I don't think it's fantasy in a real sense, but I could be wrong. It has elements of horror. Maybe it is a compound of two or more genres.
 

pdichellis

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What genre might a book about a natural disaster be?

Is environmental thriller an actual thing? (She asks doubtfully.)

Environmental thrillers (also called "eco-thrillers") are a thriller subgenre in the U.S., but I don't know about other regions. For more, Google: genre environmental thriller.

Good luck!
 

Laurasaurus

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Environmental thrillers (also called "eco-thrillers") are a thriller subgenre in the U.S., but I don't know about other regions. For more, Google: genre environmental thriller.

Good luck!
Thank you!

Eco thriller. I knew there was another one I couldn't quite remember.
 

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Looks like I might be re-hashing an old thread, but I need help so here goes....

Categorizing my novel into a genre has been challenging to say the least. I started off with speculative fiction given it's wide umbrella of sub-genres, but then decided that didn't work. Then I tried mystery, but wasn't comfortable with that either. Horror is maybe too strong and paranormal is good but not the bigger picture. Any help would be most welcome. Here's a very brief, and really terrible synopsis.....

Child has dreams of a man with strange eyes and doesn't know if he's real or not. When she grows up, she catches fiancé in bed with another woman. They fight, she burns a whole into his chest with her bare hands - doesn't know how she did it and flees the scene. Meanwhile her adoptive mum has just died and left the girl a substantial fortune and mysterious cottage in the woods of a small, English village. Girl moves to cottage after funeral to hide from fiancé and try to get her head around what happened. Stuff goes on, girl meets one boy who tries to rape her, so she burns his face, again not knowing how. Girl meets another boy who has mysterious past and a scar/branding identical to her own and who's face is disturbingly familiar. Through most of the book the girl (woman actually, though I had considered making it a YA until one of the characters turns out to be quite sexual and then of course the attempted rape scene - all characters are over the age of 25) has no idea what is happening to her or how she knows boy no.2. The reader, however, is drip fed from very early on just who the girl is, where she comes from, and what her purpose is through the viewpoint of another character. There is a ghost in this story, there are elements of horror and an underlying love story that doesn't really progress until book no.2 but is very heavily hinted at (No. 2 not yet written) and the whole thing is based around my idea of druids and witches, so you can see where I'm struggling to define a genre.

I'm thinking paranormal suspense but still not confident that quite covers it.

Any ideas?

Thanks
 

ironmikezero

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Sounds like a blend of grim-dark with paranormal romance potential (depending on where you take it) . . . but, that's just one opinion.

Seriously, I wouldn't worry too much about trying to fit in a particular genre; just write it. When you're done, the principal aspects of genre may be more evident. At any rate, a publisher will no doubt make the genre determination based upon a well-considered marketing strategy.
 

lizmonster

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At any rate, a publisher will no doubt make the genre determination based upon a well-considered marketing strategy.

Don't count on this. Not for a second.

Most of the time, yeah, a publisher is going to handle it all just fine. But if they propose things that seem odd to you? You need a retort better than "That doesn't seem quite right to me."

Before you sub, learn your genre and sub-genre. Read as many books as you have to in order to be sure. I would put NAIL YOUR SUBGENRE in the top five most important things you need to do before you sub to agents. Not because agents/publishers are going to get it wrong - they most likely won't. But no matter how much they love your work, nobody cares as much about your MS as you do. Nobody. And you need to be able to protect it.

You want a publisher? Know where you fit before you start laying the groundwork. Don't be passive about this. It's your career, not theirs.
 

Lady Fox

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Seriously, I wouldn't worry too much about trying to fit in a particular genre; just write it. .

That's just the problem. It IS finished, I'm almost done with the final polish but there are so many different elements to it I've struggled to pin it to one genre.
 

Night_Writer

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I don't know if this has been covered yet, since I haven't read every post here, but I do have a view on what the difference is between mystery and suspense. I'm focusing just on those two genres as they tend to be grouped together. In the case of both genres, most of the time, a crime has been committed. I know that's not always the case, but often it is. So with that in mind, here's where I see the difference.

In Mystery, the main characters are trying to solve the crime. They're asking Who did it? Why did they do it? How did they do it? and How can we catch them?

In Suspense, the focus is on the people who actually committed the crime. So the question here is How are we going to get away with it? and Will we get away with it at all? Alfred Hitchcock's definition of suspense was something that made you feel very uneasy and disturbed. What makes suspense disturbing is that the characters are worried about being caught, and if they get caught they're going to face a very bad fate.

Mystery asks who committed the crime. The story solves a puzzle. In Suspense we know who did what, but their fate is what creates the suspense.

I know that there could be a lot of exceptions to this, but overall this is how it looks to me.