: Re: What is genre, and why should we care? Here I came upon an argument about whether a particular grouping is a genre, or a marketing term. Which made me wonder - what is genre? How strict

@Jessie137

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To what extent should we, as writers, care about genre, in regards to what we're writing?

I'll take Arcanist Lupus's comment and turn it into an answer.

Writing Excuses disambiguate

genre fiction "That means science fiction, Western, that sort of stuff as a genre that incorporates setting and also plot tropes,"

from

elemental genre "what makes readers turn the page and what hacks their brain to have certain responses, that you can then use as a
writer in your writing."

So, while genre fiction refers to the tropes of the settings and initial character states – the "facts" of the story or the who where and when – elemental genre refers to the intended reader/audience reaction – the pacing, story beats, emotional tone, and character changes – as "flavors" and "spices" which are combined and sequenced to "pull the reader through the story".

Similar to the MICE quotient as a tool for writers, their advice is to understand the emotional payoffs of all elemental genres, and utilize them as ingredients to avoid the clichés and ruts of "bookstore genres".

Over the episodes, they discuss how the two definitions of genre can be combined at different structural levels. An elemental genre can replace the core structure of the entire narrative, serve as counterpoint or subplot, can create a major twist, or be applied as needed to control the tone and emotional payoff of any section within the story.

The Elemental Genres they discuss are:

Wonder
Idea
Adventure
Horror
Mystery
Thriller
Humor
Relationship
Drama
Issue
Ensemble

But they casually mention other (sub)genres, and say their list of 11 elemental genres is incomplete.

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