StoryGodmother Newsletter #25 - Why genre is important
Hello!
September has whirled by, or is it just me? Hope the autumn is treating you well. We’re in the last few months of the year – have you got plans to achieve certain things by the end of the 2024? If so, good luck with meeting those targets. If you haven’t set a goal, there’s still time to think about what you would love to work on or have accomplished by the year’s end.
Top tip: December is nearly always busier than you think, and winter bugs can slow things down, so be kind to yourself with any goals you set!
So, what news from Story Godmother quarters?
STORY GODMOTHER WRITING COMMUNITY
The Story Godmother Facebook group is going well, with regular features now, including an opportunity for writers to share information about their works, and a weekly Wednesday Writing Tips. Thank you to everyone who is on there and who is contributing to the group. If you haven’t joined yet but would like to, here’s the link: Story Godmother Writing Community
It’s a private group and a friendly bunch – a safe space for you to grow as a writer. And it’s absolutely free. If you request to join, please do make sure you answer the membership questions and agree to the group rules.
RESOURCES
Why Genre is Important
I often find myself using the phrase ‘lean into the genre’ when talking to new or emerging writers, so I thought I’d spend a bit of time exploring why genre is important for books. Probably the first thing to say, is that some authors dislike considering their books to belong to a certain genre, preferring them to be simply what they are. This is understandable, as a book is a very organic and personal thing. However, the advantage of understanding and utilising genre is that it puts your book at a commercial advantage for various reasons.
Gatekeeper confidence
Firstly, if you’re approaching an editor or an agent, it gives them confidence that you understand what your story IS fundamentally. Although your book may tick multiple genres simultaneously, or bend and break the rules of a certain category, the fact that you think it belongs somewhere is reassuring to a gatekeeper. If you don’t know what it ‘is’, how will anyone else?
Buyer/Seller communication
A book is much easier to sell when people can communicate it clearly. This buyer/seller communication works across the whole spectrum, from you ‘selling’ it to a gatekeeper, to a gatekeeper selling it to a publisher, or the publisher selling it into bookshops... or overseas... and so on. Who’s looking for a funny book for their lists? Who hasn’t had a good action story for a while?
Reader expectations
The other advantage of genre is that there are reader expectations. If it’s a funny story, you can expect to laugh. If it’s a scary story, you can expect to get scared. If it’s an adventure story, you can expect... well, an adventure. If it’s a story about a witch looking for a new home... what IS that? Is it a comedy, as the witch tries all kinds of potential but ridiculously unsuccessful new homes? Is it a dark story about a witch moving next door, and bringing with her all kinds of trouble? Is it a friendship story about a young, homeless witch who is desperate not to feel unloved and alone? It could be any of those things, and more.
Leaning into genre
Once you are clear about your genre, you can make the most of this in several ways, for example:
1. Your pitch
Make sure you reference the genre in the query letter at least, and the pitch itself if possible. You don’t have to necessarily bluntly say ‘comedy adventure’ after your pitch. It could be you deliver the pitch using humour – that will help make it clear what kind of story it is. Let the language choices in your pitch reflect genre. Again, this is reassuring to gatekeepers.
2. Opening and closings
Make sure the opening and closing moments of your book reflect the genre. When the reader starts to read page one, they should have a clear sense of what kind of book they are reading. This establishes a promise between the author and the reader. But also...
3. Keep it going
Don’t let your reader down by letting the genre slip or change dramatically in the middle of the book. If it’s a funny book, keep the humour prominent throughout the whole story. If it’s action, keep the pace up (apart from any necessary downtime moments).
4. Use tropes
Tropes are familiar, recognisable ideas that crop up regularly in a certain area of artistic creation. They are a little bit like literary cliches. So, for example, a heist might appear in an action story; or an epic battle between good and evil might appear in a high fantasy novel. Using some of these in your story can help the reader relate and engage with the genre. However, if you use too many, they can make the story feel tired and overfamiliar. A fun thing to do (depending on your approach to the story) is to subvert the expected tropes or put a different spin on them to help them feel fresh and relevant but still recognisable.
5. Choices
As in your pitch, let the language/ names/places/character types you use all feel like they belong in this story. Is there anything which jars, or does it feel a perfect match?
Subgenres
Your story may fall into multiple genres equally, or it may be there is a predominant genre, and then one or more subgenres. For example, you could argue that The House At The Edge Of Magic is a fantasy/magic book as its primary genre but it is also comedy and adventure. Some people might prefer to describe it as ‘comedy-fantasy’ (fine with me). It may depend on the weighting in your book, or a reader’s particular interest might dictate how they personally might describe it (e.g. a reader who prefers humorous books and enjoyed The House At The Edge of Magic would be more likely to describe it as a comedy-fantasy). Describe it however it feels right to you as the author but be prepared for a little flexibility along the way.
So, understand your genre, communicate your genre and make the most of your genre. And you should have a clearer, more sellable book at the end of it.
CHARACTER CORNER
Conflict-causing characters are great for helping to reveal character and propel plot forwards. This may be your protagonist, or it may be a supporting character. There are various ways conflict can be caused:
1) Character flaw
The conflict isn’t always intentional; sometimes a character flaw causes trouble for the character themselves and/or the other characters.
2) Character personality
An outspoken, disagreeable or trouble-making character can ruffle feathers, cause arguments, or even cause wars.
3) Character hurts
It could be that a character’s relationship with another character or their past experiences are the source of the expressed conflict.
4) Character wants
Sometimes characters have conflicting goals, which are not necessarily a deliberate attempt to thwart your protagonist in their pursuit of their own goal, or an expression of a poor relationship between characters: it is simply that the characters’ goals clash.
Think about how and which characters can add conflict to your story and make it more interesting. However, make sure every conflict feels believable, character-consistent and adds something to the story in some way.
TEACHING
Here are the upcoming dates for the remainder of the autumn. These are the last ones for 2024 as I won’t be running any in December. Sessions are recorded and available for a limited time afterwards in case you are unable to make any of the dates as I appreciate that life gets in the way sometimes!
So, what’s on offer in October and November?
What’s the Story? (2 weeks) – Weds 9th & 16th October
Understanding the heart of your story can really speed up the writing process and save a lot of stress and heartache. We’ll be looking at the essential tools for nailing a story, including: concept; what kind of story you're telling; themes; readership; tone; key characters and what to do with them; and how to pull it all together.
Runs for two weeks Wednesday 9th & 16th October - £35 plus Eventbrite fee.
FREE webinar - Thur 17th Oct I’m pleased to offer another FREE webinar for subscribers. This time it’s about creating home educated characters and giving you insight, tools, inspiration and reasons as to how and why you can include them in your stories. Hope you find it helpful – and hope to see you there!
10 Character Hacks (2 weeks) - Thur 7th & 14th November
I’ve been asked to re-run this course, so here we go! This two-week course runs on Thursday 7th & 14th November and explores interesting and outside-the-box ways of nailing characterisation. £35 plus Eventbrite fee.
Fabulous Villains (3 weeks) - Weds 6th, 13th, 20th November
I’ve also had several requests to run my ‘Fabulous Villains’ three-session course. Antagonists are my speciality, so this is naturally one of my favourite courses! This course runs Wednesday 6th, 13th & 20th November. £45 plus Eventbrite fee.
There will also be some extra sessions announced next year, including my sell-out ‘Level Up’- a game-changing, three-week course about getting the most out of yourself as a writer; and my 6-week ‘Writing Middle Grade Books’ course. I will also be re-running the 'Emotional Connection course', so keep an eye open.
As always, please do get in touch if there’s an area of writing craft, you’re keen to explore and if I don’t already have a course on it, I’ll put one together!
COMPETITIONS
FREE COACHING COMPETITION
For those of you who are new to this, as a thank you for subscribing to the newsletter and to help coaching become accessible to all, I offer a FREE 30-minute coaching session over Zoom (worth £30 – no strings attached) via a lucky draw every newsletter, for anyone who would like to take part.
For more on the coaching sessions, please see my Coaching page.
If you would like to enter, please email comps@storygodmother.co.uk with COACHING 6.10.24 in the subject line and you will be entered into the draw. All entries must be received by the Wednesday after the newsletter is sent out. So, in this case, please get your entries in by Wednesday 9th October 23:59BST.
I will contact the lucky winner directly, so if you haven’t heard anything, please assume you’ve not won this time, but please do try again next time! If you’ve already won a free coaching competition, please can you refrain from entering again this year to give other people a chance to win.
WRITING MAGAZINE CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE
We are halfway through the submission window for this competition. We are very much looking forward to reading your entries. A reminder that it is the WHOLE manuscript for the chapter book which is required, and no longer just the opening chapter.
Although this has been running for many years now, I cannot tell you how excited I get every autumn. This truly is one of the highlights of my writing year. There will be brief feedback for longlisted and shortlisted entrants as well, to help give you more insight into the strengths and weaknesses of your story. Good luck if you’re entering!
BOOK NEWS
I have a number of these hardback books (with sparkly gold letters!) but need to have a stock clearance as my writing room is tiny. So if anyone is looking for a signed Christmas present, I’m selling these for £3 plus P&P. Gruff’s Guide To Fairy Tale Land is illustrated by the fabulous Benji Davies and was our second book together.
The blurb:
Join Billy Goat Gruff in this unusual guidebook. Gruff tricked the troll and now he shows you 'how to' do a million other clever things in this wickedly witty, companion to the familiar world of "Fairy Tale Land". Packed full of fun, this interactive guidebook shows you where NOT to go, who NOT to meet, what NOT to eat and how NOT to get eaten!
If you’d like a copy (signed/dedicated or otherwise), please contact me on sparkles@storygodmother.co.uk.
END NOTES
If you’ve found this newsletter helpful, please do spread the word to other writers you know – the more, the merrier!
Have a lovely autumn, good luck with any competitions you’re entering, and happy writing.
Story Godmother x