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What’s in a name? The Demystification of Genres
Filed in The Quirky Lover Posted on February 2, 2011 @ 12:00 pm
22 comments
This has been on my mind for a bit and I’ve been searching for answers, but they never seem to fully explain things to my satisfaction, at least with only a cursory look. And it is this that has me in a kerfuffle: What the heck is the difference between Sci-Fi, Paranormal, Fantasy, and Urban Fantasy? But there are tons (dare I say millions at this point?) of genres out there and so many seem so closely related that it’s a wonder they have more than one name! So, I’ve decided to delve deep, donning my reporter cap, pencil, and notebook, and find out what’s what?! Do readers have different terms for their books than the publishing industry does? Where did the names come from? Why is there a need for these marginally different genres?
One only has to look at the Wiki entry for Literary Genres, here, to see the (almost) endless list…ok, so, it also confirms I may be exaggerating a bit with the “millions” above, but when you factor in cross-genres I could be close, right? Right?! Ok, we’ll leave that alone for the moment and move on…
Each bi-weekly post will offer the best definitions I can glean for similar genres. I’m hoping to also determine where exactly each of our authors (the ones we’ve reviewed) fit into and perhaps find some we haven’t looked at yet. Along the same line, it would be interesting to determine why some types/styles are more attractive to us than others. I will admit, there may be some I leave alone or maybe save till the end, for instance Luciferian literature or the Picaresque novel (seriously, huh?!) But, I freely admit, I have a lot to learn.
I’m curious to find out from you, our readers, if this is something you’ve also wanted clarified and which genre definitions/distinctions dog you the most? Is this a worthwhile endeavor? Please let me know! My first post, two weeks from now, will look at those that fall within the “Fantasy” realm, if to achieve nothing more than my own education, but I’m hoping this will be help us all 🙂
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I will admit that I am clueless when it comes to defining a genre. I would welcome regular blog posts that explain what they all mean!
GeishasMom73 on twitter
I SUCK at defining genres. So count me in for the Genres 101.
I only understood what was fantasy a few month ago. I always made the amalgam between UF/PNR/Fantasy.
I'm still unsure about Steampunk and 'new genres' lol
When I was trying to query out my first book, this was the BIGGEST challenge I had. Depending on how you read it, it could be alternative history, romantic suspense, mystery, scifi, fantasy or apocalyptic fiction. Then I discovered that great catch-em term: speculative fiction.
So now, when someone asks me what type of book I wrote, I say speculative fiction. And then they ask was speculative fiction is. I groan.
Great idea for a series. I too find myself baffled at the terms "urban fantasy" and "steampunk romance."
Great idea – I will certainly stay tuned, because as obvious as some books are when it comes to a genre, others are just utterly … well, hard to put into a box!
Figuring out what genre a book is can be almost as hard as writing/editing/polishing/querying the book. In the end, I've heard it is whatever the publishers and bookstores like B&N decide to label and place your book as to what genre might stick.
oh and I forgot to say that I don't think I'm the only one who sucks at genre because I went to a bookstore 2 days ago and they had YA books in the Romance section and Adult Romance books in the YA section. Not to forget they had UF in the Romance/Historical section.
*eye twitch* I was THIS close to reorganizing the whole store lol
*g* but Pattepoilue, you did know the different genres to reorganize it!
there are so many genres out there I can't even keep track – and yes, I've heard about Steampunk too, but needed more information which books fit the genre and and which not…quite difficult 😉
@Ina Well some things are a bit shocking. I mean come on ADULT UF in the YA section is really not appropriate lol. I only noticed the very noticeable errors
Wonderful idea Jackie, count me in! I can't wait to learn more about genres! Thanks for taking on the exhaustive and responsible job of exploring them! 😉
Great pet peeve! When I visit bookstores, it always seems that the sci-fi and fantasy labels are applied most to “traditional” male-authored works. I read somewhere once that while Paranormal Romance and UF are similar, PNR–as a “romance” genre–generally features an HEA in the novel. UFs may develop an HEA over a series, or may not have one at all.
Great idea! I never really thought much about genres until I began tagging my books on LibraryThing, and then I started seeing differences between genres I'd always thought of as basically the same. I have pretty good definitions of genres in my own head, but I think it would be interesting to find out what the official word is.
Great idea!
Thanks everyone for the encouragement here! I was nervous about starting this but it should be fun to see where it takes us all 🙂
@pattepoilue – I would love to fix a book store based on the way it should be! It would make my eyes twitch too…
@Killian – I always think about the speculative fiction using the question "What if?". Should be interesting to see what it actually, lol.
@Cherie – I wasn't sure who gave the labels but I'm hoping to hit up a few publishing people to find out.
I'm super excited to dig in and get started now! Thanks again.
Of course this is a worthwhile endeavor. And when you've finished the series, you need to send a printed version to every bloody bookstore that thinks anything with a werewolf in it must be horror, while anything that makes the NYT Top 10 list must be literary.
I have OPINIONS about such shelving decisions.
@draconismoi – *g* Bookstores haven't yet discovered the cute, cuddly werewolves yet, I guess. Good points, though!
Heh, I'm forever reorganizing book store shelves. The staff probably hate to see me walk in the door. *grin*
As for me, I tend to lump them under "speculative fiction" and call it good. It's the genre equivalent of one size fits all. 😛
Very much looking forward to this investigation. ^_^ Some terms are easy enough to define….like Science Fiction. But then when you have urban fantasy, dark urban fantasy, and gothic… that's where my head sometimes starts to spin.
And then, what about an urban fantasy that has an historical setting? Is that possible? Is it then historical paranormal? Historical urban fantasy???
Oh! I've confused and befuddled myself yet again. I need to fetch my smelling salts.
I think everyone defines genres differently, though I would love it if everyone could agree on what each genre actually is.
I can't wait to start reading this series to see what others think.
Bea- I love walking into bookstores and listening to the staff attempting to help customers…I usually know more than they do, lol, and can't help but throw in my two cents :-p
Alisha- I know I'll be able to help clear up a few things but re-checking that Wiki link…they don't even list Urban Fantasy!…nevermind the historical twist subgenre you've created, ROFL. We'll fix that!
natalie- I agree but we'll see if we can find some consensus here 🙂
i think this is a great idea. I wish the bookstores could figure out where to put the books. I have to search through romance, sci-fi, and horror to find what I would consider urban fantasy.
I know I have issues telling the difference between urban fantasy or paranormal.
Sci-fi – I consider this anything with aliens, space, or talking about hundreds of years in the future.
Fantasy – I think of like LOTR or unicorns.
This post is a great idea!
Anyone noticed that the Wikipedia page does not feature urban fantasy on the list?
@heatwave16 – Hopefully we'll all get a better idea of the difference. I know the Sci-Fi explanation will be on my first "lesson", lol.
@Celine – Yeah, I mentioned that in one of the comments. But there are others that seem to be missing also, so I'll try to tap into those too 🙂