Genre - genre - what the hell does 'genre' do?

Genre. I've heard it pronounced in totally weird ways (Like the girl in Atonement does) and, yes, there's going to be some sneering when it's said.

'Genre.' Well, of course you're not supposed to be so easily pigeon-holed are you. Gotta be more slippery, difficult to pin, a fox evading traps. Genre just puts you in a box.

Let's look at it another way though. Genre isn't a box, it's a signpost.

Genre is the sign you're looking for when you're thinking - shall I go there?

Genre is like a neighbourhood. Pitch dark alley with red neon signs. A waterfront with palms. A library with a secret doorway. Where do you want to go?

I need to make a sign. And the sign needs to suit the neighbourhood.

People who want the turquoise coast and palms don’t want to end up fighting mobsters down grizzly alley.

Yes, yes, there are people who want their dark alley to have palms and a beach at the bottom. But there aren’t so many of them and they’re hard to find.

If you want people to come to your neighbourhood, then you need to be able to give it a clear signpost. You need your reader to trust that signpost. Your reader needs to feel, when they get there, that it was so totally the right decision.

I like palms and beach. You said you’d take me there - and, hey, this is the best palms and beach I’ve ever been to…

So now they’re happy you can add that extra. But it’s not the main deal. You’ve given them the palms and the beach and they’ve had a swim in the sea. As they’re drying off then maybe there’s a little alley off behind the rocks over there, and a neon sign.

Is there more to this genre thing than I thought…? What is it that makes something a genre?

(And btw you pronounce it dz-on-rr-uh - ideally with a slight French accent)

Comments

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