Exploring Genre: Memoir

Memoir is one of my favourite genres to read, and I’m in good company, it seems. 

I did a quick google search for ‘best selling Australian books 2019’ as I wrote this article, and unsurprisingly, the first three books I saw were memoirs. 

The right memoir can do exceptionally well. Elizabeth Gilbert sold over four million copies of her Eat, Pray, Love, the story of her quest for meaning and inner peace across several continents. It was equal to Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, the story of a miserable Irish childhood. Another miserable childhood story, this time from the US, The Glass Castle, sold 2.7 million copies.

Why do we love to read other people’s real-life stories so much?

They’re a good read.

The best memoirs are well-written, with a distinctive voice and a strong story structure that has the beginning, middle and end that every work of fiction relies on. We follow the character through their challenge, quest or discovery, fight their battles with them, and marvel at their transformation at the end.

They give us true insight into other people.

Putting your hopes, dreams and flaws on a page for all to see can feel exposing for the memoir writer, but it’s a gift to the reader. We don’t know many people as well as we know ourselves. When you read someone’s heartfelt story, it’s an opportunity to intimately understand not only an individual, but humankind.

They allow us glimpses into situations we haven’t experienced.

I’ve never lived with drug-addicted parents, hiked a 1200-mile trail or travelled to a war zone to be a medical officer, but I’ve read the experiences of those who have. Their stories opened my eyes, moved me and challenged me. Most of us live safely in the suburbs; reading a memoir is a world-widening experience.

They teach without being didactic.

While I press the point home to my memoir students that writing their story is not the same as writing a sermon (ie. no lecturing!) it’s true nevertheless that readers will learn. Lessons are gained from the writer’s experiences and transformation. Anyone who has ever tried to teach a child—or an adult—will know that we all listen to a story more easily than a ‘you should’. By reading other people’s stories, we learn lessons for our own lives.

Types of memoirs

While it’s true that there are plenty of memoirs written about tragic childhoods, abusive marriages or terrible sicknesses, memoirs don’t have to be miserable. There are canine memoirs, eccentric-mother memoirs, travel and celebrity memoirs and a whole sub-genre based around the ‘My Year Of…’ concept. I’m thinking Julie and Julia, where Julie Powell decided to cook her way through the famed French cookery book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking; and Rachel Held Evans’ A Year of Biblical Womanhood, in which she spent a year following the Bible’s instructions to women, literally and figuratively.

You could argue that blogs, which after all, are mostly personal stories, are memoir in short form. Often, a blog will become a book. My memoir, Love Tears & Autism drew on the five years of blog posts I published following my three-year-old son’s diagnosis with ASD.

If you’re writing a memoir, here are three tips.

A memoir is not the same as an autobiography

An autobiography spans a person’s lifetime and doesn’t necessarily have an overarching story arc that ties it together. Sporting or political ‘memoirs’ are more technically biographies and often are not much more than a series of events or anecdotes in chronological order. It’s important to get the facts and details right in this sort of narrative. A memoir, however, tends to focus on a period or significant event in a person’s life, and is more about how the person perceived the events, was challenged by them, and learned from them.

See yourself as the 'main character' of a story

Any good fiction protagonist must be a well-rounded character, with flaws as well as strengths. If you’re only shining off the page of your memoir, readers will close the book in disgust. We all know that real people have warts. Memoir readers want to see a balanced, honestly drawn character.

See the events as a story

Readers have expectations of what a story will give them. They seek challenge, tension and a win (of some kind) at the end. If you know the rules about story structure, you’ll be better placed to write a memoir that will hook readers and give them exactly what they are looking for.

Looking for good examples of memoirs to read and learn from? You’ll find some of my favourites listed on this page of memoir resources.

Cecily Paterson teaches memoir writing in her unexcitingly named online course, Write Your Memoir. Her own memoir, Love Tears & Autism won Third Prize in the 2012 Australian Christian Book of the Year Award. She’s the author of seven MG/YA novels for girls, with an eighth title to be published with Wombat Books in 2020.

Exploring Genre: Fairy Tale Retellings

by Amanda Deed & Jeanette O'Hagan

The remake of the Lion King is currently screening in the cinemas, while the casting for the new Little Mermaid is causing a small furore on the interweb. Hollywood is addicted to remakes and retellings of old classic tales (how many times can you redo Robin Hood?) - and the literary world isn't that far behind with countless retellings of Pride and Prejudice or the other Austen books, or the many Shakespearean Plays.

What is a retelling and why do need another one?

In a retelling an old and usually popular story is 'retold' or adapted to a new audience - perhaps in a new media, or with changes in focus or settings. Fractured retellings give a new twist to the old tale (for instance, Jack and the Beanstalk from the giant's perspective). While they can be overdone or done badly, retellings breath fresh life into old stories for new generations of readers (and viewers).  Sometimes they steer close to the original. In other cases the correspondences are much looser. The best retellings show us something new while breathing the soul of the original tale.

Fairy tale retellings are a sub-set of retellings - they adapt classic fairy tales and present them in a multitude of different ways. Examples abound. Just about every classic Disney movie is a fairy tale retelling. In the general market we haave Kate Forsyth's books, for instance, Bitter Greens, which retells the Rapunzel story against the backdrop of seventeenth century France and sixteenth century Venice. Jane Yolen's Briar Rose uses extermination camps of Nazi germany as the gripping setting for her retelling of Sleeping Beauty. While Marissa Meyer in the Lunar Chronicles intertwines retellings of Cinderella (Cinder), Little Red Riding Hood (Scarlet), Rapunzel (Cress) and Snow White (Winter) in a gripping four book epic sci-fi with a cyberpunk setting.

Then there are the Charming books by Kristine Grayson (aka Kathryn Kristen Rusch) are based on fairytale characters living in our world e.g. Rapunzel, Bluebeard, and Prince Charming (after his divorce from Cinderella). The books are clean romance and are more fairy tale extensions than retellings.

Amanda Deed's Retellings

Australian Christian author, Amanda Deed has recently released some fairy tale retellings set in colonial (nineteenth century) Australia. She is working on a third. This is what Amanda says:

"I must make a confession. I love fairy tales. I love happy-ever-afters, and all the magic that goes with them. I love princes and princesses and true love. Nothing appeals to my romance-loving heart more. Something within me says “this is how it’s meant to be” even if the reality of our world looks a lot different. Eternal optimist? Maybe.

Anyway, my favourite fairy tales on the screen are Beauty and the Beast (Disney), Cinderella (the Ever After version), and now Rapunzel (the Tangled version).

Several years ago I began to grow some ideas to write some of these fairy tales, twisting them a little to fit with my usual genre – historical romance in an Australian setting. And so, Unnoticed (Cinderella) and Unhinged (Beauty and the Beast) came into being.

For me, usually, an idea for a novel comes along with a theme. For Unnoticed, it was essentially about self-esteem. A lovely girl who suffers rejection so much she believes she is worthless, and how that self-belief has to be turned around. So many teenage girls suffer these issues and need to know how precious they really are, so I wanted to put this culturally relevant theme into an age-old fairy tale. For Unhinged, mental health weighed heavily, again an issue that is prevalent in our society but is also as old as time. What if the beast wasn’t an animal transformation, or a physical defect, but what if mental illness made him ‘beastly’? And how does one learn to really love a beast?

Both of these novels were close to home. I have my own story of self-esteem struggles as a teen that I drew from, and there are several people in my life who live with mental illness that also helped give insight to these situations. All that was left was the challenge of making an interesting story that could shine light on these issues and bring hope to people. Hopefully I have done them justice!

Currently, I am working on a third fairy tale, a Rapunzel story, tentatively called Unravelled. This one will be about true freedom. Olivia is a teen convict in Van Diemen’s Land, both longing for and afraid of freedom at the same time. Can you be free even while locked in a prison? Sometimes circumstances can feel like prison walls, but there is a freedom that surpasses every situation."

Christian Retellings

Thanks, Amanda. I've read Unnoticed and loved the intertwining of Cinderella themes in a unique Australian setting and I appreciated the strong themes of God's love throughout the story. Unhinged is sitting at the top of my To-Be-Read pile.

A few Australian Christian authors have ventured into this fertile field.  Melissa Gijsbers has been part of a story in the fractured fairy tell retellings Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unusual Fairy Tales.  Charis Joy Jackson has written a wonderful fantasy and allegorical retelling of beauty and the beast in Rose of Admirias. I had fun with a flash fiction based on Blue Beard with a twist at the end.

Popular American Christian author, Melanie Dickerson, has written several historical fairy tale retellings set in mostly in Europe and with strong Christian themes, such as The Healer's Apprentice (Sleeping Beauty), The Merchant's Daughter (Beauty and the Beast), The Fairest Beauty (Snow White), etc.



Biblical stories can also be retold. A genre we covered earlier here.

Writing Retellings

Often an exact replica can be lifeless.

• In a good retelling, the writer captures the essence of the story with creative insertion of recognisable and pertinent details (the glass slipper or the poisoned apple). 
• The transformation/transmutation to a new setting and props feels a natural fit, rather than forced. (I once attended a performance of the Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor at Windsor, Brisbane and with costume, props and stages sets all from1960s Australia and it worked brilliantly.) 
• The reteller needs to make creative choices about what to include, what to transmute and what to leave out. (For example, including the slipper for Cinderella but leaving out the stepsisters chopping off their toes to fit in the earliest versions.)
• Retellings of more recent classics may run into copyright issues and permissions (with satire as a possible exception). Fairy tales, Jane Austen novels and Shakespeare plays are popular choices for retellings not only because they are classic stories that resonate down the years, but also because they are in the public domain.

Jeanette O'Hagan

Have you written /attempted a retelling? Have you read any? Which are your favourites and why?

Amanda Deed is an award-wining author residing in Melbourne with her husband (AKA Mr Funny Man), her three zany teens, three cockatiels, three budgies, three bunnies and an elderly hound called Princess. Outside of her family, her life revolves around words and numbers (writing and accounting) with a splash of music here and there.

Her first novel, The Game, won the 2010 CALEB Prize for Fiction, and she has since had several novels final in the same prize. Amanda loves to write about her favourite things: her faith, Australia, romance and Australian history. As such, her novels explore themes involving spiritual convictions, relationships and historical events.

For more information, go to www.amandadeed.com. 

Exploring Genre: Dystopia

by Jeanette O'Hagan

What is dystopia?

An imagined state or society in which there is great suffering or injustice, typically one that is totalitarian or post-apocalyptic.  

Oxford Dictionaries 

It's the reverse side of the coin to utopia (a word invented by  Sir Thomas Moore in sixteenth century  in his Utopia (1516) to define a perfect harmonious society.

Utopia means 'no place' while dystopia means 'bad place or a place of pain and struggles.'

With the naive modernist belief in progress and the powers of education and science to solve all problems in the nineteenth century, science fiction often looked to a bright future that would eliminate war, hunger, pain, disease. 

But the wars and genocides and problems of the twentieth dented that belief. As did the failure of attempts at  susposed utopian societies, including those of communism - in Russia, China and other places. 

This turn from optimism to pessimism was reflected in speculative fiction. The science fiction of H G Wells spans this change with often a more pessimistic view of the future of humanity (as in The Time Machine). 

Both utopian and dystopian fiction reveal the author's ideas of what is good and bad in society. And often one person utopia is another's dystopia.

The classics

Some classic dystpoias include well known books such as:

Time Machine by H G Wells (1895)
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)
1984 by George Orwell(published (1949)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962)
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)

Early dystopian novels were often secular prophecies or projections of a possible grim futures if certain trends of the time continued unabated. And while each is dated to some extent, they can still be scarily relevant to our time so many decades later - from Orwell's Big Brother in 1984 or Bradbury's wall TVs, consumerism and senseless shallow lives living for the latest thrill in Fahrenheit 451.

The suggested root causes of the dystopia may vary - form a devastating war or natural disaster, from capitalistic consumerism to a conformist communism, to twisted theological autocratic regimes, to misogyny or climatic catastrophe (or some mixture of these).

The stories are meant as a warning and to provoke change, but often have a pessimistic tone. Thus 1984 ends with complete capitulation 'He loved Big Brother' though others are more optimistic with seeds of change (the 'living books' of Fahrenheit 451).

Young Adult Dystopian books

Dystopia goes almost hand in hand with the emergence of Young Adult literature as a distinct target audience (13-19) coming to prominence in the 1990s.

Lois Lowry's The Giver series (1993), Mortal Engines by Phillip Reeve (2001), City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (2003), Scott Westerfield's Uglies (2005) series, Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy (2008), Maze Runner series by James Dashner (2009), Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy (2011)  -  dystopia has become a trope for YA books.

Common elements include a society which may at the start seem utopian (e.g. Brave New World, The Giver, Uglies, Divergent) or the inequities and conflicts may be more obvious (The Hunger Games). However, the apparent peace and prosperity is usually achieved by some evil or sacrifice and/or by a totalitarian control over the citizens.

Veronica Roth is a Christian  and, in the Divergent trilogy, the Abnegation faction arguably espouses many Christian virtues (though the virtues of the other factions such as honesty, knowledge, amity and courage are also valued by Christians). Yet, even these can be twisted and used in the wrong way.

The protagonists are generally part of the dystopian world and at some point, their eyes are opened, and they may seek to escape it, resist it or change it.  In some cases, there is a wider outside world (The Giver, the Divergent trilogy) or there may be a rebel group (The Hunger Games), but in each case, solutions often have mixed results and the ending may be tragic or unresolved or a mixture of good and bad outcomes.

Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic fiction

Dystopia is closely related to post-apocalyptic fiction and is often set after some major catastrophe has fallen on modern society (e.g.  the Uglies, The Hunger Games etc), though not always.

Apocalyptic literature focuses the arrival of a global catastrophe like global nuclear war, alien invasion, or a major pandemic (cf The Stand by Stephen King, 1978). Post-apocalyptic literature deals with the aftermath. It can be dystopian with a focus on dysfunctional societies or it might be more chaotic (cf Mad Max movies or Waterworld) or focused on the individual. Dystopia is generally the individual or group against society, whereas post-apocalyptic is more the individual against nature or other individuals and focuses on survival rather than changing society.

Christian Dystopia 

Is there such a thing as Christian dystopia?

Some may think not. On the other hand, the Bible has strong apocalyptic themes (particularly in Daniel, the Book of Revelation, but also in the teachings of Jesus, Paul, John and Peter). And the prophetic nature of dystopia (e.g. warnings of coming disaster if individuals and societies don't change their ways) is also a strong strand in both the Old Testament and the New (cf with Amos, much of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or Jesus' warnings for instance).

Dystopia provides a great platform for examining the benefits and failings of societies and the balance between the individual and the state, security and freedom, and the place of science, spirituality and religion. It can remind us that no society or social or political system is perfect, even our own.

Christian dsytopia generally takes a more hopeful approach, and would in some way look to God and a renewed heaven and earth, rather than a perfect societal system as one's ultimate goal.

Christian dystopia for an adult audience isn't that common. One suggestion I saw was That Hideous Strength by C.S.Lewis (1945; the third book of his sci-fi trilogy), though I think it might be closer to proto-dystopia - as the focus is on a band of people who wish to bring about their version of utopia (but what is in fact a dystopia) with the potential for terrible consequences and injustice.

Kerry Nietz's A Star Curiously Singing is a more recent example of a future dystopian world from a Christian perspective (though I tend to agree with one reviewer, that it is better to steer away from using a known (non-Christian) religion as the baddie, especially as I get tired of the common stereotype of Christian priests or theocracies cast as the cardboard cut-out villains in book after book after book).

Dystpoia has become more of a thing among Christian Young Adult novels. 

For instance:

• Nadine Brandes's Out of Time series which starts with A Time to Die.
• Anomaly by Krista McGee
• Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee's The Book of Mortals series (starts with Forbidden)

My own Under the Mountain series - while epic fantasy - has dystopian themes - with a enclosed, dystopian society in the deep caverns beneath the mountain and where solutions are not simple but there is always a glimmer of hope. 

So have you read dystopia? What do you like or dislike about it? Which authors would you recommend?

This is a cross-post between ACW & CWD,

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Jeanette spun tales in the world of Nardva from the age of eight or nine. She enjoys writing secondary world fiction, poetry, blogging and editing. Her Nardvan stories span continents, time and cultures. Many involve courtly intrigue, adventure, romance and/or shapeshifters and magic. Others, are set in Nardva’s future and include space stations, plasma rifles, bio-tech, and/or cyborgs.

She has published numerous short stories, poems, four novellas in the Under the Mountain series, her debut novel, Akrad's Children and Ruhanna's Flight and other stories.

Her latest release is Shadow Crystals, the penultimate novella in the Under the Mountain series with Caverns of the Deep due in April/May.

Jeanette has practised medicine, studied communication, history, theology and a Master of Arts (Writing). She loves reading, painting, travel, catching up for coffee with friends, pondering the meaning of life. She lives in Brisbane with her husband and children.


Find her on:

  

Facebook |Jeanette O'Hagan Writes | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Exploring Genre - Round Up

by Jeanette O'Hagan @JeanetteOHagan

In 2019, we are continuing the tradition of a cross-post between Christian Writers Downunder (CWD) and Australasian Christian Writers (ACW), with more forays into the different genres. You may wonder if, after two years, there are any more genres to explore. Well, yes, there are. In fact we haven't come close to covering them all. But before we launch into some more examples, I will give a round up of the ground we have already covered. This post can be used as a quick reference and handy resource on different genres.

What is Genre?

Literary Genre is a particular type or style of story which may be defined by style, tone, content and even length. Basically, genres define creative innovations and reader expectations that have developed over time with broader categories (fiction, non-fiction, or prose, drama, poetry, media), to larger families (e.g. romance, science fiction, fantasy, crime etc) and more narrowed or specialised categories (sweet romance or cosy mysteries or spaghetti westerns).

Why should I care about Genre?

Iola discusses why genre matters
- it  helps manage readers expectations and it also helps market books to our readers. Read more here and here.

When you are starting out, it is often a good idea (at least at first) to just write and learn the craft and worry about genre later.  This is especially true if writing is a hobby or release or therapy.

However, if at some point you wish to publish your writing and attract readers, understanding genre can also help you hone how you write or maybe help decide which aspects of the story to emphasise or which project to focus on (if you have more than one project on the go).  It can also inspire ideas.

Some genres have more defined expectations than others (e.g. category romance or CBA Christian Fiction), while others are more open to experimentation and cross-overs between genres (e.g. Young Adult fiction or Science Fiction).

Knowing your genre and your readers' expectations helps in both writing and in attracting a readership to your writing. Having an idea about Genre Trends can also be helpful.

Jeanette O'Hagan discusses Genre Trends (for 2018) here.

What Genres Are There?

Genres range across the broad categories like Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Children's Books and Young Adult etc.

Fiction

The major fiction genres are Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Crime, Historical, Contemporary Drama and Literary.  Each broad genre often has a swag of sub-genres and some sub-genres may cross-over e.g. Romantic suspense includes elements of romance and suspense novels. Or a time-travel novel may be Science Fiction or Fantasy or even Science Fantasy.

Romance

This is a hugely popular genre with a large audience of avid readers.

While romance can often be a subplot or theme in a range of other genres, in category romance the focus is on the relationship and the obstacles to the relationship between the hero and heroine or romantic couple with an expected Happily Ever After (HEA).

There are a wide range of sub-genres with romance.

Carolyn Miller introduced us to historical romance (romance set before the present day) and in particular regency romance - romance inspired by Jane Austen and set in or around the regency period - e.g. early 19th century. You can find her delightful post here.

Nicky Edwards took us on a tour of rural romance (set in the country) and medical romance (with nurses or doctors as protagonists and which includes medical drama), usually set in contemporary times. You can read more here.

Romance can also include contemporary romance, paranormal romance, romantic suspense, romantic comedy, sweet or clean romance, or other more racy sub-genres.

Speculative Fiction

Speculative Fiction imagines a different reality - whether that be a variation of earth as we know it or different world altogether. It is generally divided into Science Fiction (where science or a imagined science explains the world) or Fantasy (in which a non-scientific - often supernatural - explanation is given), though these can cross-overs such as science fantasy and other mixtures.

There is easily over 100 sub-genres within this field - including crazy mash-ups like gaslamp fantasy or weird west.

Science Fiction

Adam Collings introduced us to Space Opera - epic Science Fiction set in space with a focus more on the story than a detailed or hard science - think Star Trek or Doctor Who. And, also the Superhero sub-genre which can used a scientific (e.g. Superman) or a supernatural (e.g. Thor) explanation for the special powers. Read more here.

Fantasy

Jeanette O'Hagan introduced Secondary World and Portal fantasy - both of which are set on an alternative (non-earth) world. In the first the world exists without reference to earth, whereas in the second, the protagonist travels through a door or portal to the other world. Read more here.

Other Speculative 

Alison Stegert explores the difference between Steam Punk and Gaslight fiction - both of which are inspired by the Victorian age of steam and Victorian science fiction writers such as Jules Verne and H. G. Wells. Steam Punk tends focus more on the science fiction aspects, while Gaslight has a more paranormal vibe. Read more here. 

Ian Acheson introduced us to Supernatural Fiction - which focuses on supernatural beings such angels, demons and/or ghosts (and is related to paranormal and urban fantasy). It can have a faith or Christian focus or be more 'secular' in its approach. Read more here.

Other speculative sub-genres include fairy tale retellings and fractured fairy tales, paranormal, urban fantasy, horror, dystopian, cyber-punk, cli-fi, solar punk, time travel, grim-dark or noble-bright etc.

Mystery and Crime

Mystery

Donna Fletcher Crow discusses crime mystery, in particular historical crime mystery such as medieval crime mystery here. 

Virginia Smith explores the different kinds of mystery novel from cosy, police procedural, private eye, etc. here. 

Other forms of mystery can be hard-boiled, noir, paranormal or even as specific as Scandinavian Noir.

Suspense

Suspense can be part of a straight thriller or mystery/crime novel or can involve romance as a major subplot in romantic suspense (where danger forms a backdrop to the romance).

Sandra Orchard discusses the elements of suspense here. 


Other significant fiction genres include Historical Fiction, Contemporary Drama, and Literary Fiction

Christian Fiction

Christian Fiction can be understood in different ways. For some, it can be any fiction written by a Christian, for others it has a much more defined and strict definition with overt Christian content such as bible verses, prayer, mentions of Jesus, conversion scenes and the absence of graphic sex, violence and strong language. Somewhere in the middle, others would include books that may have less overt religious content but are written from a Christian worldview, contain Christian values and themes, and include pointers to faith, but which would still be appropriate for a general market. See here and  here for more discussions.

Christian fiction can include the majority of the other genres we've covered, such as romance, mystery, historical, science fiction, fantasy etc.

More specific Christian fiction has subgenres such as Christian supernatural fiction (see Ian Acheson's post above), Biblical fiction and Christian allegory (like Pilgrim's Progress).

Biblical Fiction

Biblical Fiction re-imagines the characters and stories we find in the Bible, often filling in the gaps and fleshing out the historical setting.  While Biblical Fiction can be written from a non-Christian perspective, Christian Biblical fiction is true to the tenets of Christian faith and the Bible itself.

Susan Preston discusses Biblical Fiction here.

Non-Fiction

Nola Passmore introduced us to creative non-fiction (and how that differs from reportage). Read more here.

Non-Fiction can include historical works, memoir and biography as well as self-help books, devotionals, theological works, text books or informational books, books of essays, coffee table books, cookbooks  etc.

Poetry

Poetry can be non-fiction or fiction or a mixture of the two, it can be strongly narrative (ballads, for instance) or focus on a moment or a feeling or an image or be metaphorical or evoke shared feelings and realities.

Valerie Volk gave a wonderful introduction to Poetry (here) 

Jeanette O'Hagan explored Free Verse (poetry without a set rhyme) and Verse Novels (telling a narrative in verse) (read more here).

Targeted by Age and/or Gender

Children and Teens

Penny Reeve introduces us to the difference between picture books and chapter books in younger readers. Read more here.

Cecily Anne Paterson discuses writing for Young Adult or Teen readers (generally from thirteen to nineteen years of age). Read more here. 

New Adults

New Adult Fiction is a more recent category, ranging from nineteen to twenty-five year olds (or up to thirty), generally school leavers starting university or work, living away from parents, forging new relationships, learning what it means to live independently.  Read more here.

For middle-aged and older readers

Various 'lits' may target these age groups, usually with a humorous or even farcical tone. For instance 'chic-lit', then there is 'hen-lit' or 'nana-lit' targeting women of different age groups (thirty-somethings, middle-aged, older women). Women's Fiction tends to be more serious - and maybe more 'literary'.

Westerns and Military fiction (and non-fiction) may be primarily targeted to male readers.

Humour

Both fiction and non-fiction may be written with a primary focus on humour, whether witty and dry, or more slapstick in style, or farcical or satire.

Length and format categories

Shorts

Jeanette O'Hagan looked at 'short fiction' from flash to novellas (though it could also be non-fiction). Read more here.

Narelle Atkins explores novellas and novelettes in the romance genre here.

Collaborative Writing

Jeanette O'Hagan explores ways that writers can collaborate and that is in the actual writing itself in collaborative works such as ghost-writing, partnerships, anthologies and more. Read more here.

Where to next?

Being presented with the different categories and genres can be as overwhelming as looking at the different brands in the supermarket. Too much choice. On the other hand, it can be seen as freeing, for there is really something for everyone and opportunities for cross-overs and mash-ups.

Tell us - what genres (or sub-genres) do you love to read?  Which do you write in?  Which would you like to learn more about?

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Jeanette started spinning tales in the world of Nardva at the age of eight or nine. She enjoys writing secondary world fiction, poetry, blogging and editing. Her Nardvan stories span continents, time and cultures. They involve a mixture of courtly intrigue, adventure, romance and/or shapeshifters and magic users.

She has published numerous short stories, poems, three novellas (Heart of the Mountain, Blood Crystal and Stone of the Sea) in her Under the Mountain series and her debut novel, Akrad's Children and Ruhanna's Flight and other stories. She has short stories and poems in seventeen anthologies and was thrilled that her story, Wolf Scout, was recently accepted for the upcoming Inklings Press anthology, Tales of Magic and Destiny.

Her latest release, Shadow Crystals (the fourth novella) will soon be available on preorder.

You can also find her on:

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Exploring Genre: Romance Novellas and Novelettes

By Narelle Atkins @NarelleAtkins

A romance novella can be defined as a short and complete romance story with a typical word length that ranges between 20,000 to 40,000 words.

A novelette has a word count starting at 7,500 words. A story with a word count between 17,500 to 20,000 words may be defined as either a novella or a novelette.

Stories longer than 40,000 words are considered short novels.

Traditionally Published Romance Anthologies

Novellas and novelettes have always been popular in the romance genre. Pre-Kindle and the emergence of ebooks, romance publishers would often release trade length novella collections containing a number of stories. In 1997 Aussie author Mary Hawkins had a Christmas novella, Searching for a Star, published in the Christmas Dreams 4 story novella anthology by Barbour.

In 2017 Aussie author Lucy Thompson had her historical romance, Waltzing Matilda, included in a 9 story anthology The Captive Brides Collection published by Barbour. The stories are connected by a common theme: Can their captive hearts be freed to dream, to dare, to love?

Novellas that are connected to a series

A Tuscan Legacy is a multi-author contemporary Christian romance novella series that includes a family mystery plot. A Tuscan Legacy opens with a short novel length Book 1 - That's Amore.

My contribution to A Tuscan Legacy is Solo Tu (Book 7) set in Sydney, Australia. I've indie published four romance novellas and Solo Tu is my longest, coming in at just under 40,000 words.

Mary's Hawkins' Australia romance collection from Barbour included three short novels and a novella.

Nicki Edwards' Operation Mistletoe Magic and Operation White Christmas are part of her 'An Escape to the Country' rural romance series.

Novella Prequel to Book 1 in a Series

In recent years we’ve seen the rise in popularity of the romance novella being used as a marketing tool to launch a series. The prequel ebook novella is effectively a loss leader. It's often priced at 99c or free with the goal of funnelling readers into the new series. Alternatively, the prequel novella may be a 'reader magnet' and given away for free to readers who have subscribed to the author's newsletter. These marketing strategies are used in all fiction genres for both traditionally and independently published series.

Novellas in ebook multi-author boxed set series

Boxed sets started to gain popularity in the Kindle store in 2013 and they remain a favorite with readers. 'An Aussie Summer Christmas' was released two years ago. For a limited time we offered six ebook novellas for the bargain price of 99 cents. The novellas in the set included A Christmas Resolution, All is Bright, Falling for Maddie Grace, Melbourne Memories, Santa Next Door and my novella Seaside Christmas.

My Inspy Romance author friends have put together A Christmas to Remember - on sale for Christmas 2018.

Print book single author collections

Authors sometimes combine their books into one print book collection. Meredith Resce has included two novellas and two short stories in Four Short Stories: Falling for Maddie Grace; And Where There's Smoke.

Standalone Romance Novellas

Tips for writing a romance novella or novelette

Ensure the plot isn't too big and complex

There's only room to develop a single romance plot in the shorter length romance novellas and novelettes. The shorter the word length, the larger the focus of the story will be on the hero and heroine. The word length puts limitations on the amount of time the minor characters can be on-stage in the story.

Limit the point of view characters to the hero and heroine or a single viewpoint.

In a typical romance novella or novelette there isn't space to include a minor character point of view. An exception would be a romantic suspense that may include short scenes in the villian's point of view.

Shorter time frame stories often work well

A good example is Amy Matayo's romance novella Christmas at Gate 18.

Reunion romances are popular tropes

If the couple already know each other and have an established history, the romance plot can get moving at a faster pace from the start without losing plot plausibility with readers.

External conflict and forced proximity is important

The shorter the story, the more the balance between scene and sequel will skew toward shorter sequels. The external conflict is what pushes the hero and heroine to be on-stage together in the scenes.

Tight writing and fast scene transitions

Every word counts in a shorter length story. The tighter the writing, the more space the author will have to write the important sequels that allow the reader to take a breath and reflect between the fast paced action scenes in the story.

Any Questions?

Have you written a romance novella or novelette? Do you enjoy reading them? I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

A fun loving Aussie girl at heart, NARELLE ATKINS was born and raised on the beautiful northern beaches in Sydney, Australia. She has settled in Canberra with her husband and children. A lifelong romance reader, she found the perfect genre to write when she discovered inspirational romance. Narelle's contemporary stories of faith and romance are set in Australia.

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Exploring Genres - Picture Books & Chapter Books

by Penny Reeve

Picture books and middle grade – invitations to the world!

I was in conversation with my daughter the other day and, as is fairly common at our place, the
conversation turned to books, children’s books in particular. She related how, upon sharing her
excitement at discovering the children’s books section of her university library, none of her young adult friends understood her enthusiasm.

‘They don’t understand,’ she commented. ‘They think, just because they’re grown up now, they should leave children’s books behind. They don’t realise some of the best books written are children’s books.’

Of course, I agreed. I’m a children’s book writer!

But, feelings of successful parenting aside, I do believe she has a point. Somehow our society has decided that children’s books, picture books and middle grade novels and the like are simple. But I’d encourage you to go browsing, next time you’re in a library or a bookshop, and take a closer look.

Children’s picture books and novels can be fun, silly, hilarious, rebellious, challenging, heart breaking, tear jerking, thought provoking and altogether beautiful in a way that no other genre can imitate. AND they have the incredible ability to do all of this, frequently at multiple levels (so each reader – despite their age and experience – can connect with the text in their own way).

So what exactly are the features of the genre that allow for such depth and, in my opinion, treasure worthy pieces?

Picture books

A picture book is a book in which illustrations carry a significant (if not majority) role communicating a story. A picture book cannot exist without it’s artwork, but some can exist without text.

The conventions of writing a picture book are very strict and they are known, for good reason, to be some of the hardest pieces of writing to pull off. Here’s why:

- A picture book needs to fit within 32 pages (and this includes the title page and imprint pages). So it’s typically 14-15 page spreads.

- Picture books are typically only 600 words long. (So that’s the WHOLE story in 600 words, or less if possible)

- The text of a picture book must be written in a way that allows an illustrator to extend, enhance and fulfil the storytelling.

- Many times illustrators and authors never meet, so the text must be as perfect as possible, often richly poetic (though not necessarily rhyming) with absolutely NO wasted words.

It is this mysterious interplay between words and pictures in great picture books that is the wonderful strength of the picture book genre.

Some highlights in the genre:

Check out the illustrations of Jesus as a child in Mighty Mighty King (Penny Morrison and Lisa Flanagan)

Notice the powerful role of illustrations in When I See Grandma (Debra Tidball and Leigh Hedstrom)

See the gentle communication of emotion and personality in Same (Katrina Roe and Jemima Trappell)

Children’s novels

Children’s novels are another genre that’s worth dipping into for us ‘grown ups’ but also for sharing with kids. 

From a literacy training perspective, they bridge the space between picture books and young adult novels. Whereas picture books assume an adult reader and child listener, children’s novels assume a child will, at some point, approach the book alone. This inevitably creates child friendly structure for the book in terms of:

- Word count. At the lower end of the scale are ‘Chapter Books’, these are a child reader’s first foray into the novel genre and word counts can be as low as 1000. The upper level nudges closer to 40 000 words for what is considered ‘Middle Grade’.

- Chapter length. This can vary, but is usually kept shorter than YA to encourage a fluid, realistic reading experience for young readers.

- Child protagonists are usually at a similar age to their intended reader.

- Plot complications, characterisation and description. Although these must be heavily worked by the author to make for authentic writing, they are communicated sparsely and with precision. Young readers aren’t going to tolerate long descriptive passages of the view from the cliff top, and yet (especially if that cliff top is important to the theme/setting/plot) they need to know what it looks and feels like. So a light touch is required.

- Illustrations. Many children’s novels include illustrations of some sort. The occasional black line illustration etc. The longer the novel, the smaller a role such illustrations play.

Some highlights in the genre:

The Grand Genius Summer of Henry Hoobler (Lisa Shanahan) is a beautifully written story of friendship, bike riding, courage and family.

My Tania Abbey novels tackle issues of faith, friendship and responding to poverty amid a setting of everyday life.

Kelsey and the Quest of the Porcelain Doll (Rosanne Hawke) is a lovely adventure story for young readers and considers topics such as belonging and learning about different cultures.

Author bio:

Penny Reeve is the Australian author of more than 20 books for children, including the CALEB Children’s Category award winning Madison picture books. She writes to empower children to engage with - and respond to - the world around them. Her most recently published books are Camp Max (a children’s novel for 6-10 year olds) and Out of the Cages (a YA novel about human trafficking). You can learn more about Penny and her books by visiting her websites:

www.pennyreeve.com and www.pennyjaye.com