What’s in a genre?

• Posted in About Books, On Writing

There was a good post this week over at Romancing the Blog that talked about how people who read romance will read other genres. And how people who don’t read romance tend to turn their noses up at it. And what we can do to change this.

I started thinking about genre fiction in general and how all categories have their lovers and haters. Fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, romance, chick-lit, etc. According to many people, you shouldn’t write or read any of these — because they’re just genre crap. The only books that are good books are non-fiction memoirs or literary fiction.

Whatever. 

I love genre books, whether it’s romance, fantasy, or something in between. I like the conventions of genres — finding the magic ring in a fantasy book, figuring out who the killer is in a mystery, getting a happy ending in a romance novel. I’m not going to pick up a book on the history of ancient Rome any time soon. What I will be getting is the new Parker novel by Richard Stark.

People who look down their noses at genre fiction (including romance) don’t know what they’re missing — a wonderful time. It’s their loss.

What about you? Which genres do you love? Hate? Do you ever read outside your comfort zone? Inquiring minds want to know …

2 Responses to “What’s in a genre?”

  1. James Owens says:

    Jennifer,

    Thanks for this post! Myself, I write “literary” poetry and fiction, and I write “genre” — horror and science fiction. People really do discriminate, from both sides. Almost nobody I know reads the full range of work that I’m interested in, or responds to both of these two sides of my own writing. But, to me, there has always been continuity. Good writing is good writing, and I can’t generate much interest in the divisions that some find so essential.

  2. Jennifer Estep says:

    Hi, James.

    I know exactly what you mean. When I tell people I write romance/chick-lit, some get I can just see them thinking, “Romance? Poor woman must not be able to write anything else.”

    When I tell people that I write feature articles for a newspaper, I get more of a “Wow. That’s really interesting” response.

    I’ll admit that I have my preferences when it comes to reading. I’m not a big sci-fi or horror fan. But anybody that can sit down and write well — whether it’s a 10-line poem or a 150,000 word sci-fi novel — has got my respect. 🙂

    Have you thought about using a pen name for one part of your work? That’s what Nora Roberts does. Her romances are published under NR, but her sci-fi mysteries are written under the name J.D. Robb.

    Using a pen name is an easy way for authors to write in more than one genre without alienating their fans.

    Jennifer (who one day hopes to actually have fans)

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