Writing to Fit the Genre

During a recent interview I was asked how I’m able to write both romances and mysteries. My first thought…writing is writing. Write in one genre and you can easily write in another. However, the next time I sat down to work on my WIP, I realized that’s not 100% true. Each genre has its own set of rules and ‘standards’. Knowing what the standards is essential if you want to sell in a particular genre. So how do you do just that?

Read
This might sound like something you already know or do, but read as many books in your genre of choice before you sit down to write one. Not only will you get a feel for the backbones of the genre but you’ll soon figure out what type of book you’d like to write. I’ll use mysteries and romances as examples.

Mysteries-do you like legal dramas or perhaps you’re hooked on books featuring an amateur sleuth.

Romances-are you a fan of romantic suspense or do you get whisked away to another time with historicals? And if you’re a fan of category romances, think about what line you’d like to write for. Is it Silhouette Romantic Suspense or maybe a sexy Harlequin Blaze?

Take Notes
The first time you read the book, do it just for pure reading pleasure. Then read it again with a notebook handy. Jot down notes about the hero/heroine, conflict, etc. then read a second book, making notes of any similarities to the first one. Do you see any pattern forming? While the stories are obviously very different, each genre has certain things readers and yes, publishers have come to expect.

Mysteries-a crime is committed. There’s a cast of suspects and a sleuth. And, yes, a few red herrings. In the end the guilty person is caught and hopefully punished for their crime.

Romance-there’s a heroine the reader can identify with and live vicariously through. A hero who both the heroine and reader can fall in love with. A conflict that keeps them apart and an issue they have to work out. Sexual tension is a must. How about that first kiss? And depending on the line or publisher, the first time the couple make love. And let’s not forget the happy ending.

Choose Favorites
Who are the genre’s bestsellers?
Pick up some books written by them and learn from the masters.Try and figure out what makes this particular writer so popular with their readers? Is it because each chapter is more suspenseful than the next? Is it because the author takes you on an emotional rollercoaster ride?

Some Publishers Make It Easier Than the Rest
Some publishers give us clues about what their ‘standards’ are. If a publisher offers guidelines, read them through until you know them by heart. Do they have a rigid word count? What type of plots are they looking for? What type of plots aren’t they looking for?

Writing to fit a genre can be the key to making your first or next sale.

Susan Palmquist is the author of three published novels and the upcoming paranormal romance, Sleeping with Fairies that will be published by Lyrical Press later this summer. You can check out her interviews with writers, editors and publishers at her monthly blog at Between the Lines www.blog.lyndacoker.net. And learn more about Susan and her work at www.susanpalmquist.com

A Fine Romance

I have a confession to make.

I once disliked romance novels.

Not because I didn’t think they were good enough books, but I just felt the plots weren’t the kind to get me on the edge of my seat. Or the stories that made me bite my nails wondering what was going to happen next.

So, when I was growing up mystery was my genre. I’d sit for hours reading Agatha Christie and Enid Blyton novels. I wanted to be like the sleuths within the pages, finding the bad guys, solving the mystery and making the world safe again. I along with Miss Marple and The Secret Five would figure out who committed the crime. These plots kept me spellbound and entertained for hours.

I’ll be fair, I’d never read a romance book but I’d seen the covers read and the blurbs on the Mills and Boon books my grandmother would consume by the dozen.

I remember picking one up, paging through it, and asking her how could waste her time reading a romance when there were so many great mysteries to out there. Her reply was always the same, ‘they keep you on the edge of your seat. You’re on tender hooks wondering how these two people are going to work out their conflict.’

Did she say ‘conflict’ and ‘keep you on the edge of your seat’? Was she getting here genres mixed up?

I was never willing to find out what she was talking about until one day I picked up a book by Mary Stewart. I saw the word suspense written on and thought it was a mystery. I soon found out, yes, it was a mystery and a whole lot more. It was suspenseful, who were the bad guys, was the heroine going to be safe? But what was just as intriguing to me was the hero. This really nice guy was perfect for the heroine, but was he really in love with her, or was he going to kill her? I finally figured out what my grandmother had been talking about.

And so I found a subgenre called romantic suspense and I was slowly drawn into the world of romance novels. At first I insisted they had the word ‘suspense’ stamped on them or I wouldn’t touch them. However, I slowly I began to see what my grandmother had seen all those years in her Mills and Boon novels. You began the book knowing the hero and heroine were perfect for one another. You wanted them to be together, you knew they were going to end up together. However, the suspense, the mystery if you like, was how they could arrive there. After all, he’d supposedly killed her father, and she slept with his best friend. He’d stolen the plans for her new invention. He’s a tortured soul and she never wants to see another man again as long as she lives.

I’m still a huge mystery fan, and yes, I wrote both mysteries and romances. But I now I realize that a fine romance, one written well, often has some of the best conflicts you’ll ever find in the pages of a book. So this being February… and even if you’re a mystery fan, pick up a romance novel and you’ll see what I’m talking about.