Genres

Hi everyone,

Welcome and I hope you had a nice holiday season. We’re into a new year and as I said, this year I’m doing theme months.
January – Theme - Genres
February – Self–pubbed/traditional/ other writing formats/ – why?
March – Heroes
April – Covers
May – Heroines
June – Marketing
July – Settings
August – Reviews
September – Secondary characters
October – Pets – Yes/No/Why
November – Weather
December – Seasonal stories – Christmas/ Valentines/ Halloween
So today, I’m starting off the theme of genres. I went to Wikipedia and checked out genres, and added some of my own. I can’t believe how many showed up. Here’s the list and I’m sure there are more.
Erotica, Fan fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Futuristic,Comedy, Drama, Historical fiction, Horror, Humor, Non-fiction, Paranormal,Realistic fiction, Romance novel, Satire, Science fiction, Short story, Steampunk, Suspense fiction. Crime fiction. Detective fiction, Thriller, Mystery fiction. Legal thriller. Medical thriller. ... Tragedy, Tragicomedy, Urban fiction, Westerns, Women’s fiction, Young Adult, Folklore, Legend, Magical realism, Picture book, Realistic fiction, Tall tale.

And then there’s non-fiction, journalism, etc. I apologize if I’ve missed some. So, when you’re talking genres it’s a huge topic. I judge a lot of contests and occasionally I judge a category I’m not the familiar with. I always judge on the same criteria, because to me it shouldn’t matter what the genre, the basics remain the same; does the beginning grab you, the characterization, the plot, tight writing, does every scene move the story forward, for example.

I’m looking forward to hearing from our guest authors this month and their take on genres. What about you?
And yes, this is the cover from my western. J