As a teenager I was daftly opposed to fantasy. I was a hard science fiction guy, you see. It was all very silly. I became far less tribal once I was a bit older, and now can enjoy pretty much any genre as long as it’s a good book/film/thing.
That said, science fiction remains the genre I’m most passionate about. It’s the one that explores the themes that interest me. I love that it is able to explore the issues of our time, but through a distorted lens that can reveal new perspectives.
How about you? Do you have particular genre you prefer to read or write?
I have almost zero interest in writing anything but historical fiction and since I'm always so behind on all that I should read/have read, I read little else. However, I really enjoy reading Sci-fi and fantasy. My least interest is in contemporary or "women's fiction". My theory is, the three genres I love take me out of the here and now and often provide a sense of wonder and imagination that this visual artist/set designer/storyteller craves. One might also say an escape. I'd argue that Hist-fic, Sci-fi, and fantasy can provide more perspective on life than the contemporary works that often feel too close to the material. I'm glad we get to choose!
And yes - I've always liked speculative fiction for its ability to spin off at a tangent from the real world, but then shine a light back on it. Sometimes it's also able to tackle difficult issues almost by stealth, in a way that doesn't immediately put people's defences up, I think.
I'm all about historical fiction! Have been ever since I was little. I studied history (and continue to work in academia now), so it's always been my 'thing'. Having said that, I've been challenging myself to read more fiction fiction (if that distinction makes sense) recently, and I've been really loving it! A bit lighter than historical fiction can sometimes be.
It could be contemporary fiction or what's also called 'general fiction' which is really just a catch-all for fiction that doesn't fit under a more specific genre.
Ah, all these terms I never knew existed! General fiction it is. Although I’ve just started reading a memoir, so I’m back on more familiar territory now 😂
Honestly, while I like SFF, I also enjoy contemporary western, romance, historicals...what I'm not interested in is mainstream literary or book club fiction. Those have to be very extraordinary to catch my attention. I used to enjoy mysteries, but not so much now.
When it comes to writing, it's speculative fiction all the way. Stories are always better with biobots, a whiff of magic, and the occasional scheming sorcerer.
I'm leaning heavily toward science fantasy after I threw the Carolingan Mythos into my trilogy that's gonna be released in August-September. The scheming sorcerer isn't in that one but there's biobots, European water spirits, digital thought clones, and the Fae (well, that's what the water spirits are) galloping through.
Ha! Until I tried it in 2021 the detective genre had never really inspired. Now, three years later, I've just completed my first detective novel, and it was great fun to write, too. What made it so was that I found a way to not be formulaic, but to bring in all my other complementary interests such as travel, historical fiction, action/adventure, philosophy and speculative modernism, and mix it all up into one work that somehow tells a single comprehensive story with a satisfying and unexpected resolution, and adds in all these other dimensions... with plenty of sequels to be expected.
Now I just need to find someone who can invent a telepathy machine, to get the awareness of this brilliant new book into the minds of ken literary agents. That would sure beat the more cumbersome process of emailing query letters and sample chapters. For all you science fiction writers, maybe my last joke would make the premise for a decent story. Or maybe it's been written?
I was never into detective/crime fiction until I worked at a crime fiction festival for several years. Hearing the authors talk about their work and interviewing some of them for a podcast really opened my eyes to the versatility of the genre. Which is how I ended up incorporating aspects of it into my current serial.
Really good crime fiction can shine a light on society in exactly the same way as science fiction and fantasy. Through the lens of 'a crime', a crime fiction author can really poke at society and culture and people's motivations in fascinating ways.
What I love about crime fiction is that it requires for you to do the doublido of proper storytelling (foreshadowing, chekhov's gun, planting evidence of clues throughout) and the story will fail miserably if you don't have those basics figured out. I don't really read much of it, but I love a good intellectual crime thriller like the ones in the Benoit Blanc stories.
I think the more I've written the more I've realised I prefer writing between two genres; speculative fiction and humour. For speculative fiction it tends to be science fiction, fantasy, hybrid thrillers/dramas with a speculative element. The other side of that coin is writing comedies but again they usually borrow elements from other genres. More and more I'm trying not to fixate on defining the genre from the outset and allowing it to develop as the story does so. But stepping back, I reckon those are my two favourites both to read and to write.
I also reckon that most comedies, or certainly TV comedies, have to be be successful within the genre they're parodying/exploring as well as being funny. My test is always "if you removed the jokes, would this still be a good show?" Take the comedy out of Red Dwarf, would it still be a good scifi show? Take the comedy out of Brooklyn 99, would it still be a good police show? etc.
Oh yeah, I don’t mean that you could literally take the jokes out and have a good show: it’s designed to be a comedy, after all.
But the science fiction ideas within it are clever, thought-provoking and conceptually legit. It feels like it is written by people who like and understand scifi.
Fantasy is definitely the genre I gravitate towards. However I did have a go at reading a psychological thriller (The Picture on the Fridge). I enjoyed most of it, but the ending fell apart for me.
As a writer, I mostly write fantasy, however I also love historical fiction.
I love Scifi, Fantasy, Cyberpunk are my primary loves. I have secondary loves of Isekai, Romances that have started or have grown beyond the trope of love triangles, and the occasional litRPG stories too.
I have mostly written Scifi and Fantasy over the years.
Mostly horror and historical fiction. I occasionally write modern stories, but usually it's for a specific project or contest. I prefer historical settings. I've also written a few dumb comedy stories as a palate cleanser, but those are more for my personal amusement than anything else.
I am definitely a buffet reader…I like to sample everything and if it’s well-written I like it. I do have a soft spot for dark fiction. Horror (not too much gore, please), fairytale (the old style, no Disney), paranormal. And that’s the slot I fill as a writer.
I’m not much of a romance reader (ok, I don’t read romance, but I’m sure there are some great things to be found in the genre). I love history and historical fiction. I used to be a die-hard lover of high fantasy, but that love has faded a bit as I age. Sci-fi grabs my interest if the plot is solid and the characters well-developed.
I adore the short story form, both as a reader and a writer. Novels are great, but they are a commitment. So they have to be super great to entice me.
Sue Miller is my favorite writer…I’m not sure if she would be considered women’s fiction, contemporary fiction, upmarket fiction, maybe literary fiction (although I don’t think so)…? Whatever she is, though, that’s my genre!
I have become more open to fantasy, though. My dad tried to read The Hobbit to me a hundred times as a kid, and I just found it BORING. I think I read in order to understand relationships and social norms (which are often confusing to me), so the more based in reality, the more I can get out of it. (It’s hard to figure out social norms if you first have to parse through layers of fantastical species and worlds!) That being said, I didn’t think any of that as a kid; I just always thought those books were boring.
My kids, though, LOVE them. Narnia, LOTR, Harry Potter, The Beyonders…they can’t get enough. I have definitely come to appreciate fantasy’s ability to approach the Big Questions, thanks to my kids. And the level of craft and worldbuilding in fantasy is often astounding. So I can appreciate it now, but it still isn’t my go-to.
Really? Clearly, my kids have friends in high places!
Speaking of, my 13-year-old daughter saw your "Need a pick-me-up" video and said, "I would put him in a TJ Maxx commercial." I'm pretty sure that's high praise...I think you should take it as such!
LOL, I had to look that up....(Im old I guess...) here's what I found:
"TJ Maxx’s 2022 commercials focus on promoting a positive brand image, emphasizing self-expression, and showcasing the retailer’s wide range of products. By partnering with influential celebrities, TJ Maxx aims to connect with its target audience and establish a strong brand identity."
I'll read anything except horror or anything very violently graphic (because I'm a massive wuss and I value my sleep) but my preferred genre for reading and writing is anything that comes under the speculative fiction umbrella. I tend to read and write to escape, so, generally, the further from my own reality, the better.
Hi Simon, an interesting question. I used to have preferred genres, but two things switched me off the genre treadmill -
First, a renewed interest in classic lit, which is really the non-genre or pre-genre variety of literature.
Second, my love of films and the realization that the best film work often was of no one genre but borrowed bits and pieces of all kinds. So Buñuel, Bergman, Haneke, Lanthimos and Eggers, for example, all take horror elements but their films are not horror.
To reinforce both insights I have the trusty old hands of Kafka, Ballard, Burroughs, Lem and Carol Emshwiller whose work flops over the genre boundaries. Today I seek out and also write that kind of thing pretty much exclusively.
Yeah, I love the porosity between genres, especially in the hands of supremely talented creators. There's so much to take from every genre, and when you mix them together you can get really stunning results.
Thoughts on a genre label for such material? It's been called variously "weird" or "eerie" and then in the early 2000s Bruce Sterling tried to give it the label "slipstream". It seems odd to try to stick a label on the uncategorizable but for reasons of survival and community it might be necessary.
I've written more scifi than anything else, but what really excites me is trying something new. I want to create a really diverse body of work that encompasses many genres. Which is reflective of my reading tastes as well.
I write and read science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction. Anything to get out of the current time and place for a bit. However, a few weeks ago I decided to limit my writing exclusively to science fiction as a means of focusing my substack output a bit more. . I think scifi gives me the most flexibility in how I can write. I've got plenty of ideas and characters but I can change the setting from cyberpunk to space opera to hard scifi survival to better emphasize their themes.
I write near future hard science fiction and military fiction. Fantasy leaves me cold, no interest at all. I don't even read it. I enjoy books with some plausibility and lots of action.
"As a teenager I was daftly opposed to fantasy. I was a hard science fiction guy, you see. It was all very silly. I became far less tribal once I was a bit older, and now can enjoy pretty much any genre as long as it’s a good book/film/thing."
This was 100% me. I think what made me change my perspective was when my high school physics teacher pointed out that Star Wars was actually fantasy and not really science fiction.
That said in general I defiantly gravitate towards the more science based rather than mystical.
Although the label is completely pretentious, I love 'literary fiction' (if you have a better term, let me know). That said, I also enjoy historical fiction and fantasy - but the commitment to series can be off-putting. What I'm writing would probably land somewhere between dystopian and speculative.
Definitely fantasy for me! Both for reading and for writing. I do read/write the occasional scifi too, but I definitely lean more fantasy. That said, I enjoy a lot of different sub-genres within fantasy: retellings (fairy tale or classic), gaslamp, steampunk, historical fantasy, high fantasy, alternative history, cozy fantasy, urban fantasy, science fantasy, and even the occasional dystopian to name a few of them. I don't like any of the grimdark stuff though or anything remotely close to it. Slightly gothic fantasy? Maybe, so long as it ends well. On occasion, I'll also branch out and read historical fiction and mystery (especially period mysteries).
I like historical fiction, and the particular subset within that of historical mystery. Also like science fiction. And I write speculative political fiction set where I live (British Columbia). I like to invert stereotypes and subvert clichés. And take current events and combine them, and ask ‘what if?’
Yes! One of the great pleasures of writing within genre spaces is taking some of the well-worn tropes and expectations and then flipping them on their head. Knowing that your readers have pre-existing assumptions about what's coming can be a useful thing to play with.
I enjoy historical fiction, mystery, and (some) sci-fi, but as a writer, I invariably tend to cross genres. Thus, something like "dark-erotic, kinky, paranormal, spiritual romance" might aptly describe a series, while the latest novel falls into "hardcore porn, saturated with metaphor, Christian imagery, and mysticism." [No wonder I'm not selling!]
I can read any genre as long as it is well written however, I am partial towards some like psychological and crime thrillers, anything horrific, Nigerian literature (both classic and contemporary), and children's books. I like adventure too.
I guess I have always had a tendency towards art that explores the darker side of life, emotions people want buried, and things people don't want to talk about.
Sci-fi and cypberpunk - anything by William Gibson - but also weird fiction (M. John Harrison), bits of fantasy (anything by Lucius Shepard), David Mitchell. Come to think of it, I seem to find authors I love and then just go with whatever they write. Style is important to me, though I love anything weird or speculative.
I'm also quite partial to finding an author (or film director, or comic artist, etc) and then going through their back catalogue. I like exploring someone's mind via their creative work, I think.
I gravitate to fantasy, dystopian and sci-fi in my writing, but I'll read about anything if the story is good, and the writing doesn't make my head hurt by the end of the first page.
I’m all over the place, both as a reader and writer. I don’t like horror as a rule but I’ve read a lot of Stephen King and written a werewolf comic. The only genre I completely avoid is romance, and even there I quite like a rom com these days.
I've always thought that pretty much every one of Stanley Kubrick's films is a horror film, even though they're rarely classified as horror. It's stealth horror that really gets under your skin, sometimes.
Sinister, psychologically and emotionally unmoored, are the commonalities that spring to mind for me.
Interestingly, most of his films were adaptations. He was obviously attracted to a particular type of story, despite the ostensible range of his films.
I definitely have genre preferences towards Sci-fi/Spec-fic, fantasy, and humor. Find me a good Sci-fi/Spec-fic comedy, and I'm a happy man.
But I'll read withing in any genre. I just came off a series of murder mysteries, and am currently staring at a pile of five books, deciding which one to read next.
Oh, who am I kidding? It's gonna be the Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Steven Barnes book, because 1) it was a gift from Laura, 2) she wants to read it, too!
Mostly epic fantasy and magical realism. I feel like I'm increasingly moving towards more contemporary, literary stuff though, both in what I write and what I read. I don't know, maybe I'm just getting old and boring.
Funny, for me it was the other way around. Read a lot of fantasy as a kid & teenager -- I still remember my German teacher coming up to me after class, seeing The Mists of Avalon (by Marion Zimmer Bradley, even the paperback was such a thick tome) lying on my desk & saying she'd stayed up late into the night reading it.
It's easier to list what I don't prefer reading: thrillers, crime & detective (Arthur Conan Doyle being the exception) as well as horror. Apart from that, I read everything, from classics & literary to historical & cozy romance, and of course still a lot of fantasy & SF.
This reflects in my own writing too, I cycle between different genres which is sometimes worrying to my business brain... (no easy categorization as "author of genre XY")
Mist of Avalon is on the shelf literally just behind me. Haven't read it myself, though.
That difficulty of categorisation is something I think about, too. I occasionally envy writers who can put out endless books in a single series with a single protagonist, to great success. I don't think I could do that.
To be fair, it's more historical fiction with very light fantasy aspects.
I can see myself writing a lot about a single protagonist (I prefer character-driven to plot-driven, after all) but definitely not exclusively. Would have to change it up with different stories, genres etc. so yes, in that I agree with you!
I like to read internal genres that probe broken people in need of redemption, but I also like thrillers and action. But I write exclusively general fiction. I don’t feel knowledgeable enough to plot anything else.
I loved and continue to love folk tales. Indian folk tales in particular- they were tales often told by grand parents to impart wisdom. Almost all of them are scary 😀 a jug that pours out water non stop, a bag that gives endless supply of fancy silk clothes- the Demi gods- I LOVE everything about folk tales.
I don't think that way. Used to, but not for years... because I just... wanted to write and entertain my kids.
They all enjoy different genres... so what's a dad to do when one is immersed in Little Women, and the child next to her is reading Star Wars, and the third, my curious daughter... is reading military fiction?
So I started creating a world I could write a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g.....
Thank you Sir Terry Pratchett!
Wanted Hero became a career change for me, where I write dark fantasy, Sci-Fi, mystery, and a splash of horror in the same series.. sometimes the same book.
Guess what? It also makes sense.
I sold a sci-fantasy book to, get this,... primarily young teen girls! Why? My daughters said it was because the main hero was a 40' robot pilot, in an extreme competition, named Alhannah Luckyfeller....a 32" pink haired female gnome.
I cut my teeth on science fiction but also Lord of The Rings. So maybe speculative fiction is my genre of choice. Whether science or magic (or a blend of both) circumstances can be built to explore the human condition with peculiar focus. I like it.
The genres that mostly catch my attention are fantasy and sci-fi. In my teenager years, since I’m the youngest, TV and movies were mainly my go to. It wasn’t until I took some comic classes that many types of fiction genres found my way through comics, manga mostly, but american storytelling through companies like marvel (hope it doesn’t end up like a graveyard although the big screen might highly screw it up), dark horse and many other comic companies I don’t know. Back then I began writing and doing a couple of comics which are no easy task since it involves a lot of things. At least I had a friend that worked or works independently with marvel. What I love the most is creating characters! I’ve read books but I should read more.
Pardon my ignorance but since this is a long thread: How many genres of fiction are there? Is there a genre of fiction for every other one if combined? Like…I don’t know, let’s say a sci-fi post-apocalyptic crime story?
Simon, I'm about done with my sixth novel. The first two were contemporary fiction. But about ten years ago I found my lane and have stayed in it - historic fiction
Simon; One genre, which I write about is Crime fiction.....yet I've always read biographies. Stanley Kubrick's biography was an amassing read, only bettered by watching Dr Strangelove.
I have almost zero interest in writing anything but historical fiction and since I'm always so behind on all that I should read/have read, I read little else. However, I really enjoy reading Sci-fi and fantasy. My least interest is in contemporary or "women's fiction". My theory is, the three genres I love take me out of the here and now and often provide a sense of wonder and imagination that this visual artist/set designer/storyteller craves. One might also say an escape. I'd argue that Hist-fic, Sci-fi, and fantasy can provide more perspective on life than the contemporary works that often feel too close to the material. I'm glad we get to choose!
Having so much choice is wonderful indeed.
And yes - I've always liked speculative fiction for its ability to spin off at a tangent from the real world, but then shine a light back on it. Sometimes it's also able to tackle difficult issues almost by stealth, in a way that doesn't immediately put people's defences up, I think.
Could not agree more!
I'm all about historical fiction! Have been ever since I was little. I studied history (and continue to work in academia now), so it's always been my 'thing'. Having said that, I've been challenging myself to read more fiction fiction (if that distinction makes sense) recently, and I've been really loving it! A bit lighter than historical fiction can sometimes be.
Haha! "Fiction fiction!" I love that!
I prefer fiction fiction fiction myself.
I didn’t know how else to describe it 😂 fiction that’s not historical fiction lol
Fiction that’s not historical fiction or science fiction, fantasy, mystery, etc? Literary or contemporary fiction.
Contemporary fiction! Thank you 🙏 I’m usually such a historical fiction girl that I don’t even know what the other terms are 😂
It could be contemporary fiction or what's also called 'general fiction' which is really just a catch-all for fiction that doesn't fit under a more specific genre.
Ah, all these terms I never knew existed! General fiction it is. Although I’ve just started reading a memoir, so I’m back on more familiar territory now 😂
Fantasy. Fantasy fantasy fantasy fantasy fantasy. Fantasy.
Could you be a bit clearer? I'm not sure what you're getting at here?
Fantasy.
Fantasy?
*Nods.* My work here is done.
Honestly, while I like SFF, I also enjoy contemporary western, romance, historicals...what I'm not interested in is mainstream literary or book club fiction. Those have to be very extraordinary to catch my attention. I used to enjoy mysteries, but not so much now.
When it comes to writing, it's speculative fiction all the way. Stories are always better with biobots, a whiff of magic, and the occasional scheming sorcerer.
"Stories are always better with biobots, a whiff of magic, and the occasional scheming sorcerer." I love that.
I'm trying to think of a classic novel that wouldn't be improved with some of those, and I'm drawing a blank.
I'm leaning heavily toward science fantasy after I threw the Carolingan Mythos into my trilogy that's gonna be released in August-September. The scheming sorcerer isn't in that one but there's biobots, European water spirits, digital thought clones, and the Fae (well, that's what the water spirits are) galloping through.
Crime and horror.
Ha! Until I tried it in 2021 the detective genre had never really inspired. Now, three years later, I've just completed my first detective novel, and it was great fun to write, too. What made it so was that I found a way to not be formulaic, but to bring in all my other complementary interests such as travel, historical fiction, action/adventure, philosophy and speculative modernism, and mix it all up into one work that somehow tells a single comprehensive story with a satisfying and unexpected resolution, and adds in all these other dimensions... with plenty of sequels to be expected.
Now I just need to find someone who can invent a telepathy machine, to get the awareness of this brilliant new book into the minds of ken literary agents. That would sure beat the more cumbersome process of emailing query letters and sample chapters. For all you science fiction writers, maybe my last joke would make the premise for a decent story. Or maybe it's been written?
I was never into detective/crime fiction until I worked at a crime fiction festival for several years. Hearing the authors talk about their work and interviewing some of them for a podcast really opened my eyes to the versatility of the genre. Which is how I ended up incorporating aspects of it into my current serial.
Really good crime fiction can shine a light on society in exactly the same way as science fiction and fantasy. Through the lens of 'a crime', a crime fiction author can really poke at society and culture and people's motivations in fascinating ways.
What I love about crime fiction is that it requires for you to do the doublido of proper storytelling (foreshadowing, chekhov's gun, planting evidence of clues throughout) and the story will fail miserably if you don't have those basics figured out. I don't really read much of it, but I love a good intellectual crime thriller like the ones in the Benoit Blanc stories.
Ever read Barry Eisler? John Rain series....SO good.
Barry is a friend, and was the first review I ever got for my comic books back in 2005.
Amazing writer.
https://barryeisler.com
Historical Fiction and Fantasy. But I also love horror.
I think the more I've written the more I've realised I prefer writing between two genres; speculative fiction and humour. For speculative fiction it tends to be science fiction, fantasy, hybrid thrillers/dramas with a speculative element. The other side of that coin is writing comedies but again they usually borrow elements from other genres. More and more I'm trying not to fixate on defining the genre from the outset and allowing it to develop as the story does so. But stepping back, I reckon those are my two favourites both to read and to write.
A lot of my favourite things are genre blends.
I also reckon that most comedies, or certainly TV comedies, have to be be successful within the genre they're parodying/exploring as well as being funny. My test is always "if you removed the jokes, would this still be a good show?" Take the comedy out of Red Dwarf, would it still be a good scifi show? Take the comedy out of Brooklyn 99, would it still be a good police show? etc.
That's a great test and totally agree with that!
I have every Red Dwarf show, and if you take out the humor, it's dead....IMO. I bought it for the laughs 😃
Oh yeah, I don’t mean that you could literally take the jokes out and have a good show: it’s designed to be a comedy, after all.
But the science fiction ideas within it are clever, thought-provoking and conceptually legit. It feels like it is written by people who like and understand scifi.
Agreed. I did know what you meant….I’m just a huge fan of the show and for some odd reason, the sci-fi part never hits me like the humor.
It’s a ‘snort-laugh’ kind of show for me.
….then again, it also got me crazy for Robot Wars!
Ahhhhhh, humor. So glad you said that. All my stuff started as comic books, heavy with humor... and it has followed me.
I think good humor, well timed, makes everything better for me.
Sarcasm is one of my family's love languages... 😆
Fantasy is definitely the genre I gravitate towards. However I did have a go at reading a psychological thriller (The Picture on the Fridge). I enjoyed most of it, but the ending fell apart for me.
As a writer, I mostly write fantasy, however I also love historical fiction.
I love Scifi, Fantasy, Cyberpunk are my primary loves. I have secondary loves of Isekai, Romances that have started or have grown beyond the trope of love triangles, and the occasional litRPG stories too.
I have mostly written Scifi and Fantasy over the years.
Just bought my first steam punk story.... about to start the new adventure.
Mostly horror and historical fiction. I occasionally write modern stories, but usually it's for a specific project or contest. I prefer historical settings. I've also written a few dumb comedy stories as a palate cleanser, but those are more for my personal amusement than anything else.
I am definitely a buffet reader…I like to sample everything and if it’s well-written I like it. I do have a soft spot for dark fiction. Horror (not too much gore, please), fairytale (the old style, no Disney), paranormal. And that’s the slot I fill as a writer.
I’m not much of a romance reader (ok, I don’t read romance, but I’m sure there are some great things to be found in the genre). I love history and historical fiction. I used to be a die-hard lover of high fantasy, but that love has faded a bit as I age. Sci-fi grabs my interest if the plot is solid and the characters well-developed.
I adore the short story form, both as a reader and a writer. Novels are great, but they are a commitment. So they have to be super great to entice me.
Sue Miller is my favorite writer…I’m not sure if she would be considered women’s fiction, contemporary fiction, upmarket fiction, maybe literary fiction (although I don’t think so)…? Whatever she is, though, that’s my genre!
I have become more open to fantasy, though. My dad tried to read The Hobbit to me a hundred times as a kid, and I just found it BORING. I think I read in order to understand relationships and social norms (which are often confusing to me), so the more based in reality, the more I can get out of it. (It’s hard to figure out social norms if you first have to parse through layers of fantastical species and worlds!) That being said, I didn’t think any of that as a kid; I just always thought those books were boring.
My kids, though, LOVE them. Narnia, LOTR, Harry Potter, The Beyonders…they can’t get enough. I have definitely come to appreciate fantasy’s ability to approach the Big Questions, thanks to my kids. And the level of craft and worldbuilding in fantasy is often astounding. So I can appreciate it now, but it still isn’t my go-to.
I heard a rumor that someone lifted your kids a 6 month paid subscription to Life of Fiction through your account.
Hmmm.
The Underlings started chanting your name....
You might want to check that.
... just sayin.
*gifted
Really? Clearly, my kids have friends in high places!
Speaking of, my 13-year-old daughter saw your "Need a pick-me-up" video and said, "I would put him in a TJ Maxx commercial." I'm pretty sure that's high praise...I think you should take it as such!
LOL, I had to look that up....(Im old I guess...) here's what I found:
"TJ Maxx’s 2022 commercials focus on promoting a positive brand image, emphasizing self-expression, and showcasing the retailer’s wide range of products. By partnering with influential celebrities, TJ Maxx aims to connect with its target audience and establish a strong brand identity."
Yup, taking that AS a compliment! [WIDE grin]
Wow, she's way more in touch than I give her credit for!
Enjoy the subscription...if you have little ones, I hope you'll let me know if they enjoy The Underlings =)
I'll read anything except horror or anything very violently graphic (because I'm a massive wuss and I value my sleep) but my preferred genre for reading and writing is anything that comes under the speculative fiction umbrella. I tend to read and write to escape, so, generally, the further from my own reality, the better.
Horror...
The horror...
Hi Simon, an interesting question. I used to have preferred genres, but two things switched me off the genre treadmill -
First, a renewed interest in classic lit, which is really the non-genre or pre-genre variety of literature.
Second, my love of films and the realization that the best film work often was of no one genre but borrowed bits and pieces of all kinds. So Buñuel, Bergman, Haneke, Lanthimos and Eggers, for example, all take horror elements but their films are not horror.
To reinforce both insights I have the trusty old hands of Kafka, Ballard, Burroughs, Lem and Carol Emshwiller whose work flops over the genre boundaries. Today I seek out and also write that kind of thing pretty much exclusively.
Yeah, I love the porosity between genres, especially in the hands of supremely talented creators. There's so much to take from every genre, and when you mix them together you can get really stunning results.
Thoughts on a genre label for such material? It's been called variously "weird" or "eerie" and then in the early 2000s Bruce Sterling tried to give it the label "slipstream". It seems odd to try to stick a label on the uncategorizable but for reasons of survival and community it might be necessary.
I've written more scifi than anything else, but what really excites me is trying something new. I want to create a really diverse body of work that encompasses many genres. Which is reflective of my reading tastes as well.
I write and read science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction. Anything to get out of the current time and place for a bit. However, a few weeks ago I decided to limit my writing exclusively to science fiction as a means of focusing my substack output a bit more. . I think scifi gives me the most flexibility in how I can write. I've got plenty of ideas and characters but I can change the setting from cyberpunk to space opera to hard scifi survival to better emphasize their themes.
I write near future hard science fiction and military fiction. Fantasy leaves me cold, no interest at all. I don't even read it. I enjoy books with some plausibility and lots of action.
Scifi and fantasy are what interest me most, both as a reader and as a writer. I read and write other things, but these are the top.
"As a teenager I was daftly opposed to fantasy. I was a hard science fiction guy, you see. It was all very silly. I became far less tribal once I was a bit older, and now can enjoy pretty much any genre as long as it’s a good book/film/thing."
This was 100% me. I think what made me change my perspective was when my high school physics teacher pointed out that Star Wars was actually fantasy and not really science fiction.
That said in general I defiantly gravitate towards the more science based rather than mystical.
Although the label is completely pretentious, I love 'literary fiction' (if you have a better term, let me know). That said, I also enjoy historical fiction and fantasy - but the commitment to series can be off-putting. What I'm writing would probably land somewhere between dystopian and speculative.
Definitely fantasy for me! Both for reading and for writing. I do read/write the occasional scifi too, but I definitely lean more fantasy. That said, I enjoy a lot of different sub-genres within fantasy: retellings (fairy tale or classic), gaslamp, steampunk, historical fantasy, high fantasy, alternative history, cozy fantasy, urban fantasy, science fantasy, and even the occasional dystopian to name a few of them. I don't like any of the grimdark stuff though or anything remotely close to it. Slightly gothic fantasy? Maybe, so long as it ends well. On occasion, I'll also branch out and read historical fiction and mystery (especially period mysteries).
Speculative fiction and fantasy, plus late 19th-early 20th century mainstream fiction and humor.
I like to write Historical Fiction; Historical Fantasy, and Contemporary Fiction...whatever that may be.
I like historical fiction, and the particular subset within that of historical mystery. Also like science fiction. And I write speculative political fiction set where I live (British Columbia). I like to invert stereotypes and subvert clichés. And take current events and combine them, and ask ‘what if?’
Yes! One of the great pleasures of writing within genre spaces is taking some of the well-worn tropes and expectations and then flipping them on their head. Knowing that your readers have pre-existing assumptions about what's coming can be a useful thing to play with.
One of my favourite challenges is humanizing villains.
I enjoy historical fiction, mystery, and (some) sci-fi, but as a writer, I invariably tend to cross genres. Thus, something like "dark-erotic, kinky, paranormal, spiritual romance" might aptly describe a series, while the latest novel falls into "hardcore porn, saturated with metaphor, Christian imagery, and mysticism." [No wonder I'm not selling!]
Mystical, hardcore porn with Christian imagery does sound quite niche. That said, once you find the audience that is into your niche, you're sorted!
Ah, but IS there such an audience -- or even such a niche?
I can read any genre as long as it is well written however, I am partial towards some like psychological and crime thrillers, anything horrific, Nigerian literature (both classic and contemporary), and children's books. I like adventure too.
I wasn't expecting "and children's books" on the end of that list! What is it that draws you towards 'anything horrific', do you think?
I guess I have always had a tendency towards art that explores the darker side of life, emotions people want buried, and things people don't want to talk about.
I like westerns, horror, science fiction, fantasy and history.
Sci-fi and cypberpunk - anything by William Gibson - but also weird fiction (M. John Harrison), bits of fantasy (anything by Lucius Shepard), David Mitchell. Come to think of it, I seem to find authors I love and then just go with whatever they write. Style is important to me, though I love anything weird or speculative.
I'm also quite partial to finding an author (or film director, or comic artist, etc) and then going through their back catalogue. I like exploring someone's mind via their creative work, I think.
Mystery is my preference but I enjoy most genres.
I’m torn between science fiction and fantasy! I love escaping into it both reading and writing.
I read most genres and write in a few of them. Bad habit for a writer, I know (unless I was much more prolific).
I gravitate to fantasy, dystopian and sci-fi in my writing, but I'll read about anything if the story is good, and the writing doesn't make my head hurt by the end of the first page.
I'll read anything. I prefer stuff that requires a bit of effort, which I don't suppose is a genre in a conventional sense.
Writing-wise, I write as I do—some kind of gonzo speculative fiction.
I like literary fiction, fantasy, mystery, and science fiction.
Right, I forgot. Um, it seems my genre of writing is typically the "long rant." 🤔😆
I’m all over the place, both as a reader and writer. I don’t like horror as a rule but I’ve read a lot of Stephen King and written a werewolf comic. The only genre I completely avoid is romance, and even there I quite like a rom com these days.
King, correctly, doesn't consider himself to be a horror writer. He writes about people, and it seems that people can be quite horror inducing!
I've always thought that pretty much every one of Stanley Kubrick's films is a horror film, even though they're rarely classified as horror. It's stealth horror that really gets under your skin, sometimes.
Sinister, psychologically and emotionally unmoored, are the commonalities that spring to mind for me.
Interestingly, most of his films were adaptations. He was obviously attracted to a particular type of story, despite the ostensible range of his films.
I definitely have genre preferences towards Sci-fi/Spec-fic, fantasy, and humor. Find me a good Sci-fi/Spec-fic comedy, and I'm a happy man.
But I'll read withing in any genre. I just came off a series of murder mysteries, and am currently staring at a pile of five books, deciding which one to read next.
Oh, who am I kidding? It's gonna be the Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Steven Barnes book, because 1) it was a gift from Laura, 2) she wants to read it, too!
Isekai.
Mostly epic fantasy and magical realism. I feel like I'm increasingly moving towards more contemporary, literary stuff though, both in what I write and what I read. I don't know, maybe I'm just getting old and boring.
Always staying the same and never evolving your opinions would be far more boring, IMO. :)
Funny, for me it was the other way around. Read a lot of fantasy as a kid & teenager -- I still remember my German teacher coming up to me after class, seeing The Mists of Avalon (by Marion Zimmer Bradley, even the paperback was such a thick tome) lying on my desk & saying she'd stayed up late into the night reading it.
It's easier to list what I don't prefer reading: thrillers, crime & detective (Arthur Conan Doyle being the exception) as well as horror. Apart from that, I read everything, from classics & literary to historical & cozy romance, and of course still a lot of fantasy & SF.
This reflects in my own writing too, I cycle between different genres which is sometimes worrying to my business brain... (no easy categorization as "author of genre XY")
Mist of Avalon is on the shelf literally just behind me. Haven't read it myself, though.
That difficulty of categorisation is something I think about, too. I occasionally envy writers who can put out endless books in a single series with a single protagonist, to great success. I don't think I could do that.
To be fair, it's more historical fiction with very light fantasy aspects.
I can see myself writing a lot about a single protagonist (I prefer character-driven to plot-driven, after all) but definitely not exclusively. Would have to change it up with different stories, genres etc. so yes, in that I agree with you!
I like to read internal genres that probe broken people in need of redemption, but I also like thrillers and action. But I write exclusively general fiction. I don’t feel knowledgeable enough to plot anything else.
I loved and continue to love folk tales. Indian folk tales in particular- they were tales often told by grand parents to impart wisdom. Almost all of them are scary 😀 a jug that pours out water non stop, a bag that gives endless supply of fancy silk clothes- the Demi gods- I LOVE everything about folk tales.
Right on!
That is a... good question.
I don't think that way. Used to, but not for years... because I just... wanted to write and entertain my kids.
They all enjoy different genres... so what's a dad to do when one is immersed in Little Women, and the child next to her is reading Star Wars, and the third, my curious daughter... is reading military fiction?
So I started creating a world I could write a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g.....
Thank you Sir Terry Pratchett!
Wanted Hero became a career change for me, where I write dark fantasy, Sci-Fi, mystery, and a splash of horror in the same series.. sometimes the same book.
Guess what? It also makes sense.
I sold a sci-fantasy book to, get this,... primarily young teen girls! Why? My daughters said it was because the main hero was a 40' robot pilot, in an extreme competition, named Alhannah Luckyfeller....a 32" pink haired female gnome.
So my "genre" is 'Wanted Hero'... [grin]
I cut my teeth on science fiction but also Lord of The Rings. So maybe speculative fiction is my genre of choice. Whether science or magic (or a blend of both) circumstances can be built to explore the human condition with peculiar focus. I like it.
The genres that mostly catch my attention are fantasy and sci-fi. In my teenager years, since I’m the youngest, TV and movies were mainly my go to. It wasn’t until I took some comic classes that many types of fiction genres found my way through comics, manga mostly, but american storytelling through companies like marvel (hope it doesn’t end up like a graveyard although the big screen might highly screw it up), dark horse and many other comic companies I don’t know. Back then I began writing and doing a couple of comics which are no easy task since it involves a lot of things. At least I had a friend that worked or works independently with marvel. What I love the most is creating characters! I’ve read books but I should read more.
Pardon my ignorance but since this is a long thread: How many genres of fiction are there? Is there a genre of fiction for every other one if combined? Like…I don’t know, let’s say a sci-fi post-apocalyptic crime story?
Simon, I'm about done with my sixth novel. The first two were contemporary fiction. But about ten years ago I found my lane and have stayed in it - historic fiction
Sam Foster
Simon; One genre, which I write about is Crime fiction.....yet I've always read biographies. Stanley Kubrick's biography was an amassing read, only bettered by watching Dr Strangelove.