As a book lover, there is nothing more disappointing than shelling out precious book money for a story that lets me down. I have been drawn in by your cover, intrigued by your premise, and have been given a promise that I am settling down for a specific type of story. There are times when I have been "burned" by the author and regret the purchase. It doesn't happen terribly often. However, when it does, I never forget it. Let’s look at a five ways writers “burn” their readers: 1. The Bait and Switch This happens when you promise your reader a specific type of story, but give them something completely different. If you promise a thriller, you need to deliver high stakes, tense action, and a protagonist you can root for. I have picked up a five separate thrillers of late that were duller than ditch water. If you haven’t made me care by the third chapter, I stop reading. Another book I read was pitched as a comedy, but turned out to be about sexual...

If you have an antagonist, it should be someone the reader loves to hate. It will be more interesting if he has some redeeming feature or at least feels he has just cause for his behavior. Amoral monsters, used frequently in horror, are less interesting. Personal stakes, even for the antagonist, make the tension higher. In most genres, this character or entity has a goal that is the opposite of the protagonist’s goal. If the protagonist wants to uncover a mystery, the antagonist must be dead set on keeping the mystery unsolved. If the protagonist wants to win the girl, the antagonist must want her for himself or be so opposed to the protagonist’s pursuit that he will do anything to stop the couple from getting together. The antagonist should also have something deep within that drives him toward his goal. The emotion or underlying belief system must be as strong as the protagonist’s for the stakes to be high. He endorses the flip side of the thematic argument. The antagonist ca...

In my book, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of Conflict , I discuss the difference between premise (the story concept) and the promise you make by the genre you pick. I explored the theme further in an earlier post: Keeping Your Promise . Writers unleashed in the independent publishing arena might feel they can fire genre expectations entirely since they no longer have to tick boxes for agents or editors. They may feel they no longer need to write the dreaded synopsis. Not so. Why? Reader expectation still matters . Let's say you go to a new restaurant with friends. It isn't your usual chain restaurant. Unless you are a foodie and love to experiment, you hope to find something on the menu that is recognizable. Something you know you will enjoy, perhaps a good burger. When you order a burger you have certain basic expectations: a bun, some kind of meat patty, and condiments. There are millions of variations of burgers, from tofu and soy meat, to bunless burge...

I’ve been writing “genre fiction” for 36 years. I began with romance, then moved on to mystery. That’s the simple version. For a start, I wrote Regency romance, not just any old romance. It’s a very distinct genre, set in England in the early 1800s, when Jane Austen was published. The doyenne of the (sub)genre was Georgette Heyer, who set the standard for humour, well-developed characters, historical accuracy, and lively dialogue. Fans of regencies often don’t read any other kind of romance. Given the limits of the genre, I managed to write all sorts of stories, some set around historical events such as the Battle of Waterloo, some comedies of manners, some exploring serious subjects like the mistreatment of chimneysweeps ( Crossed Quills ). I also branched out into several sub-sub-genres: fantasy—fairytales rewritten with a Regency setting ( The Magic of Love ); time travel ( Byron’s Child ); and a ghost story ( The Actress and the Rake ). One of my regencies was classified ...

A shopper stops at a table in a bookstore where an author is having a book signing. Shopper picks up the book. “What’s your genre?” Author smiles. “It’s sort of a cozy, romantic, mysterious thriller for new adults.” Shopper frowns. “Excuse me?” Author continues smiling. “You know, something for everyone. Trust me, it’s a great story.” Shopper puts book down, shakes her head, and walks away. Bottom line: Many readers have expectations as well as definite genre preferences. We need to present our work in a way they can relate to. Some writers know their genre and write accordingly. Others incorporate the guidelines of a number of genres in their books, possibly in hopes of gaining readers from multiple genres who are willing to cross the line to read a “great” book. A few even try to create a new genre/sub-genre to accommodate their work. Has it always been this confusing? In the heyday of traditional publishing, publishers determined genre, as well as the guidelines req...

If you’re a reader, you need to know which store bookshelf (I’m going old school here) is going to hold your newest treasure. If you’re a writer, you need to know which genre you write so that you can target the correct agent or publishing house (if you’re going old school). The trouble is that there are many, many genres - both distinct and fusions. Here is a beginner’s guide using my own twist: Fantasy: Dragons. Science Fiction: Dragons in space. Horror: A dragon-masked maniac terrorizes a small town. Adventure: Indiana Dragon hunts for lost treasures. Humour: Percy Dragon wants to be a firefighter. Comical mayhem ensues. Historical Fiction: Lord Percival Dragon goes on crusade with Richard the Lionhearted. Romance: Boy meets girl. Sparks ignite, then get snuffed out. Will they find a way to relight the flame? Romantic Comedy: Miss Dragon and her girl friends look for love and expensive shoes. Cozy Mystery: Kind Mrs Dragon solves crimes while knittin...