What kind of story is it?

[Celia Cyanide]

I think this has been asked before, but I wasn't at this point in my writing yet. How do you find out what kind of a book you have? Should you have your beta readers tell you? Could you have someone decide from a synopsis? We talked about query letters in my class last night, and I'm not sure what to put in about what the market is for it.

[triceretops]

Celia, give us an abstract of what the book is about. Maybe we can help ferret out the little devil.

Tri

[Celia Cyanide]

Thank you, Tri. I will probably spend some time later today finding a way to explain it. I don't think I'm very good at that yet. I don't mind posting stuff for critique, but I get nervous trying to explain what I'm writing about. I'm afraid of people saying, "don't worry about what genre it is, it's a dumb idea." But I will do my best, and post it later today.

[Shadow_Ferret]

My ears were ringing? Did someone say my name? :p

And I have trouble writing synopsiseseses, too. I'm not even sure what a synopsis should contain. Is it a breakdown of the plotline? Is it a brief description of the characters? Is it a Cliff Notes version of the book?

[AdamH]

I'm afraid of people saying, "don't worry about what genre it is, it's a dumb idea." But I will do my best, and post it later today.

If there's any place on the net you shouldn't be afraid of sharing ideas, it's here. We're all really open and understanding to the creative process. Don't worry about anyone thinking about your story being a dumb idea. I thought a story of a kid on raft full of zoo animals (including a Bengal tiger) adrift in the middle of the Pacific as dumb. But it was actually really good (Life of Pi by Yann Martel, check it out!). So no worries! :)

[Celia Cyanide]

Maddwriter, thank you for that, but the last time I made a post referencing what my story was about, people responded somewhat negatively. Now when I ask a question, I try not to relate it back to what I am writing about. I am not complaining about the people in this forum. I actually got very encouraging and constructive feedback when I posted some excerpts in SYW, and someone who read my entire WIP loved it. So I basically came to the conclusion that I am not very good at explaining my story. I hope to get better at this if/when I write my query letter. But for now, I hope that this can help you decide what category this fits into:

Ellen is 33 and lives with her boyfriend, Ted. She supports him while he is allegedly writing his first novel. She agreed to this with the intention of one day writing her own. But since his novel never happened, she has come to accept that hers never will either.

However, this is not good enough for Margot Tallent, a former college classmate of Ellen's who became a publisher. Margot kidnaps Ellen and forces her to write a novel. The reason why Margot is doing this is because she believes she is destined to publish a great literary work, and that Ellen is the writer she has looked for who is destined to write it. She believes that Ellen doesn't know yet how important it is that she write this novel, but if she gives her a little push--locking her in a room with a computer--that she will begin to see the light. She refuses to feed Ellen anything but ramen noodles so that she can "think like a starving artist."

To give her a little motivation and something to write about, Margot forces Ellen to go on a lunch date with Jeremy, the cute boy who works at the grocery store near Ellen's apartment building. The date doesn't go very well, because Ellen is so hungry, after having eaten nothing but ramen noodles for days. She cannot pay attention to Jeremy, but only to how hungry she is.

Meanwhile, Ted does not notice Ellen is missing for a few days, because he keeps falling asleep/getting drunk/waking up and assuming she is at work or sleeping in the other room.

When Ellen comes back from her date, she begins writing a bizarre stream of consciousness story, and really begins to lose it. She uses her full notebook pages and printed computer pages to make wallpaper, blankets, and pillows. She has favorite pages she likes to sleep on and talk to. When she gets lonely, she starts to talk to her characters.

My friend who read it said that it was equal parts funny and suspenseful, sort of a dark comedy. The subplot about Ellen's attraction to Jeremy vs. her dull boyfriend is important, but probably not important enough for it to be a romance.

[Sage]

...she begins writing a bizarre stream of consciousness story, and really begins to lose it. She uses her full notebook pages and printed computer pages to make wallpaper, blankets, and pillows. She has favorite pages she likes to sleep on and talk to. When she gets lonely, she starts to talk to her characters.

This is a sign of losing it...? But... uh, nevermind.

My friend who read it said that it was equal parts funny and suspenseful, sort of a dark comedy. The subplot about Ellen's attraction to Jeremy vs. her dull boyfriend is important, but probably not important enough for it to be a romance.

Dark comedy may be the way to go. The problem w/ synopses is that it's hard to tell how comedic it is from a description. Is it thrilling enough for a thriller? Could be that it's just literary.... Sorry, chica. It's hard to say. Is there anyway to just let the publisher decide where it fits, or are you looking for a genre to find an appropriate agent/publisher? Could be that if it crosses a few genres that might open up possibilities for finding agents/publishers.

[Edit] Actually, I just went down to the genre section of AW, & along w/ mystery & thriller, it says suspense. That probably best fits your story. My suggestion (if nobody confirms or denies this here or has a better idea) is to post specifically in that section & see if anyone from that genre can tell you whether this really fits. Hope this helps :)

[mdin]

I agree with Sage. It depends on how funny or suspenseful it is. If it's funny and "ironic" (like my wife would say) then maybe you can call it chick lit.

[triceretops]

I agree with the above--I was going to say chick lit or even YA romance at first, but then I noticed some suspense, or even thriller elements. This one seems to be bluring lines. It might even pass into the realm of urban or contemp fantasy, what with some supernatural elements in there. I don't think there is any danger of it being a square peg being forced into a round hole, or even undefineable. An agent or editor would make that determination, and maybe request a re-write to making it lean stronger one way or another, as far as genre.

This also sounds a tad like the Misery plot, but has it own later twists.

Good luck, and don't feel intimidated. We all do with our work.

Tri

[AdamH]

Maddwriter, thank you for that, but the last time I made a post referencing what my story was about, people responded somewhat negatively.

I knew I recognized the plot from somewhere! I do recall that thread (thanks to the wonderful magic of navigating through history of my posts). It went off on tangents unrelated to the topic just because all the details weren't present...and well, let's just say it got a tad on the weird side. So, moving on! :)

I can see how you can have trouble finding its genre now that I've read the synopsis. It has elements of romance, horror (in the Misery sense), thriller, and a smidge of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas crossed with A Beautiful Mind (mostly the last part seems this way). With all these elements, it could be difficult to classify. You know your story. What is the predominant focus in your story? Is it the love story? The kidnapping and a publisher who's trying to teach her to be all she can be? Is it an adventure inside this woman's mind as she slowly loses herself within her characters and disconnecting from the real world? When you can figure that out, you'll know the genre. It's trickier than it sounds. I've had a similar situation with a few of my stories.

Thanks for sharing! :)

[The Gorn]

I think this has been asked before, but I wasn't at this point in my writing yet. How do you find out what kind of a book you have? Should you have your beta readers tell you? Could you have someone decide from a synopsis? We talked about query letters in my class last night, and I'm not sure what to put in about what the market is for it.

I am an aspiring writer so I do not presume to be an expert. What I would do is look at what is the main focus of the story. Do you consider it to be a love story? Is your main character risking life and limb on an action adventure? Perhaps the story takes place on an alien planet in the distant future where the main character battles the heavy with laser guns and starships. That would make it a sci-fi story. If the antagonist were perhaps a ghost or demon or some other supernatural being or a crazed psychopathic murder, then I would probably define it as horror.

A story can contain aspects of many different genres. You need to figure out which one seems to be most promenent. One story idea I have I define as a sci-fi story. But when finished it will also contain romance, action, adventure, comedy, and maybe a little horror. The thing you need to do is deceide which genre it seems to fit into the best.

[Linda Adams]

Ellen is 33 and lives with her boyfriend, Ted. She supports him while he is allegedly writing his first novel. She agreed to this with the intention of one day writing her own. But since his novel never happened, she has come to accept that hers never will either. [/font]

However, this is not good enough for Margot Tallent, a former college classmate of Ellen's who became a publisher. Margot kidnaps Ellen and forces her to write a novel. The reason why Margot is doing this is because she believes she is destined to publish a great literary work, and that Ellen is the writer she has looked for who is destined to write it. She believes that Ellen doesn't know yet how important it is that she write this novel, but if she gives her a little push--locking her in a room with a computer--that she will begin to see the light. She refuses to feed Ellen anything but ramen noodles so that she can "think like a starving artist."

To give her a little motivation and something to write about, Margot forces Ellen to go on a lunch date with Jeremy, the cute boy who works at the grocery store near Ellen's apartment building. The date doesn't go very well, because Ellen is so hungry, after having eaten nothing but ramen noodles for days. She cannot pay attention to Jeremy, but only to how hungry she is.

Meanwhile, Ted does not notice Ellen is missing for a few days, because he keeps falling asleep/getting drunk/waking up and assuming she is at work or sleeping in the other room.

When Ellen comes back from her date, she begins writing a bizarre stream of consciousness story, and really begins to lose it. She uses her full notebook pages and printed computer pages to make wallpaper, blankets, and pillows. She has favorite pages she likes to sleep on and talk to. When she gets lonely, she starts to talk to her characters.

My friend who read it said that it was equal parts funny and suspenseful, sort of a dark comedy. The subplot about Ellen's attraction to Jeremy vs. her dull boyfriend is important, but probably not important enough for it to be a romance.

Try Romantic Suspense. Suspense and Thriller are hard to pin down because they fall in the same section as Mystery, and there's little written about the genres. You're likely to find Romantic Suspense in the Mystery section, though it could also be in the Romance section, too. Try Holly Lisle and Kay Hooper. Issues of Romantic Times review all genres and identify the subgenre, so this is a good resource to go to for finding more books from suspense.

[Celia Cyanide]

A huge thank you to everyone who responded! I appreciate it so much! I know I say that every time I start a thread, but you've really been a big help.

I have a few questions...first of all, Romantic Suspense. Does the genre have to do with how the book ends? For example, would Ellen and Jeremy be expected to get together at the end?

I definately think that Ellen's character and concerns are similar to a lot of chicklit, and as far as I know, that's a very marketable genre. But is the rest of the story too weird to be chicklit?

Also, I think Susan Gable once mentioned a genre called "Mainstream with Romantic Elements." Can anyone tell me more about that? And what about "Women's Fiction"? Would it fall into that category?

I agree that it really depends how funny/suspenseful it is, which is obviously hard to convey just by explaining the plot. My friend who finished it thought it was equal parts both, but maybe some of my other readers will have a different opinion.

[Linda Adams]

I have a few questions...first of all, Romantic Suspense. Does the genre have to do with how the book ends? For example, would Ellen and Jeremy be expected to get together at the end?



I'm afraid, while I've read some romantic suspense, I haven't read enough to answer this. These are some links which may help:

http://www.hodrw.com/elementsromsuspense.htm

http://www.lisagardner.com/tricks/romanticsupsense.htm

Plus, pick up a sampling of books to get an idea of what the genre expectations are.

[Mistook]

I don't know what genre it is either, but I love that story idea. It's the kind of quirky, off the wall stuff there isn't nearly enough of out there in my opinion. I think I've seen some agents list words like "quirky" or equivalent terms as a catagory they deal with.

I think it's just a shame in general that so few novels have any sense of humor or absurdity to them. Anyway, good luck :)

[Elisabetta]

Execution is everything. This story could be written as a literary exploration of the artist's plight in a commercial world, as a modern-day riff on "Rapunzel," as a wacky romp, as a serious thriller. Story is just the skeleton. Your vision, your style, your choice of words, everything that goes into execution, is what puts flesh on the bones.

What kind of book do YOU want it to be?

[Celia Cyanide]

That's a very good question, Elisabetta. I am a big fan of John Waters movies, and I think the tone is something like that, very quirky and absurd. Mistook, glad you like the story idea. It makes me feel a bit better about my ability to explain it. I think "quirky" is a word I would use to describe it. That is the kind of story I would like to write, and I don't think there are enough novels like that, which might be why I am having such a hard time categorizing it. When I finish it, I will be looking for agents who want "quirky."

[Selena_Fai]

Celia,

I just came across this thread. I really like your story idea.

If you ever need someone to read for you, I'm here. http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif I don't have any credentials, but I'm an aspiring writer myself.

It looks to me to be a dark comedy on the edge of chick lit... Keep with it. I will be looking for the finished product when you get published.

Selena

[Celia Cyanide]

Thank you for your response, Selena! Perhaps I am getting better at describing my story! If I need critique for some of it, I will let you know.