Since we're talking definitions here...

Night_Writer

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I got so caught up in my ramblings in my last post, I forgot the reason I came here in the first place.

I'm thinking paranormal suspense but still not confident that quite covers it.

Actually, I think that describes it pretty well. I don't think that anything is going to come closer to pinning it down. And I don't think it will be a major issue if it isn't 100 percent right. 98 percent is probably good enough.

Although, some of it depends on what the explanation turns out to be for the MC's ability to burn people the way she does. If it turns out that she was adopted as an infant from an interstellar adoption agency, it might be sci-fi. If she's adopted from a fairy realm, it could be fantasy. If there is no explanation whatsoever, you could even consider magical realism.
 

ironmikezero

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That's just the problem. It IS finished, I'm almost done with the final polish but there are so many different elements to it I've struggled to pin it to one genre.

Ah, sorry . . . Somehow, I didn't understand it was already finished--my bad.

If you feel the resultant elements within the tale cross the generally accepted genre lines, you could always call it a genre mash-up. I did so with an entire series (THE STEWARD), a genre mash-up of science fantasy/mystery/police procedural in which folklore and fantasy enmesh with theoretical physics and contemporary forensics.

Of course, it's entirely up to you. Whatever you decide, here's wishing you the best of luck!
 

Lady Fox

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What are your comps?

oooh - what are they :Shrug:

Can you sum up your story in one sentence?

-cb

Hmmm - Pyromaniac runs amok in quaint English village.

Probably not, but that's a challenge I accept. Watch this space.

I got so caught up in my ramblings in my last post, I forgot the reason I came here in the first place.



Actually, I think that describes it pretty well. I don't think that anything is going to come closer to pinning it down. And I don't think it will be a major issue if it isn't 100 percent right. 98 percent is probably good enough.

Although, some of it depends on what the explanation turns out to be for the MC's ability to burn people the way she does. If it turns out that she was adopted as an infant from an interstellar adoption agency, it might be sci-fi. If she's adopted from a fairy realm, it could be fantasy. If there is no explanation whatsoever, you could even consider magical realism.

Actually Mr Writer (Miss Writer?) you're spot on with magical realism. The burning comes from a natural ability to harness and manipulate energy. She is the reincarnation of an ancient Druid, she just doesn't know it yet.

Ah, sorry . . . Somehow, I didn't understand it was already finished--my bad.

If you feel the resultant elements within the tale cross the generally accepted genre lines, you could always call it a genre mash-up. I did so with an entire series (THE STEWARD), a genre mash-up of science fantasy/mystery/police procedural in which folklore and fantasy enmesh with theoretical physics and contemporary forensics.

Of course, it's entirely up to you. Whatever you decide, here's wishing you the best of luck!

Thank you. I suppose if I decided to self-pub I can call it whatever the hell I like, it's more the queries I'm concerned with and the need to not be thrown in the slush *sigh*
 

onesecondglance

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Comps are comparison titles - they're an important part of modern queries, as they demonstrate you understand the market.

"MY AMAZING NOVEL will appeal to readers who enjoyed THIS GREAT BOOK and THAT AWESOME AUTHOR."

You usually include a couple of books, or sometimes an author. They should be recent releases (past couple of years at most) - comparing to a book released 30 or 40 years ago implies you aren't up-to-date with market trends.

Think of comps as the query equivalent of Amazon's "people who bought this also bought" - when people go to buy your book, what other titles would they see in that space?
 

onesecondglance

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Actually Mr Writer (Miss Writer?) you're spot on with magical realism. The burning comes from a natural ability to harness and manipulate energy. She is the reincarnation of an ancient Druid, she just doesn't know it yet.

I do have to jump in and say that this does NOT sound like magical realism.

Magical realism is *realist* fiction where occasionally magical things happen, without explanation or exploration. The magic often operates as a form of deus ex machina to drive the plot and character drama forwards, but the story is neither about the magic nor seeks to understand it - these instances are treated as no more "magical" than a lightning strike.

It sounds to me like you're writing horror - not the splatter gore stuff, but more the Clive Barker / Stephen King style. If you don't want to call it that, you could possibly call it a "dark contemporary fantasy". It's kinda hard to tell without having read your story - the difference between contemporary fantasy and horror is mainly intent - whether you primarily intend to thrill/scare the reader, or fascinate them. :Shrug:
 

Lady Fox

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Comps are comparison titles

Ah yes, of course. Something else I struggled with having not read anything similar to what I've written. The closest I've come across - and this is simply for style of writing and because I think we aim for similar settings and ambience - is Kate Morton's 'The Lake House'. As soon as I read it I was struck by our similarities though my story takes a much darker turn that Ms Morton's.
 

Lady Fox

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I do have to jump in and say that this does NOT sound like magical realism.

Magical realism is *realist* fiction where occasionally magical things happen, without explanation or exploration. The magic often operates as a form of deus ex machina to drive the plot and character drama forwards, but the story is neither about the magic nor seeks to understand it - these instances are treated as no more "magical" than a lightning strike.

It sounds to me like you're writing horror - not the splatter gore stuff, but more the Clive Barker / Stephen King style. If you don't want to call it that, you could possibly call it a "dark contemporary fantasy". It's kinda hard to tell without having read your story - the difference between contemporary fantasy and horror is mainly intent - whether you primarily intend to thrill/scare the reader, or fascinate them. :Shrug:

Hmmm, okay, I thought it was more magic that was based in something real eg. kinetic energy, but that's okay. The whole reason for me jumping on this thread is because I struggle with nailing down the genres. That's not to say I haven't researched them, because I have, but it seems there are many conflicting opinions available on the internet. Regarding thrill/scare/fascinate - I aim to do all three and I'm not averse to using horror as the genre, I just don't want to pin it down to only that given the underlying love story that slowly progresses over the series. I like the sound of 'dark contemporary fantasy' though and will look into that one. I was unsure whether 'fantasy' would be the right description given it's mainly about my own version of druids and witches - no world building, fantastical creatures or otherwise - I tried to keep it as grounded as possible, hence the ability to burn coming from something (almost, kinda) possible (going with the spontaneous combustion theory) and dealing with reincarnation - but while the outline for the next book(s) has only just begun it is highly possible that the story will take a more fantastical turn.

Thanks for your help onesecondglance - much appreciated.
 

onesecondglance

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No problem.

And don't sweat it over "magical realism" - I've seen this term abused a lot because it's not immediately obvious what it means, hence my trigger-happy reaction to it. :)
 

Kithica

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I have a quick question. Would something like a heist or con man story fall in this thread's general ballpark? I'm talking of the book version of Leverage, or Hustle (both TV shows), or the Ocean's movies. I'm thinking not, but I'm not sure where it does go. Contemporary lit?
 

onesecondglance

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That is a good question, Kithica. Thinking back to my days shelving crime fiction in Borders, I think the tone of the story will affect this. Super gritty stuff would definitely go under thriller or suspense - we don't tend to make much distinction between these in the UK - but if it's more a knockabout caper, with much more focus on the characters than the crime, you could well try to sell it as contemporary/general fiction.
 

Kithica

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Thanks onesecondglance! I think in my case contemporary/general is probably its home, but I was just wondering if there was a marketing category I might be missing.
 

cbenoi1

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I have a quick question. Would something like a heist or con man story fall in this thread's general ballpark? I'm talking of the book version of Leverage, or Hustle (both TV shows), or the Ocean's movies. I'm thinking not, but I'm not sure where it does go. Contemporary lit?

Suspense (the story structure, not the marketing genre) is a battle of wits and/or fists between Hero and Villain where laws are bend on both sides. ex: The Dark Knight, The Thomas Crowne Affair, Swordfish, Now You See Me. More about the Suspense (or "Crime") story structure here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djd1CpDQ3Q0

-cb
 

pdichellis

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I have a quick question. Would something like a heist or con man story fall in this thread's general ballpark? I'm talking of the book version of Leverage, or Hustle (both TV shows), or the Ocean's movies. I'm thinking not, but I'm not sure where it does go. Contemporary lit?

My experience is mostly based on how magazine/anthology editors categorize short stories: "Heist stories" or "Heists" are often a separate, recognized sub-genre of crime or crime-thriller stories; a con man story is likely included in the general overall category of crime stories.

Good luck!
 

Kithica

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My experience is mostly based on how magazine/anthology editors categorize short stories: "Heist stories" or "Heists" are often a separate, recognized sub-genre of crime or crime-thriller stories; a con man story is likely included in the general overall category of crime stories.

Good luck!

Still within the crime genre, though, that's good to know. That was definitely where I initially intended for my story to fall, but as I've been writing it, it has grown more into 'the life of a con man' (woman, actually, but whatever), so I suspect I've punted my story back to the world of mainstream, even though the back half of the book is going to be one long con. We'll see. Thanks so much for your input!
 

Night_Writer

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This thread is worth waking up. I wanted to share an idea I had about the differences between mystery and suspense. Usually these two words are put together as though they form one genre, kind of like fantasy and science-fiction. But we also know there's a big difference between actual fantasy and actual science fiction. I think there's a similarly big difference between mystery and suspense. I haven't read this whole thread so I apologize if anyone else has already come up with similar ideas.

Mystery and suspense stories are often about crime. Not always, but typically, so I want to use that to illustrate my definitions.

In the case of mystery, in the early chapters, we discover that a crime has occurred. The rest of the book revolves around solving that crime. We need to find out who did it, and preferably also why and how. Usually the main character is the person who is doing the solving. So we follow that character, who is often a detective, through the story as they go through clues and chase leads. Through it all, we don't; know who perpetrated the crime until the end. A mystery story is a puzzle that a character has to resolve. The Whodunnit is the quintessential mystery.

In the case of suspense, we do know who committed the crime (or an act that may have major consequences). Usually we know how and why they did it. because that's very likely how the book starts off. The question in a suspense story is not who did it, but whether or not they get away with it. And if they get away with it, where do they go? What do they do with the money? If they don't get away with it, what's their punishment? All we know is that it will be very bad. The main character in a suspense story is the actual person who committed the crime. The story follows them around in their attempts to evade capture, which usually involves some close calls. That's what creates the tension.

Mystery is about the detective. Suspense is about the criminal.

A loose definition, but I think it works decently.
 
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starrystorm

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I've read everything in this post, but am still confused on the book I am currently outlining. I know thrillers and mysteries have different audience expectations, so I want to make sure what I'm writing is true to the genre.

Basically its about 3 girls trying to find the serial killer who killed their sister. They know it was him (not sure how yet). This serial killer has been around for 15-ish years but has been inactive for the last 4 or so. The 3 girls are trying to find the serial killer's home by using clues their dead sister left behind as well as uncovering things themselves.

It's also got some a weird speculative element to it.

So on one hand it's a mystery, but since they know who the killer is, isn't it a thriller?
 

MaeZe

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I've read everything in this post, but am still confused on the book I am currently outlining. I know thrillers and mysteries have different audience expectations, so I want to make sure what I'm writing is true to the genre.

Basically its about 3 girls trying to find the serial killer who killed their sister. They know it was him (not sure how yet). This serial killer has been around for 15-ish years but has been inactive for the last 4 or so. The 3 girls are trying to find the serial killer's home by using clues their dead sister left behind as well as uncovering things themselves.

It's also got some a weird speculative element to it.

So on one hand it's a mystery, but since they know who the killer is, isn't it a thriller?
Writer's Digest might be helpful. The Differences Between a Crime, Mystery, and Thriller Novel

Also this blog looks useful: Crime Thriller vs Mystery
 
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