Saturday, January 30, 2010

The genre formerly known as sci-fi

I've been bouncing ideas off Mark for yet another idea I have. This idea is combined from many sources, and he's one of those sources. What do you do when your idea defies traditional genre categories?

It's actually a hybrid of different genres. I've been researching on the internet, trying to see if there's any science behind this concept I'm working on (no, I'm not telling yet because it's still so early that I haven't even nailed down a story for the idea yet, and I don't know if it will work or not). 'Cause, you know, you'd think if it's science fiction, there just might have to be a little science behind it, since that's implied in its name.

But not necessarily, I suppose. If science doesn't define science fiction, then, what does?

As Mark and I were talking about my idea, though, he mentioned that maybe it wasn't sci-fi after all. He thought maybe it was paranormal. You can imagine what I said to that.

NOOOOOOOO! If you didn't know, I'm not a big fan of vampires, werewolves, zombies, and other random weirdness in fiction. I read it sometimes because I like to know what's going on in the YA world, but I have to force myself to keep turning the pages.

It's still too early to tell. It might end up being a Minority-Report type combination of the two, where it's set in the future and some people have extraordinary abilities. Maybe there's a name for a creation like mine, but I'm unaware of it. So what do you say about your genre if it doesn't have a name?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good question. I think the whole genre thing is very dynamic. For example, you can start with the genre of Chick Lit, which my book is written in. But then digress to it's sub genre which has a Supernatural element (because the Devil is the main character in my book and God features as well). Yet again though, my story has got the Sci-Fi factor involving high tech gadgets and a top secret defense institution to boot. So what the heck genre does my novel fall into? All of the above, mind you :)

mustangsabby said...

Hmmm... makes me think of 1984, that kind of book, alternate future reality kind of stuff. Its not post-apocalyptic, is it?

I want to test the hems of romance genre the same way. Post-apocalyptic, like Where I've Been, or a space opera kind of romance between a bounty hunter and a businessman in protective custody, that sort of thing. Its fun to twist the genre, and try something new!

Melanie Jacobson said...

Could it possible that you're dealing with speculative fiction? It sounds like that might be the right genre.