Mastering Genre "Your Promise"

In the following weeks, I will be highlighting past articles on various topics from the previous years' posts.

The following information on genre can also be found in the book Story Building Blocks The Four Layers of Conflict in ebook and print editions. Much of the material from my Story Building Block series is available in my blog posts and on my website (www.dianahurwitz.com) along with free forms.

This week, I begin with the importance of defining the type of story you wish to tell your readers.

When you choose a genre and subgenre, you make a promise to your reader about the type of story they are settling in for. Is it a cozy or gritty noir mystery? Is it a Hallmark Romance or erotica? Is it a prairie Western or a shoot out between cowboys and aliens?

It is crucial to outline your promise with your blurb/story description.  A consumer needs to know what a product is and how it will work. Readers are less likely to choose a confusing product or muddied premise. Broken promises are the number one cause of one star reviews: a Romance that doesn't end happily, a Horror story that isn't scary, or a Thriller that is a snooze. Bait and switch (promising a comedy and giving them a tragedy) ensures the reader forever associates your name with betrayal.

Here is a list of articles on how to keep your promise.

Betraying Your Readers

The Central Question

Genre Roundup Part 1

Genre Roundup Part 2

Con, Heist, and Prison Break Skeleton

SBB Build A Plot Con, Heist, and Prison Break Workbook is available in ebook and print.

Comedy Subgenres

The Comedy Story Skeleton

Injecting Humor Into Plot

Injecting Humor into Dialogue

SBB Build A Plot Workbook: Comedy is available in ebook and print.

The Gothic Skeleton

SBB Build A Plot Workbook: Gothic is available in ebook and print.

Historical Fiction Subgenres Part 1

Historical Subgenres Part 2

Historical Story Skeleton

SBB Build A Plot Workbook: Historical is available in ebook and print.

Literary Subgenres

The Literary Skeleton

SBB Build A Plot Workbook: Literary (Drama) is available in ebook and print.

The Road Trip Story Skeleton

SBB Build A Plot Workbook: Road Trip is available in ebook and print.

Science Fiction Subgenres

Science Fiction Skeleton

SBB Build A Plot Workbook: Science Fiction is available in ebook and print.

The Team Victory Skeleton

SBB Build A Plot Workbook: Team Victory is available in ebook and print.

Thriller and Suspense Subgenres 

Thriller and Suspense Skeleton

Making a Thriller Part 1 of 2

Making a Thriller Part 2 of 2

SBB Build A Plot Workbook: Thriller and Suspense is available in ebook and print.

Western Subgenres Part 1

Western Subgenres Part 2

Western Skeleton

SBB Build A Plot Workbook: Western is available in ebook and print.

In the next few weeks, we will highlight four specific genres: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, and Romance.

Thriller and Suspense Skeleton

Last week, we explored Suspense and Thriller subgenres. This week, we look at the building blocks for the Thriller and Suspense skeleton.

The overall story problem is catastrophic danger that must be averted. 

The reader asks: How will they, and by proxy we, survive such an event?

Something comes along to threaten someone or everyone. The protagonist may have brought it upon himself or may be a completely innocent target.

In Thriller & Suspense stories, the protagonist is the person who eventually saves the day.

The antagonist is the person who poses significant threat to the life and limbs of one person or an entire community. It could be a terrorist who plans to blow up the White House. It could be a mad scientist bent on testing an Ion pulse bomb. It could be the leader of a counter espionage team or a rogue soldier.

The audience may or may not know the identity of the antagonist up front, but they are aware of the source of danger. Someone or something is out to get the protagonist and/or her loved ones. The villain may be a virus, a monster or a serial killer, either way it must be strongly developed and truly menacing to one or many to make us fear it. The reader often knows, or thinks they know, what the threat is at the beginning of the tale. The main character is usually in jeopardy. 

Thriller frameworks involve solving crises that lead to bigger, scarier crises. The hero prevents the villain from achieving his goal, but does so at his or her own peril. You really have to convince your audience of the life and death danger or emotional life and death danger. There are twists on the ending of these stories, but the audience prefers the hero to live.

External Conflict scenes escalate the central conflict. The protagonist finds out the terrorists attacked, has a shootout in a shopping mall, finds and detonates the bomb. These are the key turning points in the overall problem and involve the protagonist, often the love interest and the antagonist. The girl is tied down on the tracks and the hero saves her.

Antagonist Conflict scenes can follow the protagonist as he corners the terrorist leader, loses him, and finds him again. They wrestle over the detonator. The doctor confronts the ethically challenged clinic director and prevents him from injecting lethal bacteria into test subjects. Or, these scenes can follow the antagonist scheming with his cohorts depending on the POV. The antagonist should have equally valid reasons for his actions. It is best to avoid cardboard villains.

Interpersonal Conflict scenes show the friends and foes interfering and taking sides in the central conflict. The protagonist is caught by the henchmen. He is seduced by the pretty spy who really wants to search his house. A kooky scientist tells him crazy theories about aliens. A waitress slips him a note telling him where to find the key to the deposit box with the money in it. If you are following their points of view, you can explore their agendas and side stories.

Internal Conflict scenes explore the hero’s dark night of the soul. He wonders if he should tell his partner about his AIDS. The doctor struggles with pulling the plug on his comatose father. The heroine struggles with her deep wound or dark secret that complicates the external situation. Stay or go? Fight or flee?

Do I have what it takes to do what needs to be done? Is it ethical? Do I care? Do the ends justify the means?

Check out the newly released Thriller Build A Plot Workbook in print and e-book.

For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of Conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.

Thriller and Suspense Subgenres

We have been examining different genre story structures. This week, we look at Thriller and Suspense subgenres.

1. Conspiracy Thrillers  unravel the mystery of an organization or powerful group of enemies. The hero is the only one who sees the pattern.

2. Crime Thrillers are a hybrid of Mystery and Thriller that offers suspenseful crimes that either failed or succeeded. They often focus on the criminal instead of the police side of things. They are more action-themed, high octane tales that don’t  follow the “sleuth solving crime” framework.

3. Disaster Thrillers can explore threats such as nuclear threats, genocide, or world war, or natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, hurricanes, horde of locusts, or disappearing ozone layer.

4. Erotic Thrillers combine the Thriller structure with an explicit or twisted romance structure. Usually the protagonist unintentionally invites the crazy person into his/her life by having an affair, striking up a friendship, or hiring them to be their nanny.

5. Legal Thrillers usually have a lawyer-protagonist who confronts enemies both inside and outside the courtroom with life and death stakes.

6. Medical Thrillers feature doctors or other medical personnel facing a medical threat such as a rogue virus, organ harvesters, evil pharmaceutical companies, or a mad scientist bent on genetic experimentation.

7. Political Thrillers have protagonists who must save their government or thwart the corrupt government that hires them.

8. Psychological Thrillers offer subtle, psychological mind games of cat and mouse.

9. Religious Thrillers feature sleuths that are religious figures or plots surrounding religion, religious figures or religious objects. Often a big secret is revealed that twists accepted knowledge. There can be paranormal elements to these stories.

10. Supernatural Thrillers feature otherworldly elements are mixed with tension, suspense, and plot twists. They often explore topics such as ESP, ghosts, and super-human capabilities.

11. Techno Thrillers feature threats surrounding technology, particularly technology gone awry: computers that decide to take over, people lost in computer programs, hackers, or war games gone wrong.

Next week, we explore the building blocks for the Thriller and Suspense skeleton.

Check out the newly released Thriller Build A Plot Workbook in print and e-book.

For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of Conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.