Types of genres

If an author or writer has something in mind that they are looking to write about then the book, story or content will be classified in a genre according to the type of story it is. Before a writer or author starts having the comma break up with the apostrophe because it was too possessive, or if it sent the apostrophe to co-mma it would be good to decide whether the storyline falls under the genre of romance, drama, etc. which we will help you identify today.

Types of genres can be used in blogging too and with storytelling in just about anything a writer, author, poet or blogger writes. Think about how one can add a touch of the below in their writing.

1) Drama

Drama is stories that are more dialogue and tense emotional situations. Here are just a few examples of stories and movies that fall under the genre of drama i.e., Hamlet, Macbeth, Harry Potter and the cursed child, A star is born, The Shawshank redemption. These usually come in a form of prose or verse and are theatrical in general. Drama is usually a more realistic outlook based on human struggles.

2) Fiction in verse

These are stories that are written in a form of verse, poetry that does not always rhyme and has an interesting way to describe the characters. An example of this is the book Stop pretending, what my mother doesn’t know by Sonya Sones.

3) Narrative non-fiction

These are stories that are factual and are written in a style of a fiction novel using entertainment making them interesting or adventurous. One could say that The South African: True Colours and The South African: Roamer can fall under the example of narrative non-fiction.

4) Fable

These are stories using prose or verse and often particular in the types of genres in that their fictional and legendary characteristics such as animals, creatures or plants etc. provide a moral result or lesson. An example that comes to mind in this genre is Beauty and the Beast, which is also a storybook, another one that comes to mind is the lion and the mouse.

5) Biography/Autobiography

This is another sort of narrative in the types of genres that writers, authors or storytellers use to tell a true story. An example that comes to mind is the movie A beautiful mind, also the book into the wild by Jon Krakauer.

6) Fantasy

This is a story that uses out of reality objects, creating suspense such as mythology, magic, anything really such as Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone or the movie the lion the witch and the wardrobe by CS Lewis.

7) Non-fiction

This is a story that contains real-life events. This can take the shape of history, instructional, commentary, or even humour. What comes to mind is Hiroshima by John Hersey or the movie Catch me if you can.

8) Folklore

These are usually stories based on traditions, culture, legends or even myths and tales often through word of mouth from generation to generation. These could also take the shape of songs. An example of this is Little red riding hood, the ugly duckling and an example of a movie is The Brothers Grimm.

9) Essay

This is a short piece of work outlining the writer’s story or point of view, this usually is academic in nature.

10) Fiction

In the types of genres, these stories are formed purely from the imagination such as in the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho or the movie The incredible hulk.

11) Fairy Tale

These are stories usually written for children, often containing magic, or magical creatures, and can even be mixed with folklore. What comes immediately to mind is Peter Pan or the movie Shrek.

12) Historical Fiction

These stories in the types of genres are written with fictional characters in using a historical setting imagined by the writer. The best example of a book here is The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan and an example of a flick is Gladiator.

13) Horror

In these types of genres, all you can have is the best dessert after reading them or watching a movie. Do you know what that desert is? …Eye scream. Ever read a horror story or watched one of these movies? Oh! Gosh, even one’s pet can spook them with a bark or a meow in moments of dread. Let’s see, the book IT by Stephen King and was the movie Grudge intense or what?

14) Speech

Speeches can be used everywhere in books, events, poetry, drama, in almost any type of literary genre its use can be seen in the biography of the book titled The King’s Speech by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi also you see the motivation and inspiring speeches in screenwriting such as Independence Day where the actor playing the part of the president addresses the nation.

15) Humour

A story that is comedy or funny, can attract readers of all ages. Comedy in most parts of the story or the entire plot has a funny twist. There are even books that are written only for jokes and taking a poke. Ever heard of The best joke books, hundreds of the funniest, silliest, most ridiculous jokes ever by William Donohue? Also, the book Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan or the movie Bridget Jones Diary.

16) Legend

A story where there are human values, morals, sometimes folklore, and also very imaginative with a hero. This could be true, be it a tale that comes from the past or not verified but passed down through word of mouth. A book that comes to mind is Star Wars and also the movie Braveheart.

17) Mystery

This could be a crime or a secretive story. From the types of genres, this one usually is fictional and with villains, which are meant to keep the reader mysterious until the end one such book that comes to mind is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and the recent movie Extraction.

18) Mythology

These are usually stories about gods, have you heard of the stories of Zeus? This is Greek mythology; they are often traditional and may include Legend too. Almost like a myth that is used to create the story. The children’s storybook Young Zeus by G. Brian Karas is about Greek mythology, and some examples of movies are Clash of the Titans, Hercules, and Thor.

19) Poetry

This is writing with rhythm. These are songs of praise, short verses, expressions by a writer or storyteller in a short form. Here’s an interesting form of story poetry by Lewis Carroll called The Mouse’s Tale.

20) Realistic Fiction

A story that is true in a believable setting about people and even animals. A few examples of this are the books The fault in our stars by John Green, the hate u give by Angie Thomas and examples of movies are The aviator or The Green Mile.

21) Science Fiction

These are stories that are usually imagined using science or potential futuristic science, future concepts, planets, time travel, extraterrestrial life, the imagination. A book that comes to mind is The Martian by Andy Weir and a movie that comes to mind is The Matrix.

22) Short story

In the types of genres, these short stories can be philosophy, politics, romance, supernatural, adventure, crime etc. Short stories usually are focused on a single intent because of the word count. An example of short stories in book format is Homesick for another world by Ottessa Moshfegh and the short movie that was an American animation in 2019 is the film Hair love.

23) Tall Tale

In these types of genres, tall tales are wild adventures of exaggerated heroes. Tall tales are more for entertainment rather than meaningful. An example of a book is Children of the Dragon by Sherry Garland and the movie Tall tales and legends is a series that showcases mythical characters and incidentes throughout history.

I also invite you to read Oprah Daily – 21 types of book genres.

I hope the above has helped you with a “novel” idea.

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You can also have a look at the Types of Genres short video.

In the next article, I will be going into types of poetry in literature.

Yours sincerely

T. Dench Patel