For a while, I was participating on Twitter on Wednesday evenings with the #GenreChat community.  It was an amazing group of people interested in speculative fiction.  They showed up every week and discussed topics posted by Genre Underground.  It was a little bit of a distraction from my normal writing time, but it was delicious.  Plus, it made me think about speculative fiction in different ways.

What happened to it?  Well, the main organizer behind it became really busy, and schedule conflicts prevented them from continuing.  I tried to hold it together for a little while, but I was only able to keep people’s interest for a couple of weeks.

Why is genre important?  Why should we be talking about it?  At the end of the day, a well written, intelligent story is excellent, no matter what genre it is labeled with, right?  If one were to look at Kurt Vonnegut, it would seem genre is just marketing.  Vonnegut’s stories dealt with science fiction, but he didn’t call them science fiction stories, and he didn’t call himself a science fiction writer.

On the surface, it seems like applying a genre to a story is an aspect of marketing and sales.  Readers have certain tastes, and it’s easier for a reader to find a story they like if similar works are grouped together.  So genre is all about selling books, right?

Partially.  Calling genre a marketing tool leaves out a number of other defining qualities.

Genre is about setting reader expectations.

Readers of science fiction, fantasy, horror, romance… whatever their flavor of choice, they develop certain expectations and assumptions.  Certain patterns are followed in different stories, based on their genre.  Fantasy can have magic.  Science fiction can have technology.  Horror can have monsters.  If you’re going to have a wizard in your story, your reader will forgive you if you tell them upfront that it’s a fantasy story.  If you try and pull one of the common tropes from one genre and put it in another, you better do it well, or you run the risk of upsetting your readers.

Genre is about community.

Good fiction inspires passion, and passionate people seek people that share their interest.  It’s not just a matter of setting expectations, and preparing a reader for the flavor of their story.  Genre implies a nuanced, unspoken language.  And there’s no greater place to speak that language than with a community of similarly minded individuals.

This is one of the reasons I love going to conventions.  I can geek out without fear.  I can share my passion with people and let my guard down a little, because I know that the people I’m talking to are connected to me through our shared interest.  It feels comfortable.

A convention center isn’t required for a community to enjoy the genre of their choice.  The Twitter group was excellent.  Writer’s groups can be fantastic.  Online forums.  Mailing lists.

Genre helps the writer focus their story.

Just as the reader’s expectations are adjusted when they select a particular genre to read, a set of tropes are laid out in front of a writer when he chooses to write in a certain genre.  Some things don’t have to be explained as much.  Certain patterns become available, which can be comfortable for both the reader and the writer.

Of course, some of the greatest stories are the ones that turn the genre on its head, challenging the patterns and tropes.  Sometimes they create new ones.