Get to Know your Genre

Mindmap your genre

Have you ever done a mind map before? If not here is a basic idea of what a mind map is and what it can do for you. A mind map is a drawn diagram created to visually see information in an organized way. Buzan suggests the following guidelines for creating mind maps: 1. Start in the center with an image of the topic, using at least 3 colors. 2. Use images, symbols, codes, and dimensions throughout your mind map. 3. Select key words and print using upper or lower case letters. 4. Each word/image is best alone and sitting on its own line. 5. The lines should be connected, starting from the central image. The lines become thinner as they radiate out from the center. 6. Make the lines the same length as the word/image they support. 7. Use multiple colors throughout the mind map, for visual stimulation and also for encoding or grouping. 8. Develop your own personal style of mind mapping. 9. Use emphasis and show associations in your mind map. 10. Keep the mind map clear by using radial hierarchy or outlines to embrace your branches.

Let’s start with a genre as an example, Fantasy in the middle. Then we line off to the subgenre of Fantasy I just picked Dark Fantasy. Next we lined off with the main element of that subgenre. We followed that by linking to the Fantasy genre with a common element of the genre “creatures”. Lastly we branched off to the most important part of your novel the characters. We can branch off in so many directions so here is your assignment for today.

Make a Mind Map of your novel’s genre.

Either grab a sheet of paper and markers or try a mind map application for computers and start a mind map.

Start with the first space. Luckily for us it is a freebie we know you are writing a fantasy novel.

Next pick the novel’s subgenre and branch that off from the main space here are some fantasy subgenres. Fantasy encompasses numerous subgenres characterized by particular themes or settings, or by an overlap with other literary genres or forms of speculative fiction. They include the following:

Bangsian fantasy, interactions with famous historical figures in the afterlife, named for John Kendrick Bangs

Comic fantasy, humorous in tone

Contemporary fantasy, set in the real world but involving magic or other supernatural elements

Dark fantasy, including elements of horror fiction

Epic fantasy, see "high fantasy" below

Fables, stories with non-human characters, leading to "morals" or lessons

Fairy tales themselves, as well as fairytale fantasy, which draws on fairy tale themes

Fantastic poetry, poetry with a fantastic theme

Fantastique, French literary genre involving supernatural elements

Fantasy of manners, or mannerpunk, focusing on matters of social standing in the way of a comedy of manners

Gaslamp fantasy, stories in a Victorian or Edwardian setting, influenced by gothic fiction

Gods and demons fiction (shenmo), involving the gods and monsters of Chinese mythology

"Grimdark" fiction, a somewhat tongue-in-cheek label for fiction with an especially violent tone or dystopian themes

Hard fantasy, whose supernatural aspects are intended to be internally consistent and explainable, named in analogy to hard science fiction

Heroic fantasy, concerned with the tales of heroes in imaginary lands

High fantasy or epic fantasy, characterized by a plot and themes of epic scale

Historical fantasy, historical fiction with fantasy elements

Juvenile fantasy, children's literature with fantasy elements

Low fantasy, characterized by few or non-intrusive supernatural elements, often in contrast to high fantasy

Magic realism, a genre of literary fiction incorporating minor supernatural elements

Magical girl fantasy, involving young girls with magical powers, mainly in Japanese anime and manga

Paranormal romance, romantic fiction with fantasy elements

Romantic fantasy, focusing on romantic relationships

Sword and sorcery, adventures of sword-wielding heroes, generally more limited in scope than epic fantasy

Urban fantasy, set in a city

Weird fiction, macabre and unsettling stories from before the terms "fantasy" and "horror" were widely used; see also the more modern forms of slipstream fiction and the New Weird

Wuxia, Chinese martial-arts fiction often incorporating fantasy elements

Then branch off from the subgenre space with questions about that subgenre and ideas about that subgenre.

Keep adding to the mind map until you have a pretty good idea of the genre sandbox you are working in.

I look forward to seeing your mind map.