Let’s talk about genre bending

Maybe not necessarily a controversial topic in the writing world, but maybe something new. We are seeing books now that mix things like romance and fantasy, or mystery and romance. There have always been authors who might mix in a little of this or that when writing a story rooted in a certain genre, but maybe the other things didn’t feel so central to the main story. However, now with genre bending, we see two or more genres at the forefront of a story, with neither really taking a backseat.

So what are genres anyway?

Genre is a way to categorize pieces of media by using and recognizing common and often expected, overarching themes and elements specific to each genre.

Some of the most popular genre are fantasy, mystery, thriller, horror, romance, and science fiction.

What is genre bending?

Genre bending is when an author takes several key elements from more than one main genre and combines it into one piece of work. Often, all of the included genres are central to the main plots and themes of the story.

One of the most popular examples of genre bending is the “romantasy” category, which combines key elements of both fantasy and romance genres. For example, Sarah J. Maas is one of the most popular romantasy authors right now, with her ACOTAR and TOG series.

Is genre bending allowed?

As a professional editor and writer, I always tell my clients that while there are “rules” to writing fiction, in reality, there aren’t any. Yes, you read that right. There are no “real” rules to writing fiction. Truly, the author has full creative authority over what and how they write. Sure, there may be publishers and agents who ask for the author to do things a certain way, but that is a choice for the author.

Authors can really do whatever they want at the end of the day as there is no authority that dictates, “Yes, your book can be published.” Publisher or agent doesn’t like what you write? Self-publish and do what you want. Yes, it’s much easier said than done. But no one can stop you from publishing the book you want to write. You can absolutely self-publish without any rules, genre bending included.

Okay, but does it work?

That all being said, readers often expect to find some sort normalcy between every book they pick up. While it is true that an author can go ahead and self-publish anything they want, any way they want, if publishers expect an author to follow all the rules and write a certain way, none of this means that readers will want to read something that is completely different than what they’re used to. Some may, some may not. And that’s okay! Either way, you have the right as a writer to write whatever your heart desires, however you desire.

As a reader, even of your own stuff as a writer, you get to decide if genre bending works. How do you feel about books, movies, plays, etc. that genre bend? Do you like sci-fi books with magic elements? Do you like movies with a mystery and romance? Maybe you’re a “genre purist”? Let me know. Let’s talk about it!