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Genre Switch: A Worksheet

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121 views8 pages

Genre Switch: A Worksheet

Uploaded by

mithila jain
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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!

GENRE SWITCH
If you aren’t into science fiction, but would still like to use your example novel
outline, don’t worry! It’s actually surprisingly easy to change genres. Need help
deciding which genre to write in? I have a worksheet for that!

What genre did you pick?

As readers we’re very particular about our reading habits, but actually from a
writer’s point of view, a lot of what makes up a genre is window dressing. At
bottom, we tend to tell the same stories. So how do we separate presentation
from content? Some elements are easy to change. For example, if the title, and
the names of the science fiction characters, locations and ships don’t suit your
genre, invent alternatives…

TITLE: The Wishing Star

PLACES
Earth
Calen Confederacy
Thirrhon
The star (Leirrhia)
Rebel base
Hideout planet

PEOPLE
CREW OF THE RIGEL
Osie - Captain
Estella - Pilot
Alba
Fletcher
Poll

© Eva Deverell >> http://eadeverell.com & http://ladywritersleague.com


THIRRHONIANS
Quinn - pilot and tutor
Arvilla - pilot and pupil
Kameron

Elders:
Eumbrike
Nym
Euphia & Obaeus (Estella's
biological parents)

CREW OF THE HESPERIA (REBELS)


Floyd
Dillard
Ros

MEMBERS OF THE CALEN


CONFEDERACY
Commander Sahn
The Inspector?
Mr. & Mrs. Harmon? (Estella’s
foster parents)

> If you have The One Page Novel Textbook, you can turn to page 75 for more advice
on writing romances, mysteries, thrillers, science fiction or fantasy novels.

The true names of objects are often used to perform magic. Let’s wave our wand
(or pen, or pencil, or stylus) and transform our newly-renamed people and
places into their equivalents in our chosen genre.

Want to write contemporary romance? Make Estella and Quinn pilots from
different countries, instead of different planets. Or make them astronauts. Turn
the star into a special airplane, or a diamond, or a childhood game.
Historical romance? Cast the couple as war pilots from opposing nations. Or if
that’s too recent, make them horse-riders instead of pilots.

© Eva Deverell >> http://eadeverell.com & http://ladywritersleague.com


Thriller? Cast them as secret agents working for different governments, chasing
after information about the elusive "wishing star" (a secret weapon, a cure for
cancer, a botched military operation?).
Magical realism? Keep the couple, keep the wish, but set it all on Earth.
Fantasy? Rework the planets to be nations, turn the starships into magical
vessels, and make the star a rare enchanted item.

Kind of fun, right? Here’s some thinking space:

Let’s incorporate what we have so far into our outline. I recommend working
in the spreadsheet. First, do a find and replace (Edit > Find and Replace) for
all of the new names you brainstormed on the previous pages.
Next, update each scene with your “transformed” story elements. This might
take a while, but it’s pretty straightforward. For example, I chose this scene at
random from the Quest:

They can't get back to rebel base, so have to hide on another planet.
Can't transmit codes to the other rebels. Quinn begins training E to fly a
Thirrhonian ship, which is telepathically controlled.

Let’s say I want to rewrite it as a contemporary romance. Quinn and Estella’s


names are alright, but Thirrhon needs to go… Instead of keeping them as pilots,

© Eva Deverell >> http://eadeverell.com & http://ladywritersleague.com


let’s say they’re baristas at two competing establishments that want to secure
some prime real estate to open a new café: The Wishing Star. The codes could
become some kind of document that reveals a legal vulnerability. The other
rebels are fellow workers from Quinn’s bar and other bars, who dislike the
corporate giant that Estella works for. The rebel base might be a nightclub, and
the hideout planet could be a dingy diner that the two of them duck into. Finally,
Quinn is teaching Estella to mix a fancy drink: the “Thornton whip”.
Phew! That was a lot of (silly) invention, but when we update our scene
summary, it won’t look that different:

They can’t get back to the nightclub, so have to hide in a dingy diner.
Can’t send the documents to the others. Quinn begins training Estella
to mix a Thornton whip, which can get messy!

Not everything that characterises a genre is superficial, of course. Different


genres have different plot conventions, some of which might have a bearing on
the story structure. For example, in a romance, two main characters must fall in
love; in a mystery, a crime or conundrum must be solved; in an adventure, there
must be lots of physical action; in a bildungsroman, there must be a physical
awakening; in a thriller there must be a chase. Without conventions like these,
we have difficulty classifying a novel as one genre or another. We may instead
call it “literary fiction”, which to my mind means a novel that (conventionally?)
subverts genre.

So, what are some important conventions that readers of your genre expect?
> I have some genre mindmaps that can help you brainstorm ideas!

© Eva Deverell >> http://eadeverell.com & http://ladywritersleague.com


I recommend keeping the main character’s Stasis and Resolution states the
same as Estella’s (STASIS STATES: Doesn’t enjoy her work, rebel without a cause,
lone wolf; RESOLUTION STATES: Doing fulfilling work, understands her
rebelliousness, has a companion she trusts, values teamwork). But the way
these states are represented and demonstrated by your character will probably
need to be altered to suit your new genre.

Rewrite the Stasis and Resolution scenes to fulfil your genre conventions,
while at the same time demonstrating the main character’s states.

For example, if we take the final scene from the outline:


Quinn takes on E as his new apprentice. They leave on a joint
Thirrhon/Earth mission to bring the starlight to Earth, or to a third,
uninhabited planet.

We might rewrite it for our barista story as follows:


Quinn takes on E as his new business partner. They leave for Italy for
their honeymoon, and to learn the secrets of espresso-making and
bring them back to The Wishing Star.

This story’s starting to grow on me! The scene fulfils our romance convention:
the couple are married happily ever after. It fulfils Estella’s Resolution states of
doing fulfilling work and having a companion she trusts. It doesn’t deal with her
rebelliousness, but the previous scene can do that! This scene also helps in
fulfilling the requirements of the Resolution stage. The key to updating your
scenes is to make the minimum number of changes for the maximum results.
Unfortunately, you will eventually need to sit down and iron out any
inconsistencies and gaping plot holes (I have a worksheet for that too), but until
then, use the formula to your advantage; let it tell you what to write and when,
and worry about the details after you have the big picture in place.

© Eva Deverell >> http://eadeverell.com & http://ladywritersleague.com


Take your list of conventions, and break it down into the 8 stages. Which
conventions need to be included where? What changes do you need to make?

GENRE CONVENTIONS " " RESOLUTION

" STASIS

" SHIFT

" TRIGGER

" QUEST

" POWER

" BOLT

" DEFEAT

© Eva Deverell >> http://eadeverell.com & http://ladywritersleague.com


If you have trouble with the previous exercise, spend some time exploring how
the 8 stage structure functions. Does it work for the story you’re trying to tell?
Do you feel you need to rearrange or skip some stages?

Another problem might be that you’re not as familiar with your genre as you
need to be. For example, you might have read contemporary romance your
whole adult life, but never thought about it from a technical, writer’s point of
view. How far into the story do the main characters meet? How many times do they
meet before they fall in love? Do they fall in love with each other at the same time? At
what point does the main obstacle to their love appear? These may be questions
you know the answer to intuitively, but if you want to reflect them in your
outline, you’ll need to consciously study them. A couple of final questions...

How will the relationships between the (major and minor) characters need to
change?
> See the relationship matrix on page 104 of the Textbook for a great way to chart this
change.

How will the pacing need to change?


> Look at the ‘Days’ column of the spreadsheet, and read the notes on the ‘World
Information’ pages.

© Eva Deverell >> http://eadeverell.com & http://ladywritersleague.com


Go through your outline from beginning to end and incorporate the changes
you need to make. If you get stuck mid-way, don’t spend too long trying to
think of a solution. It’s quite likely that you’ll find it as you continue to work.
Make note of things you need to think about, and things you need to
research, so you can schedule time for them. You will probably find that you
work more efficiently by separating your writing time from your thinking and
researching time.

TO THINK ABOUT " TO RESEARCH "

Finally, you might want to look over the word count estimates and update
them. If you use the spreadsheet, it will automatically calculate the final word
count, so you can be sure that you have enough material for a novel of your
genre.

If at any point you feel as if you’ve broken your outline, DON’T PANIC! Turn to
‘Fixing Broken Plots’ in your Textbook. ‘Common Plot Problems and How to Fix
Them as You Go’ and ‘#1 Tip for Solving Plot Problems’ can both help too.

And the best cure for writing woe? Write mo’!

© Eva Deverell >> http://eadeverell.com & http://ladywritersleague.com

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