Genre Fiction

Genre Fiction is fiction that is written within an explicit category, or genre. These genres include fantasy, horror, romance, and more. Genre fiction is most often contrasted with literary fiction, and novels are often treated as a binary, where every book is either one or the other. Genre fiction generally leans heavily into whatever genre it is a part of, using elements well known to readers of the genre. It is valuable to publishers, as readers are more likely to give a chance to authors they don't know if a novel is within a genre they know they like.

Categorization

Giving genre fiction an exact definition is easier said than done, but there are many elements that are generally associated with it. Its most primary feature is that it can be subcategorized, and literary fiction cannot be. Every single book that can be easily classified into a genre is, clearly, genre fiction. Not much else is universal, but there are other things that exist at a much higher level in genre fiction than literary fiction.

For example, the utilization of tropes is much more common in genre fiction, in no small part because tropes are heavily tied to genre. Some tropes stretch across genres and become general literary tropes, but most are tied down to one. Horror and fantasy, for examples, are genres known for having an immense trove of tropes that are commonly utilized by authors. In the current age, people actively seek out tropes more than ever, so genre fiction appeals to this type of reader.

In addition, genre fictioin is also very focused on the plot, sometimes even over the characters within it. Genres generally say a lot about the plot; a horror plot will be frightening and likely involve something supernatural, a fantasy plot will likely be some sort of tale of adventure, and a romance plot will, unsurprisingly, be about romance. Characters are also certainly influenced by genre, but there's a lot more overlap; a character is much more likely to fit into multiple genres than a plot is.

That isn't to say that characters are de-emphasized, of course. Characters in genre fiction are more likely to be built around the plot than characters in literary fiction, but they are usually given nuances and traits specific to the genre. Genre fiction (usually) means a higher focus on plot, but NOT a lesser focus on character.

Genre fiction is more likely to play existing plot structures straight than literary fiction. The three-act structure is very common, as are similar constructs such as rising and falling action, a climax near the end, and even character-based narrative archetypes such as the hero's journey. Characters don't stop progressing due to the focus on this action, but they develop alongside it rather than developing AS the action itself, as they might in literary fiction.

Limits in Classification

As stated above, the only certainty in genre fiction is that it is able to be classified into subcategories, and that literary fiction is not. Literary fiction is its own category, and it is decidedly not a genre, as it lacks the tropes, archetypes, and constructs to be regarded as such. However, aside from that rule, there is virtually nothing else that is a guarantee.

Several categories that a piece of genre fiction may fall under.

This means that there is not necessarily a guaranteed binary with the two, as is often presented. Many novels contain elements of both. A deep, character-focused novel with little action, something that is very in-line with literary fiction, may use several elements of horror, which is decidedly a genre, to emphasize a point it is making. Even a novel set within a fantasy world can be written as literary fiction, if that is what best serves the purpose. So, for these books that live in both worlds, is it better to force a classification?

There's not necessarily a need to. Publishers can market works as both, as needed. Many authors don't like to label their books, regardless. In general, genre fiction focuses on external activity, and literary fiction focuses on the internal activity within characters, but it is better to have a good book that doesn't box itself in than to have a worse one that's been trimmed down and limited to solidly fit into one category.