WRITING GENRES

The many styles of creative writing

Types of Genres

Genres of form Poetry, fiction, plays

Genres of subject Fantasy, science fiction, romance

Fiction

A narrative or story. Can take the form of:

Short stories – a few pages to 40 pages Flash fiction – a paragraph to a page Novellas – 50 to 100 pages Novel – 200- 600 pages

Responding to Fiction

Questions to ask while reading fiction: Who is the story about? What is interesting? Visually? Emotionally? Where does the story take place? What is conflict within the story? The

nature of the conflict? What’s different on the last page from the

first page? What has changed? So what? What makes you care about what

happens to these characters?

Creative Nonfiction

Using the conventions of fiction to tell a true story.

Letting the reader see the story instead of summarizing, reporting, analyzing or explaining

Two subcategories Memoir Researched creative nonfiction

Responding to Creative Nonfiction

Questions to ask while reading creative nonfiction: What is interesting? Visually? Emotionally? Who is the story about? How do you come to know

the people in the piece? Where does the story take place? What is the conflict within the story? What information do you learn? What insights to

you gain? What’s different on the last page from the first

page? What has changed? So what? What makes you care about what

happens to these characters?

Poetry

Compressed Rich with language and emotion Two basic types

Narrative – uses character, conflict, and story

Lyric - presents a brief, concentrated feeling or emotion

Prose Poems

Written in block type, usually 1-2 paragraphs

Looks like prose, but read like a poem May be strange, surprising, or surreal

situations Employs the heightened language or

poetry (images, sounds, feelings) with more overt rhythm to the words

Responding to Poetry & Prose Poems

Who is speaking? Where is the poem taking place? What are the images? What is the structure of this poem? What happens in the poem? What’s the “story”? What do you see in your mind’s eye? What feelings are evoked What sounds in the poem emphasize the visuals, the

feelings? What gives the poem its energy? What makes you, the reader, interested in the poem?

Plays and Screenplays

Designed to be performed or filmed Storytelling in images Short, focused, and intense Relies on dialogue to tell the story Exist in two forms

Formatted for readers Formatted for an entire theater company or

movie production

Responding to Plays and Screenplays

What is the story of the scene, act, or play? Who talks? What is the psychology of the person or people in

the play? What are the conflicts that come through in the

dialogue? What conflicts come through in the action? What conflicts come through via the setting? What changes over the course of the play? What images do you see in your mind as you listen

to the dialogue?

Graphic Novels, Comics, & Experimental Pieces

Graphic Novel: a comic that works like a prose novel or novella

Combining both images and words to create a story

Responding to Graphic Novels, Comics, & Experimental Pieces

What is the work about? What’s the story the piece is telling? What emotions are covered in this piece? Is the dialogue accurate, lively, or interesting? What does each panel/section/line do that is

different from the others? What keeps you interested in reading this work? How does the artwork (if included) amplify the

power of the story? What does the experiment (if included) ask the

reader to do? Is it worth it?

Your Turn!

Out of the genres we have just discussed, pick one that you enjoy or are familiar with, and one that you dislike or may not know a lot about.

Find your two choices on the list below and read the pieces of writing that correlate. Answer the responding questions we have just discussed for each piece.

Reading List

Fiction: Pg. 54 Creative Non-Fiction: pg 59 Poetry: Pg. 56 and pg. 57 (Billy Collins) Prose Poems: pg. 57 ( A. Van Jordan) &

pg. 58 Plays and Screenplays: pg. 53 Graphic Novels, Comics & Experimental:

Pg. 55