Genres

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_writing_genres

Common genres: fiction

Subsets of genres, known as common genres (or sub-genres), have developed from the types of genres in written expression.

• Classic – fiction that has become part of an accepted literary canon, widely taught in schools
• Crime/detective – fiction about a crime, how the criminal gets caught and serve time, and the repercussions of the crime
• Epic
• Fable – legendary, supernatural tale demonstrating a useful truth
• Fairy tale – story about fairies or other magical creatures
• Fantasy – fiction in an unreal setting that often includes magic, magical creatures, or the supernatural
• Folktale – the songs, stories, myths, and proverbs of a people or “folk” as handed down by word of mouth
• Gothic fiction or Gothic Romanticism, a literary genre
• Historical fiction – story with fictional characters and events in a historical setting
• Horror – fiction in which events evoke a feeling of dread and sometimes fear in both the characters and the reader
• Humor – usually a fiction full of fun, fancy, and excitement, meant to entertain and sometimes cause intended laughter; but can be contained in all genres
• Legend – story, sometimes of a national or folk hero, that has a basis in fact but also includes imaginative material
• Magical realism – story where magical or unreal elements play a natural part in an otherwise realistic environment
• Meta fiction (also known as romantic irony in the context of Romantic works of literature) – uses self-reference to draw attention to itself as a work of art while exposing the “truth” of a story
• Mystery – fiction dealing with the solution of a crime or the revealing of secrets
• Mythology – legend or traditional narrative, often based in part on historical events, that reveals human behavior and natural phenomena by its symbolism; often pertaining to the actions of the gods
• Mythopoeia – fiction in which characters from religious mythology, traditional myths, folklore and/or history are recast into a re-imagined realm created by the author
• Realistic fiction – story that is true to life
• Romance  – genre which place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, which usually has an “emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending”.
• Satire usually fiction and less frequently in non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, with the intent of shaming individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement.^[1]
• Science fiction – story based on the impact of actual, imagined, or potential science, often set in the future or on other planets
• Short story – fiction of great brevity, usually supports no subplots.
• Spy fiction – fiction involving espionage and establishment of modern intelligence agencies.
• Superhero fiction – fiction involving costumed crime fighters known as superheroes who often possess superhuman powers and battle with similarly powered criminals known as supervillains.
• Swashbuckler – story based on a time of swordsmen, pirates and ships, and other related ideas, usually full of action
• Tall tale – humorous story with blatant exaggerations, such as swaggering heroes who do the impossible with nonchalance
• Theological fiction – explores the theological ideas which shape attitudes towards religious expression.
• Suspense/thriller – fiction about harm about to befall a person or group and the attempts made to evade the harm
• Travel
• Western  – fiction set in the American Old West frontier and typically in the late nineteenth to early twentieth century.

Common genres: nonfiction

• Biography  – a narrative of a person’s life; when the author is also the main subject, this is an autobiography or memoir
• Essay  – a short literary composition that reflects the author’s outlook or point
• Journalism – reporting on news and current events
• Memoir  – factual story that focuses on a significant relationship between the writer and a person, place, or object; reads like a short novel
• Narrative nonfiction/personal narrative  – factual information about a significant event presented in a format that tells a story
• Reference book  – such as a dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, almanac, or atlas
• Self-help book  – information with the intention of instructing readers on solving personal problems
• Speech  – public address or discourse
• Textbook  – authoritative and detailed factual description of a thing