Weekly Prompt: It’s Time to Niche Down!
You and me, baby are nothing but refined animals
Welcome to the second weekly challenge for September, where the theme is Swopping Conventions.
As we said in the Monthly Theme announcement, the goal is to get you to try different styles, rules and conventions out by swopping your usual genre out for something new.
Now that you’ve had your fun with trying out a new big box. A whole new genre. Let’s dig a little deeper and try out the genres that mash two together, that a get a little more niche, a little more specific.
The truth of the matter is our readers tend to have particular tastes, some may say refined, others may scoff at any genre fiction being referred to as refined.
Be that as it may, there are sub-genres that concentrate on what readers like. They focus more deeply on just the parts that they like best. Like a favourite meal, not just a hamburger, but a cheeseburger or a Big Mac.
Don’t fear, we’ll still get to the deep-fried doughnut heart buster burger in the last week. There are boxes for everyone, even exceedingly odd ones, to hold the super fans with the voracious appetites.
Take a gander at the image below, a sort of periodic table of sub-genres. We’ll select a few this week and a handful more next week to keep things a bit more focused.
So based on the stories submitted last week, we’ll pick the opposite. Because we’re evil, no, it’s because you need to try new things. And we’re a little evil.
Your Sub Genres Options:
Pick one of these five sub-genres for your next story.
Noir/Hard-boiled
The detective story with the beat-up and eternally grumpy lead, ruminating on a world gone to hell while trying to keep just one piece of it safe. Solving one last mystery before he puts himself out to pasture. See: Sin City (Bruce Willis’ character)
- How to Write a Noir Mystery
- 11 Elements of Writing Noir
- Writers banned from doing this one: Rocky Shores, Paul Mansfield
Gothic Romance
Think Sleepy Hollow meets How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Or the Handsome Hunchback of Notre Dame.
- A Glimpse of Genre: The Gothic Romance
- Writing Gothic Fiction: Tips To Craft An Effective Story
- Or a 3min video: HarperFictionPresents: How to write Gothic Fiction
Urban Fantasy
It’s magic in the city, what’s not to like? Pick a pretty city, drop in a hatful of magic and contrast the werewolves with the normies.
Espionage
This a hugely popular sub-genre, they’re usually fast paced action and chockful of archetypal characters. Bond, James, Bond.
Cyberpunk
Its the future baby, it’s got cyberspace, holograms, replicants and more! Retro-futuristic 80’s with synthwave blasting from every corner.
- How to Write Cyberpunk
- Writers banned from doing this one: Zane Dickens
Challenge Requirements
Your story must:
- Pick One of these 5 Sub-genres that you’ve never tried before.
- Be min 100 and max 1000 words long, excluding the title, subtitle, and any post-story bio/links. (We use Medium’s own word count feature.)
- Be fictional, even if it includes factual information or concerns.
- Use “Cheeseburger” as one of your five tags.
When in doubt, pick the weirdest one, the one that gives the most opportunity to try something new and different. Pick the exciting one, the one that makes you nervous. Then write something you think is awesome.
