Thinking of writing your own tale of love, redemption, and heroics? Writing genre fiction is an art, and The Quick and Easy Guide to Writing Genre Fiction provides the building blocks for being successful in this art. Learn all of the necessary techniques to get yourself started with writing in your chosen genre. Whether you’re writing a mystery, a romance, a thriller, science-fiction, horror, fantasy, or any other genre, you’ll have the foundation for writing great stories right here at your fingertips in this guide.
Included in this guide is a step-by-step instruction of what it takes to put together your creation in any genre. Also included in this guide is the complete creation process of an original short story by author Matthew L. Marlott, so you, too, can have an easy example of how to create your own stories, whether those stories are short stories, novels, or novellas. You’ll be able to create your own worlds and your own universes, so learn the basics of writing genre fiction for the purpose of selling, for publication on a site, for fanfiction, or just for your own personal satisfaction.
Remember, if you want real life, you can just walk out the front door. Why not write down your own story on paper or screen instead? Get started with your journey into genre fiction by learning from this invaluable guide. Don’t wait until you’re on your deathbed. Get started today.
Matthew L. Marlott
Okay, so I published this guide back in 2022, and boy do I wish I’d gone over it a little more. The first edition was a disaster. It was full of errors and inconsistencies, but thanks to modern technology and sheer determination, this new and improved second edition is raring and ready to go!
Best part about the 2nd ed.? It’s free!…For now…
TQ&EGtWGF: Chapter 1…Humility and Practice
Writing commercial fiction is first and foremost an art, and you have to have talent for any art, so you may actually have no talent for it or you’re only mediocre at it, but you won’t know until you try. If you truly think you can do it, then go for it. In spite of commercial genre fiction being an art, I believe that every single person on Earth has at least one great story in them.
Chapter 1 TOC:
1: Humility and Practice
1a: Don’t be pretentious!
1b: If you are unsure of something, look it up.
1c: Some examples:
1d: Practice, practice, practice!
1e: Begin with flash fiction, and then transition to short stories.
1f: Don’t talk the talk. Walk the Walk.
1g: One last thing: Go for it.
TQ&EGtWGF: Chapter 2…The Three Points of Writing Fiction
I will briefly go over the three points of writing fiction: storytelling, writing (prose), and technical. For a genre-fiction writer, these are listed in order of importance…
Chapter 2 TOC:
2: The Three Points of Writing Commercial Genre Fiction
2a: Storytelling:
2a1: Target Demographic
2a2: Genre
2a3: Plot
2a4: Theme
2a5: Setting
2a6: Point of View
2a7: Characters
2a8: Exposition
2a9: Character Development
2a10: Situation
2a11: Description
2a12: Dialogue
2b: Writing (Prose):
2b1: Writing Style
2b2: Linguistic Repertoire
2b3: Your Writer’s Voice
2b4: Inspiration
2c: Technical:
2c1: Grammar
2c2: Punctuation
2c3: Editing
2c4: Proofreading
TQ&EGtWGF: Chapter 3…Your Target Demographic
Chapter Three covers your target demographic, or the people you wish to connect with through your writing. Your intended audience will affect everything you do in your story. Here, we will go over age groups, gender and sexuality, culture, and ethnicity. Note that historical settings don’t really fit in with a target demographic, but I will list that category here because the same need for research applies…
Chapter 3 TOC:
3: Your Target Demographic and the Storytelling Section
3a: Age Groups:
3a1: Children’s Fiction
3a2: Preteen Fiction
3a3: Young Adult Fiction
3a4: Adult Fiction
3b: Gender and Sexuality:
3b1: Men’s Fiction
3b2: Women’s Fiction
3b3: Gay Fiction
3b4: Lesbian Fiction
3c: Culture:
3c1: Cultural Works
3c2: Period Pieces
3d: Ethnicity:
TQ&EGtWGF: Chapter 4…Genre
Genre is the bread and butter of what you’ll be writing. Your genre, or mix of genres, will influence the setting, time period, tone, plot, and overall expectations of your story. Your characters’ motivations, however, are only loosely based on genre. Think of genre as a background template for your whole story…
Chapter 4 TOC:
4: Genre
4a: Types of Popular Genres:
4a1: Mystery
4a2: Thriller
4a3: Crime
4a4: Romance
4a5: Horror
4a6: Science Fiction
4a7: Fantasy
4a8: Historical
4a9: Comedy
4a10: Military
4a11: Western
4a12: Religious
4a13: Erotic
4a14: Superhero
4b: Subgenres:
4c: Mixed Genres:
4d: Writing All Genres:
4d1: You must know the basics of how to tell a story.
4d2: One genre isn’t the same as another.
4d3: Do your research.
