Review From The Guardian

GenreVal Taylor The Guardian, Tuesday September 23 2008 Article historyGenres are categories of stories grouped according to shared, characteristic patterns of form, content and/or style. This grouping provides shorthand means of conveying to your audiences what kind of intellectual, emotional and physical experience to expect.

You may not want to write within genres; however, it's useful to understand how they function so that you can work within, across or outside them. Film and television employ genres extensively; commissioning discussions require you to be conversant with their functions. Theatre and radio employ genres more loosely, but a proper understanding remains valuable.

The UK Film Council reports that, in 2007, the most popular genres with UK cinema audiences were:

- Fantasy
- Comedy
- Thriller
- Drama
- Horror
- Crime
- Science fiction
- Romance
- War
- Action
- Adventure

Television employs story genres within series formats. Current schedules are anchored by "precinct dramas": groups or teams working within a tight-knit group of locations, often a workplace. Police and medical series are obvious examples: the station, laboratory, hospital or surgery provides the central location.

Mainstream UK theatre is dominated by musicals and comedy; subsidised or non-mainstream theatre draws on relationships, personal stories, social drama, and romance; radio does too.

Working with genre

Research the genre you're interested in: look at how key elements are used. I'll use horror as a model, with Alien, a horror/sci-fi hybrid, as an example:

· Story world: Are there characteristic locations? What are the rules of the story world? Horror uses places where the protagonist expects to feel safe or knows what the dangers are; they become traps once the antagonist appears. (The Nostromo spaceship.)

· Stakes: What is usually at risk? How are the stakes habitually raised? Is there a "ticking clock" timeline? Horror places the protagonist in mortal danger, closing off her escape routes as the antagonist draws near. (The Nostromo crew have to prevent the spaceship reaching Earth with the alien on board; Ripley barely escapes.)

· Protagonist and antagonist: What are the generic characteristics of the protagonist and antagonist? How is the audience aligned with them? The horror protagonist is a victim who must find extraordinary personal reserves to save herself. Our point of view is aligned with her; we share her terror. Horror antagonists are (literally or figuratively) monsters: superior in strength, malevolent in intent. (Ellen Ripley must turn implacable warrior to defeat the alien's speed and cunning.)

· "Trigger" and resolution: What are the events that trigger stories in this genre? How are they resolved? Horror triggers bring in the monster, sparking the protagonist's jeopardy. The resolution expects the monster to be destroyed or expelled and the protagonist to escape. (Alien's trigger occurs when the crew members examine the alien eggs. It resolves when Ripley finally ejects the creature from the escape pod.)

· The "expected scenes": What scenes would audiences expect to see? Horror establishes the protagonist's normal world before admitting the monster. There is a series of attacks which the protagonist at first tries to avoid, before being forced into a climactic battle: whether or not she wins is the writer's choice. (Alien begins with the routine schedule on the Nostromo, disrupted by the discovery of the alien eggs. The first attack takes place on the planet; the injured crewman unwittingly brings the alien onboard and it kills the crew. Ripley thinks she's escaped, but finding that the alien has hidden in her escape pod, she has to fight again.)

· Style: Does the genre employ characteristic visual and aural stylistic devices? Horror's usual tone is one of threat and unease, created by a close alignment with the protagonist's point of view. Strong contrasts of light and shadow conceal rather than reveal information. Periods of calm alternate with bursts of frantic action which grow longer as the action approaches its climax.

Familiarise yourself with the patterns of genre; use your notes to refine your decisions about the story world, characters, events, theme and stakes of your story