Genre Fiction

What distinguishes the market for genre fiction from other literary markets? How might writers working both within and beyond existing genres learn to think with genre in order to navigate their intended marketplaces or better understand their own work? This course offers the opportunity to apply the framework of genre fiction—from traditional genres (for example, mystery, romance, science fiction, or horror) to emerging subgenres and markets (for example, new adult fiction)—to an original creative work of fiction, nonfiction, or dramatic writing. During the course, students draft and revise an original creative project of 15 to 20 pages and are invited to workshop either standalone works or selections from larger projects. Projects need not fit cleanly into a single traditional or well-known genre; experimentations with genre are welcome. While curiosity regarding emerging trends in genre and mass-market fiction is encouraged, knowledge of genre theory is not required.