Genres Explained Part 3: The Many Shades of Realism
I did a post a few weeks back exploring what people mean when they talk about genre. For many, the word “genre” is synonymous with speculative fiction (and, often, the specific subgenres of speculative fiction that focus on technology, magic, or plot over the language and characters).
The truth is, though, that genre is simply a synonym for category. Every story—or, for that matter, every written work—can be assigned at least one genre label. There are also quite a few realistic subgenres, if not quite the proliferation of them that exists on the speculative side. And, just like speculative genres, these realistic genres and subgenres have their own sets of tropes and conventions that writers can follow or subvert as it suits their stories’ needs.
Realistic genres are defined by many things. The works within them could happen in a similar time or place, have a similar tone or writing style, or feature similar types of characters. Most people agree on four big-picture divisions in realistic fiction:
- Mystery – These stories primarily aim to appeal to a reader’s curiosity and are driven by the desire to solve the mystery, either on the part of the reader or the characters (or both). They typically involve some kind of crime, with a cast of characters including its perpetrators, its victims, and/or the people trying to solve it.
- Thriller – The primary aim of these stories is to generate a feeling of suspense in the reader. This may be by putting characters in a dangerous situation, having them race against a ticking clock, and/or trying to stop or solve a crime. There is heavy overlap between thriller and mystery, and they’re sometimes considered to be two halves of the same genre.
- Romance – These stories focus on romantic and sexual relationships. All romance works have a “heat level” that indicates their level of explicitness, from “sweet” romance with no on-page sex scenes, to erotica, where on-page sex is frequent and described in detail.
- Literary Realism – This sounds better than calling the category “everything else”, but that’s what it is: any realistic story that doesn’t have traits of the three genres above.
These boundaries of these categories are no firmer than with speculative genres. Romance especially overlaps broadly with just about every other genre, and there are plenty of subgenres that combine tropes and traits of multple genres. Because of that, I’ve listed the subgenres below alphabetically rather than trying to sift them into groups.
Action Thriller – In these stories, the protagonist is typically facing a life-or-death scenario, either because their own life is at stake or to save the lives of hostages or kidnapping victims. They often take place on an international stage, with a protagonist who’s a current or former member of the military or other government agency.
Adventure/Survival – Stories in which characters have to endure extraordinary circumstances, either in the form of survival in a harsh or unfriendly environment, or going through a series of trials or quests (or a mix of the two). Normally they’ll be set in an exotic landscape, though one that either exists, existed in the past, or could plausibly exist.
Adventure Romance – These stories have the same type of settings, plots, and characters as adventure stories, but add a romance between two characters that serves as the main driver of the story. Often, two people fall in love in the course of enduring life-threatening situations, sometimes reluctantly or in defiance of cultural expectations or taboos.
Amateur Sleuth – These are mystery stories where the main character is an amateur trying to solve a crime, normally one that’s been committed against a friend or family member. A sub-subgenre of this is the Doctor Detective, where a physican tries to solve a crime that law enforcement can’t or won’t.
Amnesia Romance – A character wakes up with amnesia next to an attractive person they don’t remember, and the plot is them falling in love all over again. Normally it’s the story’s heroine who has amnesia, though not always.
Bad Boy Romance – In these stories, an innocent heroine falls in love with a bad boy and sets about taming him. She may run away with him as part of this process, getting exposed to vices and violence that make her less naïve by the end of the story. There are also sub-subgenres, like motorcycle romance.
Billionaire Romance – These stories usually involve a heroine from humble means who catches the eye of a rich man. Stories in this genre tend to be on the steamier end of the heat spectrum, and BDSM is a common theme.
Bumbling Detective – In these stories, the protagonist stumbles their way through solving a mystery. They’re normally humorous, and often have complicated plots, especially once they’ve been over-complicated by the protagonist’s bad decisions.
Capers – These stories focus on the perpetrators who plan and execute one or more crimes. Usually these are non-violent things like robbing a casino or pulling off a big con, and there’s usually a group of colorful characters who each have a unique set of skills who work together to pull off the big heist. If law enforcement is shown, they’re usually inept, and easily outsmarted or avoided by the caper crew.
Classic Mystery – In these stories, a crime (usually a murder) is commited and the readers follow along as the protagonist solves it. The setting is usually a self-contained community, like a rural village or the guests in a hotel, all of whom start as suspects and are gradually eliminated by the detective protagonist.
Coming-of-Age – Stories about a young protagonist’s growth into adulthood. The main characters are typically in their teens or early twenties, and grapple with issues like discovering one’s identity, rebelling against parents or authority, and other things related to becoming a fully-realized adult.
Contemporary Fiction – A general label for stories set in the present day or very near past (roughly within a decade or so) of when the book was written.
Contemporary Romance – A general label for romance stories set from around the 1950s through the present day. Stories include familiar situations and day-to-day environments that current readers will find relatable, like workplace flings, sexy neighbors, or blind dates. Sub-subgenres can describe the setting (small town, urban, military, etc.) or the tone (dark, tragic, sweet, comedic, etc.).
Cozy Mystery – These stories have a similar plot to classic mysteries, usually featuring a crime in a self-contained or closed setting. Their main defining feature is their light tone and lack of violence. Even if the crime is a murder, any blood and gore happens off-page, and the victim isn’t someone the reader knows or cares about.
Crime Fiction – These stories usually focus on the criminal planning and committing a crime. They’re often set in seedy underbelly type environments, with characters who are part of the underworld or organized crime organizations.
Culinary Mystery – The protagonist in these stories is usually a professional chef who helps solve a mystery that takes place in a food-adjacent setting, like a restaurant or vineyard. These stories often include in-depth descriptions of the food that’s prepared and eaten, and may even include recipes.
Disaster Thriller – These stories focus on a character or group of characters who are trying to stop or escape a large-scale disaster. Usually this is a natural disaster like an earthquake, volcano, tornado, or hurricane, but it can also be a man-made disaster like a nuclear explosion or bioweapon.
Erotic Romance – The literary equivalent to porn, these stories feature explicit sex that’s integral to the plot and character arcs. If it’s just sex with no “happily ever after” ending, then it’s instead often called erotica.
Family Drama – A story whose main plot revolves around the interpersonal conflicts, dramas, and interactions of one or more family groups. This may be a drama that unfolds within a family, or a conflict between rival families. The energy and arc usually come from the emotion and power dynamics between family members.
Furry Sleuth – In these stories, an animal investigates a crime, and the story is told from their point of view. Usually this will be a pet like a dog or cat. This genre skirts the line of magical realism. The animals are shown as intelligent, able to understand and communicate with humans, though usually not able to actually speak.
Gumshoe/Private Detective – The protagonist in these stories is a professional investigator who’s not currently affiliated with law enforcement, though they may be a former cop. Usually they’re a tough, world-weary anti-hero type of figure, though not always, and the tone is usually a bit lighter than in something like a noir.
Hardboiled/Police Procedurals – These stories focus on the investigative side of crimes. The main characters are members of law enforcement and the process of finding and prosecuting the crime is shown in detail. Recent iterations often feature a lot of forensics and DNA evidence. The setting is normally urban, especially in hardboiled fiction, which often also shows violent crimes in the same graphic detail as the process of solving them.
Historical Fiction – A general label for a story that takes place at some point in the past relative to when the book was written. They will often focus on familiar events, people, or places from history, blended with fictional characters and settings. You may see sub-subgenres that define a specific period of history or culture in which the story takes place, like western fiction or pirate fiction. They may also span multiple time periods, such as in multi-period epics or sagas.
Historical Mystery – As you might guess, these are mysteries set in one of those historical settings mentioned above. Usually a well-known place or group serves as the backdrop of the mystery. Sometimes they aim to solve a historical mystery or resolve a long-running conspiracy theory.
Historical Romance – Also known as “bodice rippers”, this is a general label for any romance that’s set before roughly 1950. There are sub-subgenres that define specific historic periods, like Regency (takes place in Regency-era England), Victorian, Lords and Ladies (Medieval Romance), Highlander (Scottish historical romance), Vikings, and Pirates, just to name some of the most popular.
Hot Doctor/Medical Romance – These stories take place in a hospital, doctor’s office, or other medical institution. The characters can be medical professionals and their patients, and they’re normally on the steamier end of the heat spectrum.
Inspirational Romance – This is a genre of sweet romance where the spirital growth of the characters is as integral to the plot as their relationship. There’s a strong overlap with Christian romance, and a shared faith is usually a major part of the characters’ arc
Kitchen Sink Realism – This term was coined in the 1950s in England to describe a style of social realism focused on young, working-class men. The protagonists are usually poor bachelors who spend their free time drinking in pubs and are angry about their place in the world.
Legal Thrillers – These stories focus on the law side of law and order. The protagonist is usually a lawyer, judge, or someone else who works in the courts, who is often driven to find the truth behind a crime because their own life or the lives of their friends or family members are at risk. Courtroom dramas are a common sub-subgenre.
Literary Fiction – In these stories, the narrative is driven by the characters, their relationships, and their emotions. Equal attention is paid to how the story is written, and writers often employ poetic devices and imagery, with a strong emphasis on voice. In some cases, the story’s energy is generated primarily or entirely by the language, and the line between literary flash fiction and prose poetry is often blurry.
Locked Room Mystery – Also called puzzle mysteries, these stories focus on a crime that seems to have no solution because it takes place in a closed setting where it’s presumed no one can enter or leave. The protagonist must figure out if the perpetrator is still there, and if not how they entered and/or escaped without being detected.
Love Triangle/Menage a Trois – These stories focus on three main characters and their romantic entanglements. Often it’s one character torn between two lovers, but it can also be a polyamorous situation or a more complicated setup.
Mystery Thriller – These stories blend tropes from the mystery and thriller genres. They often have a fast-paced plot driven by a crime that needs to be solved by a deadline, giving the genre the nickname ticking clock mysteries.
Naturalism – These stories seek to show everyday reality as it truly happens, often exploring the scientific reason behind social problems or conditions. They often use very detailed descriptions and focus on how the environment shapes the characters who populate it.
New Adult – Similar to coming-of-age narratives, new adult stories focus on major firsts, typically for characters in their late teens to mid twenties. The characters are normally in or have just graduated college, and the stories explore themes related to transitioning into the workforce, having a first serious relationship, and similar early-adulthood challenges and milestones.
Noir – Stories in this genre share a gritty, dark atmosphere and tone. They often take place in urban settings, usually the seedy underbelly part of it, and typically have an anti-hero protagonist who’s self-destructive, jaded, or otherwise flawed. The crime being solved is usually violent, and the world and plot will often feature sex, drugs, gambling, and similar vices.
Political Thriller – The protagonist of these stories usually works in the government but isn’t very powerful, someone like a clerk or junior agent, who is thrust into the middle of a crime or problem with international ramifications. Common themes are terrorism, war, espionage, and corruption, and there’s often a lot of overlap with conspiracy thrillers.
Problem Novels – First coined in the 1960s, this term describes stories that focus on the intersection between personal struggles and societal problems. Common themes are poverty, racism, sexual identity, and abuse, and similar sweeping societal ills.
Psychological Realism – These stories are character-driven and focus mostly on the motivations behind the actions of the characters. Similar to problem novels, they often use the lens of a character to comment on a broader social or political issue.
Psychological Thrillers – This genre sits on the cusp of thriller, mystery, and horror. While there’s often a crime involved, they don’t always focus on a mystery. Instead, they focus more on the psychology of criminals or victims of crimes, and may be told by someone who’s delusional, mentally unstable, or otherwise unreliable.
Romantic Comedy – The beloved Rom-Com, this is the lighter side of romance. The tone is lighthearted when it’s not overtly humorous. Characters are often seemingly mis-matched, charmingly awkward, adorably introverted, or have other traits that make their romance seem unlikely at the beginning, though by the end the reader is rooting for them to fall in love.
Romantic Suspense – The intersection of romance and mystery, these stories are driven both by a mystery that needs to be solved and a budding romance between the protagonist and another character. Normally the romance is the central thread, and there will be at least a few steamy scenes.
Social Realism – These stories focus on the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder. They explore the living and working conditions of the poor, usually with the aim of critiquing the institutions and social structures that created and maintains poverty.
Socialist Realism – A variant of social realism that started in the Soviet Union in the 1930s, when it was the official art form of the USSR. It also focuses on the working class (or, rather, the proletariat) but takes a different tone, depicting these characters as heroes and glorifying their struggle.
Spy Thriller – These stories focus on the world of espionage. There’s a lot of overlap with historical mystery, and they’re often set during a time period like the cold war or World War II. Usually they have an international scope and the protagonist is a spy or agent working undercover.
Technothriller – These are thrillers in which advanced and emerging technology is central to the plot. These stories may drift over into the sci-fi realm when they include technology that’s still in development, or use existing technology in ways it can’t yet be utilized. Even when the technology isn’t real, though, they usually include technical details and have a focus on in-world accuracy. Characters are often in the military, a government research lab, or similar institution.
Western Romance – These stories take place in the American west. While they’re often set in the mid-19th century they can be set in any time period, up through the present day. A common theme is a cowboy who protects a frontier settlement from outlaws, though in other stories it’s the outlaw who’s the sexy bad boy love interest.
Whodunit – These are mysteries where the perpetrator of the crime is revealed at the end of the book, and usually ends up being someone unexpected (e.g. “the butler did it”). The plot is often intricate and complex, with periodic clues dropped for the reader, who’s encouraged to try solving the mystery alongside the protagonist.
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