How to invent a new genre.

[krishna_lit]

We know of many books from different genres. But, there will be some books from time to time that always stand out, because they're peculiar in many things, mainly in genre. For example, there are numerous books in fantasy genre, but Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings stand out, there are many books in thriller genre but Dan Brown's books stand out, he created a new genre by shaping up a new character Symbologist Robert Langdon... So how does this happen? How does someone write a book by creating a new genre for himself/herself?

[Alexander III]

Sucking dicks all day of course.

[blazeofglory]

It comes out of the thought of observing human taste. Rowling studied the taste of children. Dan Brown tapped the passion of youths. That is hereon one should cash in when it boils down to genres. Running after genres alone do not make one a successful writer.

[cafolini]

Sucking dicks all day of course.

It's not easy to grasp that you know how to do it so well.

[cacian]

It comes out of the thought of observing human taste. Rowling studied the taste of children. Dan Brown tapped the passion of youths. That is hereon one should cash in when it boils down to genres. Running after genres alone do not make one a successful writer.

Did she?!!
Hi blazeglory I don't mean to be blunt but really did she?

[cacian]

Inventing a genre is conforming to genres.
Writing a book away from all genres is inventing a new ideology of reading and writing.
I think a book that does take into account the reading process and how it affects the human psychic and understands the effect of words on people and link it to the writing process is a book that transcends all genres.
A writer does not want to sound like another he wants to sound like himself.
In other words writes with you in mind.

[JBI]

Neither Rowling nor Brown invented a new genre, they, and their publishers, merely exploited market opportunities in existing genres. To invent a new genre, you need to be quite creative, but ultimately it is the late comers who make all the fame, as they play with existing genre conventions to great acclaim. A good example is A Wizard of the Earthsea in regard to Tolkien. I find the Lord of the Rings a weak book, but the book based on it, playing with its conventions, Earthsea, to be a terrific book.

The same can be said of mysteries, with fruition in Sherlock Holmes, or whatever. Even the sonnet found fruition in Petrarch, despite that he didn't invent the form, and the Ballad found its greatest poems in Coleridge and Keats.

[PeterL]

We know of many books from different genres. But, there will be some books from time to time that always stand out, because they're peculiar in many things, mainly in genre. For example, there are numerous books in fantasy genre, but Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings stand out, there are many books in thriller genre but Dan Brown's books stand out, he created a new genre by shaping up a new character Symbologist Robert Langdon... So how does this happen? How does someone write a book by creating a new genre for himself/herself?

Dan Brown did not invent a new genre. There have been things like that around for a long time. Many of the "mystical" books of the Middle Ages were of the same type as what Brown wrote. The Da Vinci Code was described in some detail in Foucault's Pendulum more than a decade before Brown wrote it.

And that character, Robert Langdon, probably was based on Umberto Eco, who is a noted semioticist, and semiotics is the science of signs or symbols.

[Dark Muse]

I have to agree with others I do not see Harry Potter, or Dan Brown as being a new genre but rather they simply managed to be popular within their given genre. There books appealed to the masses and so maybe they seem to stand out in their genres (not for their quality, but for their popularity) and might appeal to a large number of people as Harry Potter did break through the YA genre by appealing to many adults as well.

I think if you want to look at the idea of inventing genres then (as much as personally do not like the books on principle as I have not actually read them) is the Twilight books, which created an explosion in the Paranormal Romance genre and while such books may have already been around Twilight really created a whole new market for this genre. As prior to Twilight I do not recall book stores even having a Paranormal Romance section as many do now.

As well as books like Pride and Prejudice with Zombies has in fact created its own little niche and created a genre unto itself.

[hillwalker]

Dan Brown's books stand out, he created a new genre by shaping up a new character Symbologist Robert Langdon

Creating a new character does not = Creating a new genre.
And his books only stand out because they sold in great quantities.

H

[SilvanDitties]

Blending and expanding already created genres.

[kelby_lake]

Did she?!!
Hi blazeglory I don't mean to be blunt but really did she?

:lol:

[cacian]

:lol:

:shocked: :biggrin5:

[kelby_lake]

:shocked: :biggrin5:

Ah, some topical British jokes that we really don't want to get into...