Genres in Fiction

Fiction
Fiction refers to any type of literature that's created from the imagination and
typically has a narrative. It describes imaginary events and people. Usually, this
comes in the form of books and stories.
The word 'fiction' even comes from the Latin word 'fictus', which means 'to form' -
fiction is stories that are 'formed' and created by a writer.
Genres in Fiction
Mystery. Also known as detective fiction, mystery often follows a plot with a detective
as character or someone playing detective and tries to solve a case with a sprinkling
of clues here and there, giving the readers a feel for suspense, creates anticipation,
and ultimately bares the truth with some unexpected turns with nonetheless
satisfying conclusions
Thriller. This fiction type is characterized by dark, mysterious and suspenseful plots.
It rarely utilizes humor but highlights techniques like plot twists, red herrings, and
cliffhangers which can keep readers guessing until the very end.
Horror. Written to shock, startle, scare, and even repulse the readers, horror fiction
creates a horrifying sense of dread and may include characters like ghosts, vampires,
werewolves, witches, and monsters. Horror themes may be of death, demons, evil
spirits, the afterlife, and even fear itself.
Historical. This type of fiction involves the creative use of research to be able to
transport readers to another time and place. This time and place may be real,
imagined, or a combination of both. Some historical fiction may utilize characters who
were historical figures and use real events in history.
Romance. Created with a light-hearted, oftentimes optimistic tone, and most often a
satisfying conclusion, romantic fiction highlights love stories between people.
Science Fiction. Classified under speculative fiction, sci-fi uses elements that do not
exist in the real world. Inspired by both natural science (physics, chemistry, and
astronomy) and social sciences (psychology, anthropology, and sociology), sci-fi stories
may focus on time travel, space exploration, and societies of the future.
Fantasy. Another type of speculative fiction, fantasy has imaginary characters and
worlds and may have influences of mythology and folklore which can be appealing to
both children and adults alike.
Magical realism. The world portrayed in magical realism is similar to our real world
but with added magical elements which are considered “natural” in which the story
takes place.
Realist literature. This type of fiction portrays a world very much like ours, with all
the elements created as truthful as it can be as it happens in our world.
On the other hand, some academics also classify fiction into sub-genres which include
the following:
Short Story. Shorter in length than a novel, a short story is a fictional prose work
which usually focuses on one plot, one main character (with a few additional minor
characters), and one central theme. It aims at unity of effect and creation of mood
rather than on plot. Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Philosophy of Composition” describes a
short story as one that “should be read in one sitting, anywhere from a half hour to
two hours. In contemporary fiction, a short story can range from 1,000 to 20,000
words
Novel. A novel is a narrative prose work of considerable length that talks about
significant human experience. The novel’s beginnings date back to as early as the
writing of “Tale of Genji” by Murasaki Shikibu; later, in the early seventeenth
century, European novels came to be written (Prahl, 2019).
A novel is also characterized by the following: (1) written in prose form, (2)
considerable length or word count, (3) fictional content, and (4) individualism; that
is, it appeals to an individual audience as a reader rather than to a group.
Myth. Derived from the Greek mythos, which has a range of meanings from “word,”
through “saying” and “story,” to “fiction,” a myth is a symbolic narrative of unknown
origin and tells events which are partly traditional and associated with religious
beliefs.
Myths are specific accounts with gods or superhuman beings as characters involved
in extraordinary events or circumstances in a time that is unspecified but which is
understood as existing apart from ordinary human experience. Mythology, on the
other hand, refers to both the study of myth and the body of myths belonging to a
particular religious tradition.
Legend. A legend is traditional tale which is thought to have historical bases.
Fable. A fable is an instructive story about human social behaviour with personified
animals or natural objects as characters and always ends with an explicit moral
message. The concept of time and space is also not specific in a fable.
References:
What is Fiction? https://www.twinkl.com.ph/teaching-wiki/fiction
De Guzman, J. (2020), Creative Nonfiction for Senior High School retrieved from
https://pdfcoffee.com/creative-nonfiction-q1-m1-pdf

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Fiction

What is Fiction? https://www.twinkl.com.ph/teaching-wiki/fiction

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