Today on the Go Teen Writers Book Club, we’re discussing “Expectations,” chapter fifteen of Story Trumps Structure by Steven James.
Chapter Recap:
Readers desire and expect different things at different points in the story. They also desire and expect different things based on genre conventions. Learn more about genre conventions in the archived posts below.
I rather enjoyed thinking about what Mr. James said about asking yourself when a character does something stupid in a book, do you blame the character or the author? If you blame the character, then the author is doing a good job of getting readers to trust them. But if you blame the author, then the author isn’t doing a good job at all. Lately I’ve noticed this often, where I become annoyed at the author for doing a poor job. I also tend to become frustrated with publishers for putting out poorly written books.
Mr. James also talked about how there is little mystery in how a story will turn out these days. Because of genres, readers basically know how a book will end. Romances will end happily. Mysteries will be solved. So the interest for readers is no longer “What will happen?” but “How will it happen?” That’s what keeps people reading.
All stories contain suspense because readers are worried about how the hero will achieve his goal or triumph over hardship.
Mr. James then discussed the genres of love, humor, mystery, horror, and suspense. A few things that stood out to me about those are listed below.
What Stood Out:
Love: Regardless of what kind of love story you’re trying to tell, the story is always propelled forward by things going wrong in the relationship or misunderstandings between people who care about each other.
Humor: Humor works best in print when it is involves absurdity, irony, callbacks, or exaggerating truth.
Mystery, Horror, and Suspense: I found the chart below really interesting. Also, there is more about mystery/horror/suspense in the Tip of the Week below the chart.
Tip of the Week:
I loved how he said this, and I find it very true of all three genres.
“Suspense is always emotional. It appeals to the concern of readers for the well-being of the characters. In suspense, readers are afraid to look away. In horror, they’re afraid to look. In mystery, they’re not afraid at all. They’re inquisitive.” ~ Steven James
Go Teen Writers Archived Articles to Help You Go Deeper:
Are Genre Conventions Important?
Genre Conventions and Reader Expectations
Dealing With Genre Expectations
Questions:
• What stood out to you this week?
• What genre do you write? Do you struggle with genre conventions?
• Any questions?
I don’t know what genre I write. I still need to look into each one more and decide which one/combination I will be using.
You don’t really have to know until you’re ready to try and pitch one to a publisher or agent. At that point, you need to be able to say, “It is this genre.” Otherwise, write whatever you want and have the most fun time doing it. 🙂
Awesome! Sounds like a plan.
I loved Mr. James’ comments on horror vs suspense vs mystery. For a while I struggled to define my book as paranormal suspense or paranormal mystery. I searched the internet for a solid explanation of the distinction between suspense and mystery, but no websites were able to say it as clearly or concisely as Mr. James did. Since my book involves both an impending crisis that must be prevented and a puzzle that must be solved, I guess either label would work.
There have been several books where I’ve gotten mad at the character for doing something stupid, so I guess all those authors had my trust.
Agreed! That chart was so helpful! It is one I will refer people to in the future. It’s a great way to distinguish between the genres.
Thank you very much for posting about this book. Your remarks were so interesting I had to go get a copy.
It’s excellent.