Thank you for this, Joanna! It’s fun to apply your rubric to my current WIP, a supernatural coming-of-age set in the 1970s. The POV alternates between a disembodied soul and the dissociated teenager she had to leave.
The omniscient soul discusses the supernatural, but the teen and all others are unaware. Still, it’s assumed factual, and drives the story, like the origami flowers in Evelyn’s lovely Kindness of Paper novel. I like your idea that magical realism leaves questions for the reader.
I do enjoy the question, "Could it ever happen?" I perceive magic in everyday life. So I adore stories with speculative elements in a realistic setting. (Blessed to work with LeGuin and Butler when I wrote YA portal fantasy).
In Santa Cruz I was in a book club we called “The Witches of SpecFic” by which we meant the umbrella term including SciFi and Fantasy. Is this the LeGuin definition?
I definitely agree that some readers and authors like to distance themselves from so-called “genre” fiction. I think the term “genre” is not unlike “ethnic” - every book has one or more genres just like every person has one or more ethnicities, but these terms can be used to imply something outside the mainstream. (New Zealand still uses the term ethnic a lot, so it’s top of mind as I help organize multicultural events…)
Bookshop Santa Cruz once put out a newsletter including a piece by someone who doesn’t normally like fantasy, but enjoyed Harry Potter because it was “just a twist” of magic. Girl, what? Just because there’s an alternate contemporary setting doesn’t mean the magic is a twist! Just admit you enjoyed a fantasy novel for once :-)
My sister in law doesn’t like anything “with costumes” lol which includes historical fiction. Just not relatable enough I guess.
Thanks for the helpful breakdown of possible categories, and my favorite flavor is coffee ☕️ 🍨
I love your rubric/chart of magical flavor descriptions. I'll take one scoop of each please! :)
I love a chart!
Love this article! A helpful article in the muddy waters of genre. Arrived in my inbox at the perfect time.
Yay! So glad it was helpful. Writing it cleared some things up for me, too.
Thank you for this, Joanna! It’s fun to apply your rubric to my current WIP, a supernatural coming-of-age set in the 1970s. The POV alternates between a disembodied soul and the dissociated teenager she had to leave.
The omniscient soul discusses the supernatural, but the teen and all others are unaware. Still, it’s assumed factual, and drives the story, like the origami flowers in Evelyn’s lovely Kindness of Paper novel. I like your idea that magical realism leaves questions for the reader.
I do enjoy the question, "Could it ever happen?" I perceive magic in everyday life. So I adore stories with speculative elements in a realistic setting. (Blessed to work with LeGuin and Butler when I wrote YA portal fantasy).
Very cool premise, Christine! So many of my favorite flavors in your description.
In Santa Cruz I was in a book club we called “The Witches of SpecFic” by which we meant the umbrella term including SciFi and Fantasy. Is this the LeGuin definition?
I definitely agree that some readers and authors like to distance themselves from so-called “genre” fiction. I think the term “genre” is not unlike “ethnic” - every book has one or more genres just like every person has one or more ethnicities, but these terms can be used to imply something outside the mainstream. (New Zealand still uses the term ethnic a lot, so it’s top of mind as I help organize multicultural events…)
Bookshop Santa Cruz once put out a newsletter including a piece by someone who doesn’t normally like fantasy, but enjoyed Harry Potter because it was “just a twist” of magic. Girl, what? Just because there’s an alternate contemporary setting doesn’t mean the magic is a twist! Just admit you enjoyed a fantasy novel for once :-)
My sister in law doesn’t like anything “with costumes” lol which includes historical fiction. Just not relatable enough I guess.
Thanks for the helpful breakdown of possible categories, and my favorite flavor is coffee ☕️ 🍨
"Girl, what?" 🤣🤣🤣