Should We Free Ourselves from Writing Codes?

This article was written by Kun, a Story Scout and member of the StoryForge community. Chat with us about guest writing at info@storyforge.com.

 Stephen King with The Shining, Madame de Bovary by Flaubert or even Baudelaire, these renowned authors have one thing in common: they broke the codes of their respective literary genres.  But first, what exactly are these codes? 

 You often know them without even realizing it, learned through reading.  These are the great essentials in a genre: the romance aims to center on a love story between the protagonists while relaying any other plot/character to the background, while the thriller aims to be a psychological exploration of the antagonist provoking strong emotions (adrenaline type) in its reader. The general criteria are often the same between each book of the same genre, which allows you to choose it according to what you hope for from reading it. 

 The codes are reassuring in that they define writing limits and a readership who hopes to find what they are looking for. For example, romance must provide emotional satisfaction to the reader, which limits ending choices. (The categories have now evolved but in principle a romance ends with a happy ending where good people are rewarded and bad people are punished). A publishing house will more easily choose a book that respects the codes of its genre than a book that is more original. 

 Yet our world is constantly evolving, shouldn't our codes follow them? 

 When King published The Shining, his third novel, it spent a week in the New York Times Best Sellers, at number eight, becoming his first best-selling novel. King, however, tried something new: the psychological exploration of his character, within a horror novel. And it succeeded. However, there is a certain way of breaking the codes of a genre. 

 Take the movie Don’t Look Up, it is classified as a comedy-drama, but it is mainly a satire of disaster films.  As a meteorite is about to crash into Earth, we study the reactions of different types of characters in our current era.  The film talks about denial, the influence of the media and social networks, and points the finger at scientists who are not listened to. In this genre, everyone takes the threat very seriously and we see more of a dramatic film, with a sinister atmosphere. Don’t Look Up has mainly evolved with us.  It depicts a reality about global warming that did not exist at the birth of the disaster film genre.  It is this evolution to get closer to our times which has earned it its fame despite its distance from this genre. 

 So what to do? Choose safety by respecting the codes or venture off the beaten track to portray another way of writing? There is no right answer and the best way to find out what people like is to discuss it with your readers and see how they like your book.  StoryForge and its Writer’s Circles allow you to find readers and writers interested in your genre, and are there to discuss and debate with you on the direction of your book. Above all, remember to know and understand the codes of a genre, regardless of the path you take afterwards.  After all, they still exist for a reason.