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Mixing genres - some tips
Jun. 25th, 2019 09:40 amThe third and final part of my - summarised - session with the Havant writers a few weeks back.
I was thinking about some of the techniques writers use to meld genres together and in this case with a particular slant on romance/relationships and mysteries.
First off, the writer should avoid the secondary genre getting in the way of the primary one. Having a novel where the mystery gets put on hold for chapters of 'slop' (as it's termed in the wonderful film "Their Finest") would be frustrating to read. I'd be continually shouting at the book, wanting to get back to the whodunnit bit. So the romance has to compliment the mystery and help to make the storyline drive forward - and how that works out in practice depends on who the characters are who are in a relationship.
In the case of the Cambridge Fellows books, the two amateur detectives are also the two romantic leads, so weaving the genre elements together is both simple and natural. They can discuss the cases while they're in a domestic setting - even in bed - and they can show their affection while they're out sleuthing, for example if one of them ends up in danger.
The challenge comes when you have a different romantic pairing - like Robin (Detective Inspector) and Adam (teacher) from the Lindenshaw books. In the first book it was easy - category romance as well as primarily a murder - but subsequent books need to show the relationship and involve Adam in the storyline without that cliched, "Cully, what are you doing here?" sort of thing. Methods I've used include having Robin discuss cases when at home, using Adam and an independent sounding board, or having Adam do some more investigating on Robin's behalf - for example joining a detectorists society so that he could find out more about their feud with local archaeologists.
I also have a whole suite of things to let Adam appear on the page without being there in person - text and phone conversations between the two (which I feel actually add to the authenticity and depiction of their domestic life), Robin being reminded of Adam during the working day (or vice versa) when somebody says something in a similar way to him or makes some ridiculous statement that prompts him to think, "Must tell Adam that!"
I guess the key thing overall is to make it believable and avoid clichés.
I was thinking about some of the techniques writers use to meld genres together and in this case with a particular slant on romance/relationships and mysteries.
First off, the writer should avoid the secondary genre getting in the way of the primary one. Having a novel where the mystery gets put on hold for chapters of 'slop' (as it's termed in the wonderful film "Their Finest") would be frustrating to read. I'd be continually shouting at the book, wanting to get back to the whodunnit bit. So the romance has to compliment the mystery and help to make the storyline drive forward - and how that works out in practice depends on who the characters are who are in a relationship.
In the case of the Cambridge Fellows books, the two amateur detectives are also the two romantic leads, so weaving the genre elements together is both simple and natural. They can discuss the cases while they're in a domestic setting - even in bed - and they can show their affection while they're out sleuthing, for example if one of them ends up in danger.
The challenge comes when you have a different romantic pairing - like Robin (Detective Inspector) and Adam (teacher) from the Lindenshaw books. In the first book it was easy - category romance as well as primarily a murder - but subsequent books need to show the relationship and involve Adam in the storyline without that cliched, "Cully, what are you doing here?" sort of thing. Methods I've used include having Robin discuss cases when at home, using Adam and an independent sounding board, or having Adam do some more investigating on Robin's behalf - for example joining a detectorists society so that he could find out more about their feud with local archaeologists.
I also have a whole suite of things to let Adam appear on the page without being there in person - text and phone conversations between the two (which I feel actually add to the authenticity and depiction of their domestic life), Robin being reminded of Adam during the working day (or vice versa) when somebody says something in a similar way to him or makes some ridiculous statement that prompts him to think, "Must tell Adam that!"
I guess the key thing overall is to make it believable and avoid clichés.
