Here you'll find explanations of different types of novels, along with novel writing tips. Curious about how to write romance, science fiction, thrillers, fantasy, historical novels...? Read on!
This is just one of many pages on this website about how to write a novel. At the bottom of the page, you'll find links to more pages with creative writing ideas and advice.
The publishing world tends to classify fiction as either commercial, meaning it's built to make money, or as literary, meaning that it's a work of art. There's no reason why art can't also make money, but things often don't work out that way. That's why we talk about starving artists, and that's why commercial fiction and literary fiction are treated as separate categories. Guess which one big publishers prefer.
Commercial fiction is divided into many genres, or categories. This kind of classification helps readers find the types of novels they like to read. For example, readers who are mainly interested in love stories can go straight to "Romance" section of the bookstore. Each genre also has its own traditions. If you're interested in writing in a particular genre, it's important to read a lot of books in that genre in order to learn more about it and understand what readers will expect.
Some major genres:
These are many other fiction genres in addition to these! And each genre has sub-genres, or sub-categories. For example, the romance genre includes historical romances, erotic romances, young adult romances, and more.
Literary fiction is generally lumped all together in bookstores as "General Fiction" or "Literature." Because the first priority of literary authors is creating works of art, while selling books is only a second consideration, literary authors are less likely to think in terms of writing a specific genre or category of novel and following the customs of that genre.
Some literary authors today write in a realistic way about the daily lives of ordinary people, what is known as contemporary realism. Some choose to introduce an element of magic or a spirit world in an otherwise realistic story, what is known as magical realism. Others create works of art that incorporate the traditions of commercial fiction genres such as mysteries and science fiction. A number of literary authors also innovate with non-traditional approaches to story-telling, such as breaking up the order of events in the story, offering several alternative endings, or treating the reader as a character in the book. In this type of novel, the main point often isn't just the story itself, but also the way the story is told.
Whatever type of novel you choose, sharpen your basic creative writing skills to create the best fiction you can. Normally, this means creating characters your readers care about, scenes your readers can practically see, hear, feel, and smell, and a story that takes them on an exciting ride from Point A to Point B. CWN's online fiction course will help you work on all of these skills -- plus, it's free.
Click on the links below to read more about specific types of novels:
See a complete list of CWN pages on how to write a novel.