Is it essential for the first 13 lines to identify the genre you are writing? My current WIP does not; the reader is well into the first chapter before anything unusual occurs. Please be kind as I am new here. Posted by satate (Member # 8082) on :
In a book I don't think you have to have the genre established in the first thirteen, maybe the first chapter, but you could get away with even putting it later. Your readers will most likely know the genre before they buy the book and the blurb on the back will fill in everyone else.
If you are writing a short story for the Writer's of the Future contest then you might want to establish the genre in the first thirteen or shortly afterward. In other short stories it might be nice, but isn't essential.
Oh, and welcome to Hatrack. This would be a good post to put in the writing discussion section, but no worries.
[This message has been edited by satate (edited August 15, 2010).]
Posted by Delli (Member # 9202) on :
I'll be watching this post with interest, I had been wondering the same thing. I was worried my story might be moving too slow because the actual fantasy type things in my novel didn't start happening until later in the first chapter. My take on it was that it is best to have some sort of hook in the first 13 lines, something that will make the reader want to keep reading but it didn't have to be the actual unusual/fantastical thing that happens in the book?
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
I'm moving this topic over to the Open Discussions on Writing area.
