Literary Genre Reduction
Literary Fiction β Internal weather (alt. Pretty prose)
Upmarket Fiction β Accessible depth
Mainstream Fiction β Hindsight hit
Commercial Fiction β Fast payoff (alt. High-premise)
Womenβs Fiction β Interior change
Book Club Fiction β Discussion hooks
Childrenβs β Gentle wisdom
Middle Grade β Big feelings
Young Adult β First everything
New Adult β Becoming, reckoning
Romance β Will they
Rom-Com β Meet cute
Contemporary β Now problems
Historical Fiction β Past problems
Dystopian β Future problems
Speculative Fiction β What if
Science Fiction β Future consequences
Hard Science Fiction β Math matters
Soft Science Fiction β Human matters
Climate Fiction (Cli-Fi) β Planet stakes
Metaphysical β Reality questioned
Visionary β Consciousness expanded
Fantasy β Magic systems
High Fantasy β World immersion
Low Fantasy β Magic intrudes
Portal Fantasy β Magic door
Urban Fantasy β City magic
Dark Fantasy β Beauty rots
Magical Realism β Casual miracles
Mythology Retellings β Old gods
Mythic β Archetypal truths
Horror β Donβt die
Cozy Horror β Donβt worry*
Gothic β Atmospheric dread
Southern Gothic β Polite decay
Paranormal β Otherworldly intrusion
Thriller β Sustained tension
Psychological Thriller β Mind games
Mystery β Who did
Detective Fiction β Solve it
Police Procedural β Process matters
Crime β Why did
Noir β Moral rain
Gangster β Loyalty costs
Adventure β Relentless motion
Action β Immediate impact
Epic β World stakes (alt. Heroβs Journey)
Western β Hard landing
Pulp β Stylized excess
Comedy β Earned laughs
Satire β Laugh, wince
Experimental β Rules optional
Slipstream β Genre bleed
Memoir β I survived
Autobiography β Me, myself
Biography β Someone else
Creative Nonfiction β True art
True Crime β Real horror
Spiritual β Faith inquiry
Argue with me in the comments (but lovingly please). Or better yetβadd your own two-word genre reduction.



this is actually helpful!
Where is poetry?