a. Personal Narrative. This story will be a personal experience told in the first person.
b. Historical. This story takes place in the past, as far back as you like.
c. Nautical fiction. This story will be set on or near the sea.
d. Realist. This story will be set in a time and place accurate to life.
e. Naturalism. This story will suggest that family roles, social conditions, and
environment shape human beings. I include anthropomorphism, which involves giving
human characteristics to protagonists, such as gods, animals, insects, or objects.
f. Thriller. This story is typically dark and suspenseful with a twist, red herring, or
cliffhanger. There are lots of subgenres, such as:
f1. Conspiracy. The protagonist tends to be a journalist or amateur investigator pulling on
a thread which unravels.
f2. Erotic. Bodily danger and pleasure are important to the story and are explicit.
f3. Political. This story is set against a political power struggle.
f4. Psychological. The protagonist tends to have an inner struggle and be threatened with
death.
fun5. Techno-thriller. This story draws from science fiction and includes many technical
details on the chosen subject matter.
g. Action and Adventure. The protagonist is a hero in a backdrop of endless possibilities,
e.g. sorcery, lost world, superhero.
h. Comedy. This story is meant to entertain and cause intended laughter.
i. Crime and Mystery. This story will centre around a crime with clues and revealing
secrets as the story unfolds.
j. Fantasy. This story’s protagonists are imaginary and set in fictional universes inspired
by myth, folklore, magic or the supernatural.
k. Horror. This story has a plot and characters that elicit a feeling of dread and terror. It
will focus on death, demons, evil spirits, and the afterlife.
l. Science fiction. This story has fantastical elements inspired by natural or social
sciences, including time travel, space exploration and futuristic societies. There are
subgenres such as:
l1: Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic stories that show Earth or another planet collapsing
or collapsed.

l2: Utopian and dystopian explores social and political structures. If the setting agrees
with the author’s ethos, it’s utopian; if it disagrees, it is dystopian.
l3: Cyberpunk has a dystopian futuristic setting that focuses on a combination of lowlife
and high tech.
m: Another genre, please state…