Outside Genre: How Story Trumps Convention

The first thing most beginning writers learn is that their  work must fit into an established genre. People will ask,  “What do you write – thrillers, mysteries, literary fiction?”  Each genre has its own rules, which writers learn when they  attend writers’ workshops and conferences. For mysteries, the  main rule seems to be: plot first. But what if, like me, the  biggest mysteries in your life are the people who live with  and around you? What if, like me, one of your favorite books  in the world involves an old man sitting in a cabin by himself  where in terms of plot, nothing happens? Can the development  of character provide the same jolt that the unraveling of a  crime provides in a traditional mystery? This presentation  will address the notion of genre, why it’s important, and why,  most of the time, your concept for your story should be held  above all else.