Monday, February 4, 2019

Genre Brochure Project; Audience Types

Please submit your 4 poem drafts in one file to our Google Classroom this morning (see previous homework & blog posts for details...)

The Creative Process: Six Steps of Art/or Becoming an Artist from Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics - Conclusion
  1. Idea/Purpose
  2. Form
  3. Idiom
  4. Structure
  5. Craft
  6. Surface
In your journal, reflect which stage(s) do you seem to identify with most?

Writing is a business. Books are published, not only because they're good for you, are beautifully written, or introduce you to human characters, events, and culture, but also because they sell. Publishers count on readers to consume books. It's all about the $, and less about the art. But it is also an art.

The first thing we should consider as writers is our reader. If we don't please our reader, we won't be able to sell a book. If we can't sell a book, we aren't going to be very successful writers, etc. It's a vicious circle. But before we continue, it's a really good idea to remember this golden rule of writing.

If you don't please your audience, you don't succeed.

So let's chat a bit about our potential audiences:

AUDIENCE

There are 3 general types of readers that a writer should be aware of:
  • Fantasists: readers who read to escape the tediousness of ordinary life, seeking new frontiers and imaginative fiction
  • Realists: readers who read about contemporary life to learn about or reinforce personal experiences
  • Pragmatists: readers who read for a specific purpose--from cooking to learning history or science
Most of us favor one or two of these styles when we read. Our tastes can change depending on our life experience and maturity. Well read and well-rounded readers enjoy all types of reading styles at some point in their life.

Readers also become loyal to writers. Publishers count on this to occur. The more you like a specific author's style and writing, the more likely you will continue to buy books by this author.

In today's writing market there are a variety of genres that writers tend to write. Knowing what readers expect from these genres will help you as a writer give your audience what it wants. So let's learn about these audiences and what they expect!
  • General fiction: chick lit, domestic drama, sports, vampire lit, LGBT, humor, war, urban/black or minority literature, literary (melange)
  • Historical fiction: romance, detective thriller, adventure, family saga, drama, multi-volume, African-American/urban
  • Romance: paranormal, historical, regency, horror/gothic, LGBT, inspirational, contemporary, African-American/urban
  • Mysteries and Thrillers: detectives, cozy, Christian, noir, forensic, police procedural, courtroom/legal, LGBT, historical, thriller, ghost story/paranormal, horror, spy, action
  • Science Fiction: soft, hard, apocalypse, cyberpunk, feminist, comic/humor, first contact, colonization, military, time travel, steampunk, space opera, dystopian, speculative
  • Fantasy: heroic, Arthurian, dark, urban, alternate history, RPG, high, science fantasy, speculative, magical-realism, fable
  • Autobiography & Memoir: bootstrap, political, family, celebrity, travel, survival, extraordinary lives, confession/conversion, spiritual memoir, writer's memoir, new journalism
  • Literary Fiction: any of the above, but with better writing quality, skill, and attention to craft 
  • Children's/Young Adult: any of the above, usually with more fantasy or realist elements 
  • New Journalism: memoirs, science, travel, history, writing about writing, creative non-fiction, etc.
Classroom Project: Genre Brochure
  • Find a partner. Together, agree upon and sign up for one of the writing markets.
  • Choose one of the genres in bold above--check the subcategories so that you know what you're getting into--more details can be found in the article you should have read as homework...
  • Together, you will be expected to create a brochure for your chosen genre to promote the genre to a fantasist, realist, or pragmatist reader.
  • Take a look at the questions bulleted below. You will want to be able to answer these questions in your brochure.
  • In a Microsoft Word Doc, from the FILE menu, please select New From Template.
  • Choose BROCHURE as a template. Select the one you like. Create only a 6-panel brochure (not an 8-panel one or half page). TIP: if you write 3 panels, your partner can write the other 3 panels...
  • Create a brochure about your chosen genre by following the steps below. Be creative. Play around with the design and how you present the information in a clear and creative way. You may use graphics and lists to provide answers to these questions:
1. Describe this genre. What is it?
2. Who is the target reader (a fantasist, a realist, a pragmatist, or what combination?)
3. What are some expectations a reader of this genre might expect?
4. What are some categories of this genre? AND what are the expectations a reader might expect from this genre?
5. Examples of some popular or famous books or films that fit this genre; and/or examples of authors who write in this type of genre.
As a general guideline:

Page 1: Panel 1 (most left = inside flap); Panel 2 (center = back panel of brochure); Panel 3 (title. Please include your name(s))
Page 2: Panel 1 (inside flap); Panel 2 (inside center); Panel 3 (other flap)

See my model as an example.

NOTE: Brochures should not have too much text--they should use graphics and pictures to get information across. Big concepts (like subgenres) can be listed, as opposed to painstakingly explained. Write your notes in your journal (double dipping!) and organize your notes to select only the most important information about your chosen genre in the brochure! More tips on the way. The brochure project is not due yet.

Finally, before you leave today, please complete the short survey regarding genre units for this course.

HOMEWORK: Make sure you have taken the short genre survey.

No comments:

The Graveyard Book - Discussion Questions

  In your discussion groups, please answer 5 of the 10 discussion questions. Choose a member of your group to record your answers. Make sure...