Fiction genres seem to be spawning. Contemporary and historical fiction are now too broad of descriptors for readers who know exactly what they want: historical romantic suspense or contemporary magical realism. This effort to provide more clarity has resulted in many new genres.
Two story types that have become quite popular are women’s and family fiction.
What exactly are they and what do they need to include?
Women’s Fiction
In its broadest sense, women’s fiction is any novel in which the main character is a woman. The novel can include elements of romance, suspense, history, science fiction, etc., as long as the main focus of the story is on the female lead.
It’s not enough to simply have a female main character (FMC), though. In women’s fiction, the story needs to revolve around the FMC’s story arc—how and why she moves from Point A to Point B. Those points can be physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual.
Often (but not always), women’s fiction includes deeper topics or themes. The female detective isn’t just searching for a killer; she’s challenging her sobriety by tackling her first case since receiving her 90-day chip from Alcoholics Anonymous. The FMC is forced to confront her narcissistic brother, exposing wounds, then healing them as she learns the power of forgiveness. Or she overcomes crippling self-doubt through a serious of awkward events that teach her how to laugh at life and herself.
Women’s fiction can include one or several main characters. It can be written in first person or third person. Dramatic or humorous. Contemporary or historical. But the woman’s story arc must be the central story.
Family Fiction
You may have already guessed: family fiction focuses on the family, but it’s more than simply including a family in your novel. The story needs to include the family dynamics and different characters’ plot lines, which lends itself well to multiple point-of-view characters.
While women’s fiction focuses on the main character confronting her narcissistic brother, family fiction will focus on how the narcissistic brother affects the whole family. It could include points of view from the sister, brother, mother, and father. Instead of honing in on one specific event—when the sister confronts her brother—family fiction pulls back the lens to look at how all the characters interact over the years leading up to that confrontation (or perhaps after it).
Family fiction can include generations in one timeline or dual timelines (showing grandma in the 1940s, mom in the 1970s, and daughter in the 2000s). It can fit into one story (like the movie The Family Stone) or several (Karen Kingsbury’s Baxter family series). The most important element is the family perspective. Family fiction isn’t the story of one member of a family; it’s the story of them all.
Still have questions? Send them to me at karin@writenowedits.com.
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