timwburke

C. J. Cherryh, “it is perfectly ok to write garbage – as long as you edit brilliantly.”

This article is about writing viral blogs, but its points can be applied to genre fiction, namely:

1. Convey the genre expectations quickly, even in the first sentence.
2. Subvert those expectations with unexpected contrasts (glittery vampires? serial killer who lives in dreams?).
3. Convey a setting the reader can relate to through comparisons (magicians but still teens in school; a world on a turtle’s back, but still has crime and bureaucracy).
4. Convey through parallels (an alien rabbit is still called “a rabbit”).
5. Have the story ask an important question (will Frodo save Middle Earth from Evil? How will humanity defeat the aliens?).