Action/Adventure
How would you define the action genre? - These stories have a lot of things happening, actions-based storytelling, like Rush Hour or Kung Fu type movies. It isn’t motivated by dialogues and character personalities as much as it is motivated by something is happening and something more needs to happen, like Superhero movies. There’s fight scenes, and exciting scenes involving cars and explosions etc.
How would you define the adventure genre? - Adventure is about journey, usually physical. Though, I think an adventure story could be about moving forward in your mind, too, so long as that journey in your mind is what the story is about.
Why do you think action and adventure are merged on the app? - These are merged together typically because they both involve high amounts of movement and go hand in hand with each other because of it. You can have an adventure without a lot of action, but drama instead (which would be more dialogue-based storytelling), and an action show without as much adventure. The whole point of an adventure is to journey through something, and that doesn’t always necessarily require a lot of actions.
What’s the difference between the two? - Action is action-based storytelling by definition. Adventure can be an action or a drama story, it could be both but it also doesn’t have to be either. It depends on how the story is told and presented.
Comedy
How would you define the comedy genre? - Stories being told with humor laced within the story telling. Unlike action, where the storytelling itself is action-based, the storytelling of comedy stories are not humor-based storytelling, but rather stories where humor is most present, or the point of the story is to be funny.
If a story has other genres mixed into a comedy story, should it still be comedy? Eg, rom-coms, or action or fantasy stories with lots of added humor? (yes, I backspaced the “u” in “humor”, LOL, Americans) - Yes, it should still be a comedy story because a story cannot only be told with nothing but comedy. Like I mentioned before, humor isn’t really a way to tell a story, it is something you add to a story. Action-based stories have comedy in them, but I think being able to tell if it really is a comedy or not lies with the climax of the story. Is the climax still humorous? If so, you’ve got yourself a comedy. If there is humor within your drama/action/adventure story, and you reach your climax but it isn’t funny, comedy is not the correct genre for your story. Think about the most important parts of Lord of the Rings. These parts aren’t meant to be funny, and even though there is comedy within the story, that’s how you know it isn’t actually a comedy.
Drama
How would you define the drama genre? - Dialogue-based story telling, where the scenes are all driven with little action, but more of how the characters react and respond to things through expressions and dialogue.
Do you think the romance and drama genre’s have similar types of stories? If so, how can you decide which belongs in drama and which belongs in romance? - Drama and romance are two completely different genres. It is just like how comedy and drama or action are completely different. You know if you have a romance story on your hands if your climax is overwhelmingly romantic or about a romantic thing surrounding the characters. They can be similar, yes. I think that most all romance stories are dramatic/leaning more towards drama, but you can have a drama story without romance. Like, a story about a family, or those stories about the dog that always dies in the end T.T They could even have romantic scenes in them, like many adventure or action stories do, but Lord of the Rings is not a romance because Aragorn and Arwen kiss a few times ^^
Is it possible to have a drama story without romance? - Oop. I didn’t mean to answer that above, but seems I totally did ^^
Fantasy
How would you define the fantasy genre? - Fantasy is a genre that deals with ideas that could never possibly happen, different in sci fi in that way because fantasy is not ever based in a real thing. Like, everyone knows there is no magic as we think of it when we think fantasy. Fantasy is something that never can happen under any circumstance or any stretch of the imagination.
If there’s only a small amount of fantasy in the story, but there’s more of a focus on romance or adventure, should it still be in the fantasy genre? Example: a love story between someone who has magical powers and a human, where the main focus is their relationship and not the magical powers. - If the main focus is their romance, then it would be more of a romance than a fantasy. Think about something like The Incredibles. This is a drama/action story, not a sci-fi one because it isn’t about superheroes. It is about the Parr family and they just happen to be super heroes, you know what I mean? Same concept here. If the story is about their romance, it is a romance story about magical people or people in a magical world.
Mystery
How would you define the mystery genre? - This genre is supposed to make the audience feel confused/suspenseful/worried/curious a mix of any or all the above, things like that. It is defined by the fact that there is a secret, something that is covered and the story-telling surrounding the idea that this thing hidden must be uncovered/discovered.
Does their need to be some form of a crime it to be classified a mystery? - I don’t think it needs to be a crime exactly. It could be more of a horror-vibe, I think.
(Sorry I’m not super helpful for this one, I think >.> I did my best LOL)
Romance
How would you define the romance genre? - Storytelling based around specifically a romantic relationship, a couple, people falling in love, like Sadence Sen.
Why do you think there’s a lot of romance stories that are put in other genres? - Hm…I am an aromantic asexual person, so this is a tad unstable for me. I mean, romance can be sweet, it can make people feel nice and warm and fuzzy when it is a happy love because love is such a good thing objectively. It is one of the happiest feelings humans experience, so I think that romantic love is fun to write and read and experience as well as being something that quite a few people don’t actually experience in the best way. It is put in other stories that aren’t “romance” stories because relationships between two characters is a fun and sweet subplot. Especially if you love a character, many people want the characters they love to be happy and so they get shipped with people and readers/movie-goers are happy when their favorite characters get to experience that happiness even if it isn’t a focal point ^^
If there’s a smaller element of any other genre in a predominantly romance story, is it ok to put it in that sub genre? Example: a love story between someone who has magical powers and a human, where the main focus is their relationship and not the magical powers. - I think it is okay to say that it is that SUBgenre, but with a story that is about a love story should be a romance, not a fantasy. I think you can only get away with putting a story like that under fantasy when the story is evenly about both of the things. There’s a good amount of scenes where the romantic aspects are kept low or even nonexistent sometimes even if later, it’ll all come back around to be romantic between the characters, that’d be fine. There’d have to be a better balance, not just about the romantic relationship between the two. Does that make sense, I could try to make it clearer if you don’t know what I mean O.O
Thriller/Horror
How would you define the thriller genre? - Thriller is a suspenseful genre, different from mystery in the fact that a thriller is supposed to make you more nervous and worried and perhaps scared rather than curious.
How would you define the horror genre? - Horror I wouldn’t say is suspenseful, but more literally scary. Like thriller could make you feel afraid, but horror should make you feel afraid or disturbed. This doesn’t mean you have to have jump scares or shock value, though these things have become kinda trademarked for horror nowadays, lol
Why do you think thriller and horror are merged on the app? - Specifically for the app, I do think that these two genres go together, but I think they’re merged more because these are genres that both won’t get written for as often as other genres, just like action and adventure. Action and adventure can go together, but even when they’re separate, I think just like here, they’re merged because there will just be less of these kinds of stories on this app specifically.
What’s the difference between the two? - Thriller stories don’t have to horrify you to be considered thrilling. A lot of thrillers are stories about natural disasters, twisters and things of that sort. Horror stories are supposed to make you feel disturbed or scared every time. How often that actually works depends on the audience individuals ^^
). Those stories are shifted into other genres in order to rise up the ranks quicker to get more recognition. But it’s dishonest and doesn’t do their own story justice or the genres themselves. Or us, the readers.