Let’s face it: genres are like those friends who insist on using TikTok slang in professional emails. They mean well, but sometimes you need to show them a better way.

Genre conventions exist for a reason. They’re signposts for readers, whispered promises about the emotional journey ahead. But the dirty little secret of publishing? The most memorable stories are the ones that know the rules, wink at the reader, and then bend those rules into new and glorious shapes.

Here are two exercises designed to help you play in the genre sandbox without building the same tired old castles everyone else is making. I’ll be exploring these concepts in much greater depth at the upcoming 2025 PennWriters Conference in Pittsburgh, May 16-18, during my session on Genre and Trope manipulation.

The Art of Genre Mixology

Genre fusion isn’t just throwing zombies into your Regency romance (though I’d probably read that). It’s about identifying which elements from each genre create delicious tension when forced to coexist.

The best genre fusions understand what makes each component tick. Knives Out works because it respects both the whodunit mystery format AND family drama conventions. The Expanse succeeds by combining hard sci-fi with political thriller, never sacrificing either’s core appeal.

What doesn’t work? Lazily stapling genre trappings onto an otherwise conventional story. Nobody wants to read a standard detective novel where the detective happens to have pointy ears “because fantasy.” That’s not fusion; that’s a Halloween costume.

Characters as Genre Ambassadors

Your characters are the living embodiments of genre expectations. How they perceive and respond to the world tells readers what kind of story they’re in:

• Mystery characters notice the one thing out of place in a room full of normal. They ask questions others wouldn’t think to ask and maintain skepticism when others accept the obvious. They’re the ones saying “But wait, if the butler was in the kitchen at 9:15, how did his fingerprints get on the murder weapon upstairs?”
• Romance characters can read a room’s emotional temperature like meteorologists tracking a storm. They prioritize connection, notice micro-expressions, and make decisions with their hearts when others might use logic. They’re the ones thinking “He says he’s fine, but his eyes tell a different story.”
• Horror characters sense danger in mundane situations. They’re the canaries in your narrative coal mine, feeling dread when others feel nothing. They don’t just hear a noise in the basement; they remember every urban legend about basements while their pulse quickens.
• Speculative Fiction characters adapt to impossible situations with either scientific curiosity or practiced expertise. When the sky turns purple and starts raining frogs, they’re the ones calculating frog density per square meter or checking if page 237 of the ancient prophecy mentioned amphibian precipitation.

When you fusion genres, you’re essentially forcing characters with different operating systems to solve problems together. The magic happens in the clash.

Try This: Cross-Genre Escape Exercise (10-Minute Writing Sprint) SETUP: Your character is locked in a room with a countdown timer showing 5 minutes. There’s one other person in the room who may be helpful or dangerous. Through the window, they can see something impossible happening outside. INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Choose two genres to combine (Mystery, Romance, Speculative Fiction, Horror) 2. Write a dialogue-focused scene showing your character trying to escape 3. Include clear elements from BOTH of your chosen genres 4. Focus on what your character SAYS and DOES in these crucial moments 5. Don’t worry about setup or resolution – just write the immediate scene!

The Joy of Expectation Demolition

Genre subversion is the literary equivalent of promising someone chocolate cake and serving them something that looks exactly like chocolate cake but tastes like the finest beef bourguignon. It’s not a disappointment—it’s a delightful surprise that makes them question everything they thought they knew about desserts.

Done well, subversion creates those gasping moments readers remember forever. Game of Thrones killing Ned Stark. Gone Girl‘s mid-book revelation. Cabin in the Woods turning the entire horror genre inside out.

The cardinal sin of attempted subversion? Not understanding the trope you’re trying to subvert. If you’re going to break a rule, you need to show readers you could have followed it perfectly if you’d wanted to. Subversion requires mastery, not ignorance.

Character Reactions Drive Genre Expectations

When faced with identical situations, characters from different genres react in genre-appropriate ways:

• When finding a dead body, detective characters mentally catalog details and consider suspects. Romance characters wonder how this will affect their relationship with the hot sheriff. Horror characters check if the body is actually dead, while speculative fiction characters might wonder if this species normally changes color after death.
• When receiving a mysterious letter, mystery characters check the handwriting and postmark, romance characters wonder if it’s from a secret admirer, horror characters hesitate to open it (especially if it’s written in red), and speculative fiction characters might test if it has magical properties or came through a time portal.

Subverting genre means setting up these expected reactions, then deliberately taking a different path. Your detective might catalog the clues around a dead body, then promptly burst into tears because—surprise!—your hardboiled noir just became a story about grief and vulnerability.

Try This: Cliché Rebellion Exercise CLICHÉ REBELLION (10-Minute Writing Sprint) CHOOSE ONE SCENARIO: – Mystery: Your detective gathers all suspects for the big reveal, but nothing goes as planned – Romance: Your character rushes to stop their love interest’s wedding/departure, but… – Horror: Your character investigates a strange noise alone in a dark place, expecting the worst – Speculative Fiction: Your character activates a mysterious device/portal for the first time INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Write a scene where your character is aware they’re in a cliché situation 2. The scene plays out completely differently than genre conventions would suggest 3. Focus on your character’s surprise/frustration when the cliché doesn’t work 4. Use dialogue and immediate action to show how they adjust to the unexpected

Why Bother Breaking Genre Rules?

Because that’s where the magic happens.

Genre boundaries are useful road maps, but the unexplored territories between them hide the most interesting stories. In a publishing landscape drowning in content, fusion and subversion help your work stand out without alienating readers.

The most brilliant genre-bending works feel both surprising AND inevitable. Readers finish the last page thinking, “I never saw that coming, but now I can’t imagine it any other way.”

So go ahead. Mix your mysteries with your romances. Subvert your horror tropes. Just do it with intention, with knowledge, and with a healthy respect for why those genres worked in the first place.

After all, you can’t cleverly break rules you don’t understand.

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Want to learn more craft techniques? Join my “First Draft Forward” 8-week screenplay workshop starting this April/May, where I’ll guide you through transforming your story into a compelling screenplay with focused, constructive critique sessions. More details on this and the PennWriters Conference are available at http://classes.dianabotsford.com.