Step Two: Choose a Genre

Now that we have chosen our logline: Shrek Moves to Chicago, but something happens on the way and he ends up in a strange, Wonderland – the next step is to choose our genre.

There are several genres to choose from when writing a story. A genre helps to categorize a story so you have an idea of what it is about. Here are 8 genres and then some ideas on how our story would fit in the genre:

Monster in the house – these are stories about a monster that needs to be eliminated… or else… (Shrek has to battle a dragon in Wonderland do he can make it to Chicago)

Road movie – when the hero is on a traveling adventure (Shrek needs to find his way out of Wonderland so he can get to Chicago)

Out of the bottle – when something extraordinary happens – like a genie out of the bottle (Shrek falls into a magic hole that takes him to Wonderland)

Dude with a problem – when your hero has a problem that they need to solve (Shrek finds out that he stinks and since he is an ogre he will never smell good again)

Rites of passage – passing from one transition of life to another (Shrek finds out in Wonderland that he needs to grow up because he is a parent now)

Buddy love – the inspiration tales of friendship (Shrek and Donkey)

Whodunit – a mystery (Someone tricked Shrek into going to Wonderland and he won’t be able to get the Chicago until he solves the mystery)

Superhero – an extraordinary person in an ordinary world (Shrek discovers a super power he has)

What we need to do is choose our genre. Once we do that it will help us to understand where our story is going. So what genre do you want our story to be in?