Genre is the category into which a story fits based on audience expectations. It is a key story element in storytelling for entertainment.
Genres typically refer to what I’m calling “audience-facing” genres – the categories people use to decide what they want to see, e.g., comedy, drama, thriller, horror, sci-fi, biopic, etc. Then there are subgenres such as romantic comedy, family comedy, dark comedy, dramedy, etc.
There is another type of genre which I’ll call “writer-facing” genres. These genres were invented by a screenwriter named Blake Snyder. They reflect the structures and tropes the writer must take into consideration. They have names such as “Rite of Passage,” “Buddy Love,” “Dude With A Problem,” “Monster In The House,” and more.
What’s interesting is that these writer-facing genres do not map to the audience-facing genres. For example, the “Buddy Love” genre encompasses most action-adventure buddy cop movies and most romantic comedies.
Genre is extremely important in entertainment because this is how decision-makers at studios and networks who buy projects determine if they can sell tickets or ads to the audience… who decide what to watch primarily based on the audience-facing genre.
We favor certain genres because they speak to us at a deep level. This is why we can watch certain movies and TV shows over and over. The genre and theme of the project resonate in some way with who we are.
Genre, as a concept, whether audience-facing or writer-facing, doesn’t really exist in business storytelling. Yes, you can divide things into categories like “keynote speech” or “annual review,” you can separate content that’s “inspirational” from “informational.” You can make categories for business stories much like business books are categorized at the bookstore.
However, a business book is better thought of as a form of entertainment. After all, they are evaluated almost entirely in terms of sales and reviews. I can’t think of one business book author who has evaluated the extent to which buyers of their book have gotten results and published that data. If you know of an example, please contact me.
The key question for a business story is whether it helps you and the decision-maker get results… and no one really cares what shape that story takes.
If you hit a home run with your storytelling, no one cares if you hit it with an hourlong keynote, an 18-minute presentation with a polished deck, a 3-minute pitch with no deck, or anything in between. A home run is a home run. In business, results are what matter.