Are Sci-Fi and Fantasy Literary Genres?

My personal journey with genre

I put out a call on Twitter for folks to help me find the angle for this blog post. At the time of this writing, the results were tied and some expressed interest in writing this topic in parts. Given that, the best place to start is always the beginning and so, reader, I have a confession:

I hate genre.
I hate the concept of it.
I hate the snobbery and gatekeeping surrounding it.
I think the concept could go away and no one would miss it.

Yes, I feel I’ve betrayed all my MFA training in this confession. But it’s absolutely true: genre as a concept can go fuck itself.

Ok, ok… Hear me out…

“Genre” means so many things to many different people. It can be the difference between nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. It can also mean the difference between cyberpunk, urban paranormal, dying world, epic fantasy, high fantasy, contemporary, romcom, chicklit, and women’s fiction. AND it can mean the difference between picture books, children’s books, middle grade, young adult, and adult. And it even plays in the spaces that aren’t “industry standard genres” like science fantasy and new adult.

Holding all of that in your head as a writer is… A lot. It’s also frustrating to hold that knowledge if you’re going after traditional publishing goals because, when asked to select the genre of a work, we often don’t know how to respond when the concept isn’t defined.

Tilting Gravity could be described as an upper YA fantasy set in a world with magic and science. It can also be described as a new adult science fantasy. It even has LGBTQIA+ and generational trauma representation. Regardless, both of those genre descriptions are very clear about what the age range and setting is and who would read it, which should cue an agent or publisher to know where it sits on the shelf. However, when I was querying, that wasn’t the case. And, while I received great, encouraging feedback in my rejections… No one wanted to touch it (that’s ok, though. I found a small press that I adore. More on that later).

Back to the actual topic at hand…

When I started my MFA journey — and it was a journey — I started with a post-baccalaureate in creative writing after my BA in Computing and Information Technology, then went on for my MFA over the course of 5 years and three schools. I came in with the same attitude about genre that I have now. In fact, my projects and thesis included a parchment scroll of haikus that represented my family tree and a handmade tarot deck that birthed another deck of cards of poetry and essay… And I technically studied fiction for most of my graduate school career.

And yes, this is why it took three schools: I got a B in fiction in the post-bacc, which fueled my desire to write creative nonfiction. I ended up in a Fiction track in my first MFA program, and then realized I chose the wrong school and graduated from UWB’s Creative Writing & Poetics program instead, which is all about experimental writing and the avant-garde. As for poetry, that just comes naturally. I wanted to push myself in “genre” in my MFA. And I did.

If we break it down, sure, genre could be neatly split into three umbrellas: Nonfiction, Fiction, and Poetry. But writing —YOUR WRITING— deserves better than that. It deserves nuance and flourish. A novel in verse is not the same as an epic fantasy. Observational poetry is not the same as Romantic poetry. Contemporary romcom is not the same as whatever is passing as The Great American Novel these days. Creative nonfiction essays are not the same as the latest NYT article.

What genre is, truly, is merely another writing constraint, not a category.

And, if I haven’t mentioned it before: writing constraints are the best. It’s why I no longer care that I write in every genre possible. We can all be equally skilled and maybe even GOOD (gasp!) at writing multiple things.

If you can unlock one genre, you can unlock the rest.

So, this is my case for SFF being as valid as any other literary genre…

If genre is nothing more than a writing constraint, then all genres are equal and if all genres are literary, which they are, then SFF belongs with the rest of them.

I know the length at which we’ll kill ourselves for our sci-fi and fantasy novels. It’s the same ache as pulling a poem from your chest. It’s the same sweat when you see the finish line in any writing form. It’s the same rush, the same downfall, the same “every story takes a piece of you that you’ll never get back.” And I know this because I write poetry, creative nonfiction, weird multimedia experimental things, SFF, general essay, etc. I also consider other art forms as writing, including watercolor and textile arts, because it’s all storytelling at the end of the day. All of it.

All this to say…

I won’t be restrained by the concept of genre, but I will happily accept genre as a writing constraint. I still hate the concept, but love the challenge. I encourage you to, as well.