Young Writers Society

Hey. I’m new to writing and have mainly been doing research on various literary theories but I am struggling to fully incorporate both genre together and make them cohesive. I don’t know which conventions clash and which conventions should be subverted. However I would like to take some inspiration from the original Bladerunner (Directors Cut) but I’m afraid that I might copy it’s ideas too much.

Please Help!

Isn't it easy? Just give the bad guys some high technology, and boom, you got yourself some crime sci-fi owo

I don't think you have to stick strictly to literary theories or get caught up with all the writing rules and conventions to write a good story. They're just guidelines that are made to guide newer writers, only to be broken later on when the newer writers become masters of their craft. When they are broken, it's what we call innovation.

For now, don't worry about the strict things like theories and conventions, because that's where new writers either get too stuck to continue. There are many ways to create a good story. What I suggest is write. Just write. Don't let that pen stop making your ideas reality, because when that pen stops, it's going to be hard to get it going again. You say you're new, so be a bit lenient on yourself. Just mix and match your ideas however you like it the most.

After that, share your stories with a community, like this one. That's when you really start learning from everyone how to write a good story.

If you want to talk a little more, I'll gladly oblige umu

~恋椿

Apply genre to the end, and toss out the concept while you write/plan.

Genre is, at its heart, a marketing tool. You put genre on your writing so you can sell it properly, pitch it to the correct agents, the correct editors.

In the actual writing of it, toss it all out. You've read the theories for what those genres mean, but now you have to step away from those theories and just write.

As for copying— similarly, don't worry about it. But at the same time do. What I mean is, you'll probably end up copying it in your first to third draft. That's what happens when you take inspiration from something— you copy it.

But you're going to end up editing this story. A lot. Like, a lot. You're not going to have one shot to get this right. You're going to reread the story after writing it and realize you copied something and there's something better waiting in the next draft.

So really, stop treating this as a single event. Writing a story is a process, where you will mess it up a whole bunch of times. But you have plenty of chances to redo those mess-ups later on, and fix them so your story is better.

I think the others have made the good point that you're approaching it a bit upside-down. Genre is used to describe where a story fits. It's not a template for how to create a story--that's why you get all sorts of crossovers. Like a really good example is the Dresden Files, which has tons of classic fantasy elements but is written in the style of classic crime/detective drama. It's both and neither.

At any rate, I think once you write the story you want to write, you'll ground yourself in one or the other, or otherwise figure out what you want it to be. If you're imagining crime and sci-fi, probably you're imagining a sci-fi setting, and you'll be developing the culture and technology and all that stuff, while writing a crime plot with crime pacing and crime structuring. You'll get a feel for what you want. Maybe the intricacies of a heist will get you excited and take over the book. Maybe an alien culture will grow into something much larger than you intended. It'll work itself out.

All that aside, the thing that stood out the most to me is that you cited the Director's Cut of Bladerunner as your inspiration/target. You didn't say Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, or Phillip K Dick, or mention any crime novels, sci-fi novels, or authors. There's your problem right there. Go read 6-10 books of the style you're aiming for, and I guarantee you'll come away from it just jumping with ideas. Let them be your teachers for what tropes and conventions work, exist, don't work, are overdone, are done recently, are losing favour, are becoming popular, etc etc etc. Getting in the actual trenches will inform you a lot more than research on literary theory. If you haven't already, start with Do Androids Dream, and follow the leads from there for which aspects you like most.