Promises and Payoffs in Fiction

Part 1-Genre and Promises

Today’s post is a continuing of the Promises and Payoffs in Fiction series, where I’m posting excerpts from the craft book I’m writing. The idea of the book is that writers must set up good promises at the beginning of their novels and then intentionally pay them off in order for readers to have a great experience.

I’m posting a chapter or part of a chapter each week for paid subscribers until the book is done. All paid subscribers of The Messy Muse will receive a signed copy of the final version of the book.

I’d definitely recommend reading along as I post it because I’ll be available to answer your questions in real time.

Now onto today’s entry: What do we mean when we talk about story promises, what kinds of promises do we make, and why should we care about genre at all?