#002 - What about subject matter?

We must now assume you are ready to start writing a 'novel' and have set up your computer with your folder or folders and have loads of ideas ready to drop onto the as yet unwritten page. At this point you may need to pause for a second or two and confirm the category and genre of your literary production.

We can start with 'Fact' or 'Fiction' and following on, you may find from the small sample available, some categories that will fit your particular bill. It is important to get the category right from the very beginning, as this is the first real link to knowing your reader. This important step is also your first creative decision in kicking off your writing project and will color everything you do from then on.

Book Categories:

Fiction: Action & Adventure: Classics: Fantasy: General: Literary: Mystery: Romance.: Suspense & Thrillers: Science Fiction: Western:

Nonfiction: Arts: Architecture: Photography: Automotive: Biography: Autobiography: Memoir: Cooking: Food: Drink: Entertainment: Health: Fitness: Beauty: History: Hobbies: Puzzle & Games: Home & Garden: Mind: Body: Spirit: Performing Arts: Philosophy: Reference: Religion: Spirituality: Science & Nature: Sports: Business & Economics: Careers: Computers & the Internet: Management:

Young Readers: For Ages 0-3: For Ages 4-6: For Ages 7-9: For Ages 10-Up:

There are of course many more commercial categories, sub-categories and genres available to slot your new work into (see Amazon KDP for example) and you will have to make up your mind which one matches your cause best, but once you have chosen one, you are on your way.

Congratulations! Be warned however, that many books 'in the writing', start out as one genre and can end up as another. This situation defies all attempts to reasonably find the point at which the crossover took place. How is that possible you may well say? A good example is when someone sets out to write an Action & Adventure work of fiction. Without necessarily being aware of it, they may find, halfway through the manuscript, they are in fact writing about a real person they have known in the dim and distant past. They are actually putting down on the written page, a synopsis of the life of an adventurous character they once knew well. Without being aware of it, they have moved from a Fiction category to a Nonfiction Biographical category. You may be having a little giggle right now, safe in the knowledge that 'this will never happen to you!