Kelleo
Secret Sword of Justice
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So, it was brought to attention that there was no guide on genres here in the Writer's Workshop. I decided to use the opportunity to write up such a guide to further help all aspiring Bulbagarden authors. This guide uses the list of genres found in the Workshop Directory and goes in alphabetical order. I recommend taking a peek at this list if you're planning to add a fic to the directory, but aren't entirely sure of that fic's genres. The list will also point out fine examples of stories in each genre here in the Workshop. 
I hope everyone finds it helpful and useful!
Action
The action genre is basically self-explanatory. Action stories have a lot of action in them. Fighting of any sort with varying degrees of violence, crime, explosions, that sort of stuff. An action-packed Pokemon story would probably have a lot of Pokemon battles. But a good example of a non-Pokemon story that has a lot of action would be my Fire Emblem fic, Fire Emblem: Dawn of Darkness.
Adventure
This is another somewhat obvious genre. Adventure means the story is about an adventure of some sort. It’s not to be confused with journey, though. The two are a little different. All journeys are adventures, but not all adventures are journeys, basically. A journey is directly going a long way to get from one place to another. An adventure that isn’t a journey would be something like a deep-sea dive for treasure or a long quest to stop an evil villain. An example of a heavily adventure-based fic would be my Zelda fic, The Legend of Zelda: The Ancient Power. FE: Dawn of Darkness also falls under adventure. In fact, action and adventure are often grouped together because most stories that are of one of the two genres are actually of both. It’s rare to have an adventure without some action and vice versa, after all!
Comedy
Anyone should really know what comedy is. Many TV shows these days are comedies! Comedy is all about humor and making the audience or readers laugh. Granted, a lot of stories will have a funny scene every now and then, but only some can truly be called comedies. An example of a comedy fic here would be Live From the Fireside by LightningTopaz. In fact, it actually writes like a TV show! Imagine that.
Drama
This one’s not quite as obvious as the genres above. Drama is about characters going through and dealing with life issues or some change in their lives and the like. These issues/changes don’t necessarily have to be bad though. They can be funny or happy too! A bad one could be two girls fighting for a boy’s heart. A good or funny one could be a wedding and the bride and/or groom hoping they don’t embarrass themselves. One example of a drama fic would be Crushed by Misheard Whisper.
Fantasy
This one’s pretty obvious, I should think. Many, many stories are fantasy tales. Fantasy deals with pretty much anything that’s make-believe and doesn’t exist in real life (even if it once did). Mythological creatures, medieval times, magic, talking animals, all kinds of things like that. A good example of a fantasy fic would be Pokemon: The Song of Jewels by LightningTopaz. I should also mention FE: Dawn of Darkness again because it has dragons, magic, lots of medieval stuff, and shape-shifting people.
Friendship
Friendship is just what it says. It’s all about the power of friendship and how it affects the events and characters in the story. It could be the main character making friends after a long-time desire to find some, or a character having troubles with already-made friends. Or, they could be trying to help their friends in some way. An example of a friendship fic would be How to Conquer Kanto in Eight Easy Steps by AceTrainer14. Another fic of mine, Super Luigi: Battle Star Legend also has a large focus on friendship.
Horror
Horror is another one of those fairly obvious genres. It’s basically anything scary and dark. Monsters, ghosts, goblins, spooky mansions, vampires, and also anything Halloween-ish. There are no horror fics in the workshop directory, but one famous horror story is Frankenstein. Another, but very different and lesser known example is Bunnicula.
Journey
I’m sure any Pokemon fan knows this one. Most Pokemon fics on the net are probably journey fics too. A journey is basically the main character or characters going from one place to another on a long trip. There’s pretty much always some action or some such along the way too. A good example of a journey fic would be Pocket Monsters: Battle Quest by Legacy.
Mystery
Ah, one of my favorites! Mysteries are just that, mysteries. They typically have the characters find clues so they can solve a puzzling situation. Mysteries are also often written in series, so readers can enjoy seeing the detective(s) solve lots of cases. One famous mystery series is Nancy Drew, a favorite of mine. An example of a mystery fic here would be It Goes On and On… by Cabaret.
Original Trainer
This is a Pokemon-exclusive genre. It basically explains itself as well. Original trainer fics feature original Pokemon trainers. One example here would be Galactic by AceTrainer14.
Psychological
This genre isn’t so obvious. It deals with the emotions and mental state of the characters, what happens to these emotions, and how the characters deal with it. The story could be about a character suffering from some mental illness or a character going through a traumatic experience. One example is Kris vs. Gold: A Tale of War by AceTrainer14. Another would be yet another fic of mine, My Conquest.
Romance
Ahh, another favorite of mine! Romance is about characters falling in love, whether the feelings are mutual or not. Romance can be happy or tragic, depending on what you, the author, does with the couple in question. Do your characters get married, have children, and live happily ever after? Or do they marry, but something so bad happens to one of the characters that the romance is destroyed? It’s up to you! A good example of a romance fic would be LittleGreenMenShipping by Herbizarre.
Science Fiction
This one is interesting to explain. Science fiction is about science that doesn’t actually exist. Like technology we don’t have in real life or scientific discoveries that are made up. This also includes futuristic stories and stories about time travel. One good example of a science fiction fic is Different Eyes by unrepentantAuthor.
Slice of Life
This genre is kinda self-explanatory. It’s basically a peek into the life of the main character, a little story about their everyday lives. Not much else to say, really. An example of a fic in this genre would be Pokemon Academy Year II: Second Year Rapsody by Stellar Haze.
Tragedy
Yet another obvious one. Tragedy is all about sad events and experiences. They usually involve death, but not always. One tragic scenario that doesn’t result in death would be someone with the dream of, say, winning an Olympic gold medal getting into an accident that leaves them paralyzed from the waist down and unable to walk for the rest of his/her life. An example of a tragedy fic would be The Ties That Bind by Alaskapigeon.
I hope everyone finds it helpful and useful!
Writer's Workshop Genres Guide
Action
The action genre is basically self-explanatory. Action stories have a lot of action in them. Fighting of any sort with varying degrees of violence, crime, explosions, that sort of stuff. An action-packed Pokemon story would probably have a lot of Pokemon battles. But a good example of a non-Pokemon story that has a lot of action would be my Fire Emblem fic, Fire Emblem: Dawn of Darkness.
Adventure
This is another somewhat obvious genre. Adventure means the story is about an adventure of some sort. It’s not to be confused with journey, though. The two are a little different. All journeys are adventures, but not all adventures are journeys, basically. A journey is directly going a long way to get from one place to another. An adventure that isn’t a journey would be something like a deep-sea dive for treasure or a long quest to stop an evil villain. An example of a heavily adventure-based fic would be my Zelda fic, The Legend of Zelda: The Ancient Power. FE: Dawn of Darkness also falls under adventure. In fact, action and adventure are often grouped together because most stories that are of one of the two genres are actually of both. It’s rare to have an adventure without some action and vice versa, after all!
Comedy
Anyone should really know what comedy is. Many TV shows these days are comedies! Comedy is all about humor and making the audience or readers laugh. Granted, a lot of stories will have a funny scene every now and then, but only some can truly be called comedies. An example of a comedy fic here would be Live From the Fireside by LightningTopaz. In fact, it actually writes like a TV show! Imagine that.
Drama
This one’s not quite as obvious as the genres above. Drama is about characters going through and dealing with life issues or some change in their lives and the like. These issues/changes don’t necessarily have to be bad though. They can be funny or happy too! A bad one could be two girls fighting for a boy’s heart. A good or funny one could be a wedding and the bride and/or groom hoping they don’t embarrass themselves. One example of a drama fic would be Crushed by Misheard Whisper.
Fantasy
This one’s pretty obvious, I should think. Many, many stories are fantasy tales. Fantasy deals with pretty much anything that’s make-believe and doesn’t exist in real life (even if it once did). Mythological creatures, medieval times, magic, talking animals, all kinds of things like that. A good example of a fantasy fic would be Pokemon: The Song of Jewels by LightningTopaz. I should also mention FE: Dawn of Darkness again because it has dragons, magic, lots of medieval stuff, and shape-shifting people.
Friendship
Friendship is just what it says. It’s all about the power of friendship and how it affects the events and characters in the story. It could be the main character making friends after a long-time desire to find some, or a character having troubles with already-made friends. Or, they could be trying to help their friends in some way. An example of a friendship fic would be How to Conquer Kanto in Eight Easy Steps by AceTrainer14. Another fic of mine, Super Luigi: Battle Star Legend also has a large focus on friendship.
Horror
Horror is another one of those fairly obvious genres. It’s basically anything scary and dark. Monsters, ghosts, goblins, spooky mansions, vampires, and also anything Halloween-ish. There are no horror fics in the workshop directory, but one famous horror story is Frankenstein. Another, but very different and lesser known example is Bunnicula.
Journey
I’m sure any Pokemon fan knows this one. Most Pokemon fics on the net are probably journey fics too. A journey is basically the main character or characters going from one place to another on a long trip. There’s pretty much always some action or some such along the way too. A good example of a journey fic would be Pocket Monsters: Battle Quest by Legacy.
Mystery
Ah, one of my favorites! Mysteries are just that, mysteries. They typically have the characters find clues so they can solve a puzzling situation. Mysteries are also often written in series, so readers can enjoy seeing the detective(s) solve lots of cases. One famous mystery series is Nancy Drew, a favorite of mine. An example of a mystery fic here would be It Goes On and On… by Cabaret.
Original Trainer
This is a Pokemon-exclusive genre. It basically explains itself as well. Original trainer fics feature original Pokemon trainers. One example here would be Galactic by AceTrainer14.
Psychological
This genre isn’t so obvious. It deals with the emotions and mental state of the characters, what happens to these emotions, and how the characters deal with it. The story could be about a character suffering from some mental illness or a character going through a traumatic experience. One example is Kris vs. Gold: A Tale of War by AceTrainer14. Another would be yet another fic of mine, My Conquest.
Romance
Ahh, another favorite of mine! Romance is about characters falling in love, whether the feelings are mutual or not. Romance can be happy or tragic, depending on what you, the author, does with the couple in question. Do your characters get married, have children, and live happily ever after? Or do they marry, but something so bad happens to one of the characters that the romance is destroyed? It’s up to you! A good example of a romance fic would be LittleGreenMenShipping by Herbizarre.
Science Fiction
This one is interesting to explain. Science fiction is about science that doesn’t actually exist. Like technology we don’t have in real life or scientific discoveries that are made up. This also includes futuristic stories and stories about time travel. One good example of a science fiction fic is Different Eyes by unrepentantAuthor.
Slice of Life
This genre is kinda self-explanatory. It’s basically a peek into the life of the main character, a little story about their everyday lives. Not much else to say, really. An example of a fic in this genre would be Pokemon Academy Year II: Second Year Rapsody by Stellar Haze.
Tragedy
Yet another obvious one. Tragedy is all about sad events and experiences. They usually involve death, but not always. One tragic scenario that doesn’t result in death would be someone with the dream of, say, winning an Olympic gold medal getting into an accident that leaves them paralyzed from the waist down and unable to walk for the rest of his/her life. An example of a tragedy fic would be The Ties That Bind by Alaskapigeon.
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