Here is our worked example of trying our hand at writing in genres, from page 36 of the workbook.
Think of a genre that you know or enjoy. You should have studied at least one genre during the course of English from Years 7–10, or you can always use fairytales as a default.
1. Brainstorm some of the features of this genre. For example: how does it handle time?
What types of characters are common? Is there a plot point (e.g. a timeslip, or a chase sequence, a romantic proposal) that is commonly used? Does this genre have a characteristic tone, such as ‘bubbly’ for chick-lit or ‘curt and businesslike’ for military action?
1. Setting in an old building, often a castle, which may have other frightening locations such as cliffs, forests, or caves, nearby. Frequently, the castle is abandoned or ruined.
2. An atmosphere of mystery and suspense. Often the plot itself is built around a mystery, such as unknown parentage, a disappearance, or some other inexplicable event.
3. Some kind of esoteric or hidden knowledge, communicated bit-by-bit to the protagonist. This can be a text such as a notebook or journal, found by the hero, or an ancient prophecy, or a mysterious letter—as long as it’s obscure, partial, or confusing.
4. Omens, portents, visions—in the modern Gothic novel, these may be caused by some exotic psychological complaint or effect of the environment upon the protagonist.
5. Supernatural or otherwise inexplicable events.
6. High, even overwrought emotion. This affects the tone and mood of the piece.
7. Women in distress.
8. Women threatened by a powerful, impulsive, tyrannical male.
9. The metonymy of gloom and horror.
© 2015 Macmillan Education Australia
Creative Writing Workbook, Anna McHugh.
978 1 4586 5100 6

3
10. There is frequently a climactic sequence where ‘something is coming’— whether or not it turns out to be real, or really frightening, or a mere figment of the protagonist’s imagination.
2. Connect the features you brainstormed above to the theme or text that you must respond to. For example, if your response is for a unit about revenge tragedy and you’ve brainstormed the features of sports biography, you could connect the convention of
‘getting one over’ on a previous opponent, or the description of a grudge match, to the theme of revenge and fighting one’s inner demons.
In Tobias Wolff’s This Boy’s Life, the protagonist, Jack, escapes from his bullying stepfather through his unusually vivid imagination. Jack’s fantasies generally involve an idealised image of himself, full of virtue and talent—which is (partially) at odds with the reality of his grim life in
Concrete and the oppression which he experiences at home. An appropriate text response to
This Boy’s Life might involve using the Gothic conventions to describe another of Jack’s fantasies, in which he rescues his mother from her emotional distress, caused by the history of her abuse at the hands of a powerful, impulsive and tyrannical male.
The exterior setting, in grim and gloomy Concrete, maintains a kind of modern Gothic climate, and is matched by the interior setting of Jack’s imagination, which has a distinctly overwrought tenor.
Since Jack fuels his fantasies with ideas of his own special qualities, which must only be revealed in order for him to be appropriately rewarded, the fantasy introduces some mysterious benefactor (who, in the novel itself, turns out to be Mr Howard) who recognises his potential. However, since the point of the memoir is that Wolff is something of a failure by conventional standards, the fantasy might end with him scalding himself with hot water, as he stands daydreaming by the stove.
3. Read the following passage and identify the genre. Then underline the elements that are characteristic of the genre (be careful—these aren’t just words or phrases, but also ways of looking at things, certain tones of writing voice, and expectations of the reader). Then rewrite the passage in the following genres: dystopian fiction; romance fiction; one other genre of your choice.
She tied the knots real tight. The rope bit into my wrists but I didn’t say a word. I figured that nothing ever got away from this dame, so why give her the satisfaction of knowing my hands were going numb? ‘You think this is going to work?’ I said. ‘The DA knows where I am. He’ll be here with the blues and twos any minute.’
She lit a cigarette and blew the smoke upwards in thin grey curls against the shadows of the blinds. ‘We both know that’s not true,’ she said. ‘And even if it was, I’d be out of that window before he could lay cuffs on me. I’ll never be anyone’s jailbird.’
‘What if I told you there was a way out of this? For both of us.’
She shook her head sadly, her eyes far away. But she was beautiful. ‘There’s no way out, Mr
Chandler. I killed my husband. That’s all the jury’ll see. They won’t see that he used me to blackmail the governor, or that he was a two-bit crook who tricked me and everyone he ever knew. I murdered a man and I’m bound for Wetumpka.’
© 2015 Macmillan Education Australia
Creative Writing Workbook, Anna McHugh.
978 1 4586 5100 6

‘Wait,’ I said. She’d bowled me a real curve ball. ‘A two-bit crook? What does that mean? Was
Mickey involved in Big Ray’s railroad protection racket after all?’
‘You’re slow to discover things, Mr Chandler,’ she said.
The genre is the gumshoe or ‘hardboiled’ detective novel, made famous by novelists such as Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep) and Dashiell Hammet (The
Maltese Falcon). Their protagonists were private investigators such as Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe, who told thrilling tales of femmes fatales, mobsters, and desperate shoot-outs. They used a terse, laconic style which suggested a man who was cool under pressure and treated violence as a run-of-the-mill affair, but
who was still susceptible to the wiles of seductive and dangerous women.
Dystopian fiction rewrite:
She tied the knots tightly. The rope bit into my wrists but I didn’t say a word. I tried not to blame her for the pain; she had been engineered this way, for maximum efficiency, a lethal excellence in everything she did. ‘You think this is going to work?’ I said. ‘The Eyes know where I am; they’ll be here with the Civic Pacifiers any second now.’
She lit a cigarette and blew the smoke upwards—out of harm’s way, just as she had been programmed. ‘We both know that’s not true,’ she said. ‘And even if it was, I’d be out of that window before they can lay a nanobot on me. I’m capable of running a ninety-second mile. I won’t go into hibernation.’
‘What if I told you there was a way out of this? For both of us.’
She shook her head sadly, her eyes far away. Why had they programmed her to be so lethal, but made her so beautiful? ‘There’s no way out, Mr Chandler. I killed my husband. That’s all the jury’ll see. They won’t see that he used me to blackmail the governor, or that he hacked my basic command module before the shoot-out. I’m a rogue gyndroid and I’m bound for Guiyu.’
‘Wait,’ I said. She’d thrown a new ostrakha into the mix. ‘Hacked your BCM? What does that mean? Was Mickey involved in Big Ray’s railroad protection racket after all?’
‘You’re slow to discover things, Ray Chandler,’ she said.
Romantic fiction rewrite:
She tied the knots, unwillingly. The rope bit into my wrists but I didn’t say a word. I understood that she was only doing what she had to, to protect herself in a world out to hurt her. ‘You think this is going to work?’ I said. ‘The D.A. knows where I am. You should let me handle this and I’ll protect both of us.’
She lit a cigarette and blew the smoke upwards in curls as fine as her hair. ‘We both know that’s not true,’ she said. ‘And even if it was, I’d be too terrified to live with it. I can’t bear the thought of being locked up—again.’
‘What if I told you there was a way out of this? For both of us.’
© 2015 Macmillan Education Australia
978 1 4586 5100 6
Creative Writing Workbook, Anna McHugh.

5
She shook her head sadly, her eyes far away. Even in sadness, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. ‘There’s no way out, Mr Chandler. I killed my husband. That’s all the jury’ll see. They won’t see that he used me to blackmail the governor, or that being near him demeaned me and everything he touched. I murdered a man and I’m bound for a place too terrible to think of.’
‘Wait,’ I said. The remark about being demeaned had thrown me. ‘Demeaned you? What does that mean? Could we plead justifiable homicide instead?’
‘You’re slow to discover things, darling,’ she said.
Gothic fiction rewrite:
She tied the knots without looking, as though she was doing it in a dream. The rope bit into my wrists but I didn’t say a word. ‘You think this is going to work?’ I said. ‘The tavern landlord knows where I am. He’ll be here with the priest and the bailiff any minute.’
She lit a candle and blew the smoke upwards, watching it dissipate in the cavernous shadows of the vaulted ceiling. ‘We both know that’s not true,’ she said. ‘And even if it was, they’ll be wandering in the fog, on the moor, for hours. The house doesn’t want you to be found.’
‘What if I told you there was a way out of this? For both of us.’
She shook her head sadly, her eyes far away. I cursed the legacy of her lunatic father, his tainted legacy of beauty and madness. ‘There’s no way out, Mr Chandler. I killed my husband.
That’s all a jury will see. They won’t see that he used me for blackmail, or that he was a madman who sold his very soul for a decade of earthly power. I killed him and I will remain trapped in this house and my madness—with him.’
‘Wait,’ I said. She had thrown me. ‘A decade? But he only lived another eight years after he signed the contract with the mysterious B. Elial. That means that you stopped him before the deal was concluded!’
‘You’re slow to discover things, Mr Chandler,’ she said.
© 2015 Macmillan Education Australia
Creative Writing Workbook, Anna McHugh.
978 1 4586 5100 6