Performance Genre Conventions

Fiction Writing Made Easy

Savannah Gilbo

Education, Fiction, Writing Tips, Arts, Bestseller, Writing, How To, Author, Writing Community, Books, Novel, How To Write Fiction, Writing Fiction, Writer, How To Write A Book

4.9 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2021

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In today's episode, I'm going to walk you through the conventions of the performance genre. I'm also going to show you how these conventions show up in the movie The Mighty Ducks. Here's a preview of what's included:

[01:15] Performance stories center around a character who wants to achieve something specific in order to prove their worth to the world. For example, they might want to win a certain award, climb Mount Everest, be the best in their field, or be famous.
[01:55] Readers choose performance novels because they are extremely relatable. Every day we deal with the pressure to perform on the world’s stage, and we are constantly faced with decisions that could result in success or failure.
[02:55] Genre conventions are the character roles, settings, and events that are specific to a genre. They’re what help us writers write a story that works AND evoke emotional reactions in our readers.
[04:45] #1 - There is an underdog protagonist who usually has some kind of special gift.
[05:30] #2 - There's a MacGuffin or a specific thing the protagonist wants to get or achieve.
[06:30] #3 - There's a mentor figure with a little bit of baggage.
[07:45] #4 - There's a team of people who support the protagonist.
[08:40] #5 - There are trials or training sequences that help get the protagonist ready for the big event.
[09:55] #6 - The protagonist faces social problems or moral challenges (like bullying or social class divides).
[10:55] #7 - The protagonist faces a worthy opponent.
[11:30] #8 - There's a monkey wrench that gets thrown into the mix just when it seems like victory is in sight.
[12:30] #9 - There's an internal change within the protagonist.
[13:25] #10 - There's usually a bittersweet ending.
[15:10] Key points and episode recap.

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Links mentioned in this episode:

Episode Freebie: Performance Genre Key Scenes PDF Cheat Sheet
Performance Conventions: The 10 Things Every Performance Story Needs (article)
Performance Obligatory Scenes: The 6 Scenes Every Performance Story Needs (article)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, Savannah here. Before we get into today's episode, I wanted to share our next book
0:04.8	club pick with you because I'm super excited to dig into this book and see how and why it works.
0:09.9	Our next meeting is coming up on November 16th at 4 p.m. Pacific, 7 p.m. Eastern, and we're going
0:15.7	to be digging into the fourth wing by Rebecca Yaros. Abigail and I are so excited to deconstruct
0:21.2	this book and these meetings are always so much fun. They're interactive, so in addition to our
0:26.2	presentation on why we think this story works and why we think it resonates with readers,
0:30.8	there are also polls and lots of opportunities to chat with other writers and ask us questions
0:36.2	and, you know, just participate in a group discussion about a really awesome book. As always,
0:41.2	our aim is to analyze a novel and translate our learnings into actionable tips, tools, and strategies
0:46.8	that you can take and implement in your own writing right away. So if you want to join us or if you
0:51.7	want to learn more about how the book club works, go to savannahgilbo.com forward slash book
0:56.9	dash club. One more time that savannahgilbo.com forward slash book dash club hope to see you there.
1:03.1	So something that stops the protagonist plan cold and this could be anything from a rule change to
1:09.2	a technicality to an exposed secret or even something like a storm. And usually this comes into
1:15.3	the story right around the midpoint or at the all is lost moment. So either in the middle of
1:20.3	act two or at the end of act two depending on the kind of story you're writing and it causes
1:25.4	the protagonist to feel like there is just no hope for success. Welcome to the fiction writing
1:31.6	made easy podcast. My name is savannahgilbo and I'm here to help you write a story that works.
1:37.2	I want to prove to you that writing a novel doesn't have to be overwhelming. So each week I'll
1:41.7	bring you a brand new episode with simple, actionable, and step-by-step strategies that you can
1:46.8	implement in your writing right away. So whether you're brand new to writing or more of a seasoned
1:51.2	author looking to improve your craft this podcast is for you. So pick up a pen and let's get started.
	...

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