AN EXPLORATION IN GENRE

Abstract

This thesis project consists of three stories involving the same main characters, but written in different genres. Jaxson faces a moral conflict when he discovers the secrets his mother has been hiding from him in suburban Connecticut, a dystopian planet, and a medieval kingdom. The purpose of this project was to explore the same theme in different ways. Each story is set in a different world, showing Jaxson’s life and experiences dealing with familial issues and relationships. The innocence-to-experience trope is followed in each world as Jaxson discovers the truth. I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and write in genres that I grew up reading, but never wrote in. I found it difficult to incorporate the same storyline into each new genre and struggled with creating plots that put the characters in similar headspaces. I chose the genres of literary fiction, science-fiction, and fantasy because they were three genres that I had the most experience with. I wanted each story to be about the same length and follow similar plot patterns, but that was difficult to stick with. As I wrote more, I became more comfortable with each genre and the personalities of the characters in their new universes. This project gave me the creative freedom to explore different genres and try something new.