Tag Difficulty Index for New Users · 10:36pm Jul 30th, 2017
Well, I promised that I'd do this eventually. I've recently had a lot of people follow me that are new to this site, and I figured that this blog could serve as an reference for them to go back to. I've ordered the difficulty of story genres to write based on subjective opinion and personal experience. Note that some genres will be easier to write for some people than others, and to practice on what feels the most natural to you and what you feel comfortable with.
2nd Person:
Difficulty: Very Hard
Not really a genre, but it's here anyways. 
When writing with this narrative, you are controlling the audience's perspective and placing them on the stage. Convenient? Yes, at least it is on paper. Though '2nd Person' stories often fail to accomplish what 3rd and 1st Person stories can already do because you are generalizing your audience in the hope that they will align with your ideal protagonist. If your character is bold, then all your introverted readers will become disillusioned with the story as a whole. Which is why it's generally better just to not use this tag without special reason.
Ex:
Adventure:
Difficulty: Medium
A good adventure is something that will attract the attention of a lot of users. A good adventure generally stretches over multiple chapters and takes some thorough planning, but if you take your time and think of something unique, there's a good chance it will turn out well. Though like other genres, it's pretty hit or miss if you're a new author with little writing experience.
Ex:
Comedy:
Difficulty: Medium-Hard
If you want to write a story with comedic themes, it's not particularly difficult as long as you set up the jokes and plan out your story. Though great comedy is both difficult and methodical, as you need to understand your audience in order to understand what will make them laugh the hardest.
Ex:
Crossover:
Difficulty: Hard
In order for this to work, you need to not only understand the intricacies of 'My Little Pony,' but also whatever you are crossing it with. And even if you do execute both perfectly, you are still alienating a large chunk of your audience that doesn't care to have a spliced universe.
Ex:
[Adult story embed hidden]
Dark / Gore:
Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Writing a story that has dark elements is not particularly difficult once you piece together the story, but writing a story that's dark in nature takes another level of planning and development to make it work well and impact the audience.
Ex:
Drama:
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Setting up scenes of conflict is not particularly difficult, though that means that sometimes said scenes are also not particularly interesting. Though this is a genre that I feel is a good stepping stone for transitioning into some of the heavier stuff.
Ex:
Horror / Thriller:
Difficulty: Hard
My favorite literary genre. Inciting fear into your audience is far more difficult than getting a laugh out of your audience. In horror, every little detail helps paint the bigger picture, leading up to the darkest moments of the story. You have to put yourself in the shoes of your audience in order to garner the most effective response.
Ex:
Human:
Difficulty: Medium-Hard
HiE's have become stigmatized due to their abundance. Though I believe it's possible to construct decent ones with enough planning ahead of time. Make sure to make your protagonist realistic and relatable, make sure to give them character, and to have them develop as the story progresses.
Ex:
[Adult story embed hidden]
Mystery:
Difficulty: Hard
Creating a story that leaves the audience wondering is difficult. You have to cleverly write out the story in its entirety, then selectively cut out enough of it to where the audience can't quite figure it out themselves, while still having enough to go on in order to be invested in the story as a whole.
Ex:
Random:
Difficulty: Easy
Writing a story that doesn't make sense and isn't planned? It's a dream come true for a lot of others. Generally paired with the comedy tag and obligatory and some circumstances. If implemented well, it makes for a good laugh from the absurdity of it.
Ex:
Romance:
Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Smut isn't romance, it is lust without a real story. Real romance between two characters is slow and gradual, building the story as you go. Granted, that doesn't mean that abstinence makes the story better, though if you're writing porn for the sake of porn, then it's not actually romance.
Ex:
Sad / Tragedy:
Difficulty: Medium
Making your audience feel sad isn't particularly difficult. It becomes a challenge when you have to make your audience feel a certain way while making the story still genuine. If the audience feels like they're being manipulated on purpose, then it becomes a real turn-off for them to read.
Ex:
Sci-Fi
Difficulty: Hard
A science fiction story is difficult because you have to explain technological advances that are ahead of our time. You have to do this while making it sound like you know what you're talking about, and make it simple enough for the audience to understand. You have to regulate all these things on top of the regular plot, which can be a lot to manage for a new user.
Ex:
Slice of Life:
Difficulty: Easy
Slice of Life stories are generally easy because they revolve around everyday things that everyone deals with. It's easy for your audience to relate to themes within this story, and for you to build the story as a whole. Planning something like this is straightforward and simple to execute.
Ex:
Additional feedback and examples provided by Dreams of Ponies and SweetAI Belle.
Legit, as subjective as writing each genre can be for individuals, this is good general advice
I remember Hard Reset! It was literally the first fic I ever read on the site! Even before I made an account!
Also, Comedy is hard? It was pretty easy for me up until a month or two back.
4618371
Most of what you write is comedy, so naturally you'd think it be easier than it is.
For instance, I like to think I'm fairly good at writing sad/tragedy. In reality, it's harder than it looks, especially for someone who's never written before.
4618373
I guess. Though, I originally tried to avoid comedy altogether when I started writing.
Wow, this is a really helpful guide! This actually gave me a whole new perspective on how to look at my own stories. Personally, I started with romance (never published or finished the story) and moved onto the adventure, tragedy and sad. I'm also planning to write a mystery story at some point and this really helps with that.
4618424
Glad to hear you're branching out and trying different things.
Sounds good but there is something that skews the difficulty scale.
The affinity of the new writer. All new writers are not the same.
They can differ on their backgrounds.
So some new writers might do better at certain genres than others.
Another thing about what makes Horror harder to write for some new writers is that they need to maintain a certain amount of tension. Just dumping blood and guts on folks won't make a good horror story unless there is a decent amount of buildup. Also chars matter a lot in horror. If readers don't care about the chars, the story won't be effective.
What do you think?
4618455
That is something I noted in the beginning of the guide, was that some people will be naturally better at certain genres for a variety of reasons.
As for the horror, I agree wholeheartedly. Gore is a crutch often used in horror, and only amplifies the story if the buildup was there to begin with. The only was to scare your audience is to make them feel the fear themselves.
4618455
Yup. I’ve edited before for a guy who’s studied English as a major in college, and in terms of skill, was bounds ahead of me. I was pretty much just a prereader to catch things he missed.
I find your guide to be quite accurate, apart from one flaw: Science Fiction (Sci-Fi) should be considered Easy / Medium difficulty. Science Fiction leaves you almost as much freedom as Random, except, "You have to do this while making it sound like you know what you're talking about, and make it simple enough for the audience to understand," in your words. I've been writing Sci-Fi for a while now, (nothing worth the people's time, sadly,) and have always found it a simple and fun experience. I suppose its about opinion... but I always found Science Fiction easy.
I would argue about Sad / Tragedy being a Medium difficulty, but what do I know about professional writing?
Regards, Blaze
4618487
I think Science Fantasy is easy. Science Fiction? Not so much. Science Fantasy allows for a lot more wiggle room, allowing you to play with your world as you see fit, as realism is not high on your priority. Though Science Fiction needs to make sense, which is a challenge in and of itself.
4618489
Well, I do sometimes enjoy creating my own physics for how my universes work... But you have a point, creating Science fiction is a bother - most of the time. Now, Science Fantasy on the other hand...
4618496
It can be different for different people. Some of the things listed as hard are easy for me
4618507
As I said before, some people are better at writing certain genres than others. This is just a subjective take on what I think are difficult story genres to execute well.
4618511
Oh sorry. Didn't see that.
4618515
You don't have to talk about future stuff, even current tech can be good subjects for sci fi.
All you need is a bit of science in your story and it can be sci fi.
Ex:
What if someone came up with a way to modify probiotic bacteria so they can digest cellulose.
What would be the effects on people and society?
Also, there is a continuum in sci fi, you have hardcore science folks like Asimov/Clarke and others at one end and other folks like Bradbury on the other.
Bradbury doesn't get into the tech details in his stories.
So sometimes you don't really have to explain the science in your story.
I haven't read too many current folks, but I bet the continuum is still there.
4618572
I agree that you don't have to, but I'd imagine that it would make it easier for the audience to immerse themselves in the story you're building, though I do get your point.
I've never really attempted to write Sci-Fi, myself. Though I'd imagine I'd find it difficult if I did.
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4618575
There has been a bunch of sci fi movies/books set in contemporary times.
I know for sure these two would fit the criteria.
The Andromeda strain.
The Thing- The John Campbell version done by John Carpenter. The first one would work too.
I did two original sci fi stories.
One was about a virus that turned birds against people, and the other one was about a guy who made a machine to go to another universe.
To me, science fiction is basically, Tech/Science + People.
4618591
I'd say that's a pretty good way of looking at it.
In the words of Meep (more-or-less): Sci-fi is the focus on technology, and it's impact on the world around it.
Basically. It could be the focus that the train system had on the whole of the planet. Honestly it doesn't entirely have to be something mechanical, or such. With the additive of fantasy to the list we get an extension - in that it can also be the focus a particular spell had with the world.
But again, or rather mentioning it for the first time, this is only the basis and beginnings of Sci-fi. The full thing is quite a fun and thought-provoking thing... or at least in my opinion.
4618743
I personally love Sci-Fi, (I've read 'The Martian' at least 3 times) I just believe that it would be quite difficult for a first-time author to nail it immediately.
4618747
True... Oh, and I should be a hard-medium writer. XD
The things I have a harder time with are the easier things, but I plan on practicing those as well. I'll do some of everything, eventually.
>writes dark, AU, adventure and crossover
... does that make me an ultra-hard mode writer, then?
4620758
Not necessarily. This guide is mostly for new writers to help them realize the potential difficulty in writing certain genres.
4620759 Ah, I see.