Full Genre List
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Here is a list of all known written genres, as drawn from numerous sources. (We'd love to acknowledge and link to more of these web pages, but they keep on vanishing.) This list includes works of fiction and nonfiction, in short and long formats, with temporary or permanent media, and in venues for individual or personal or public use. This also includes spoken formats (live or filmed) that are typically written out beforehand.
Can all of these categories be regarded as genres? Perhaps. Each one is a distinct and familiar type, and many are included in the comprehensive Dewey system. People get paid to write (and/or to read and analyze) them; even build careers and businesses around their creation.
There is of course some overlap. While our intention is to be thorough, certain professions utilize numerous yet otherwise obscure textual formats.
While this list deals primarily with English, the same categories will apply to most languages. There are also Art, Film, Music, Video Game, Newspaper, and other broad genre types, however those go beyond the scope of this project.
The major descriptive and genre categories are in large print, and subgenres are in parentheses. Numerous fiction genres and subgenres are described in more detail on our Literary Fiction Genres list pages.
Major Print Genre Categories:
Broadcast
{Text intended to be spoken aloud, and for a wide audience.}
Broadcaster's Script (radio, streaming, TV, etc.)
DJ's Playlist
Host's Monologue (interview questions, jokes, etc.)
News Report (scrolling ticker, etc.)
Quiz Show Questions
Sportscaster's Stats
Weather Report
Business
{Text used primarily by commercial enterprizes.}
Advertising Copy (jingle, print ad, promotion, etc.)
Bill of Lading (airbill, cargo manifest, etc.)
Business Card
Business Plan (agenda, guidelines, memo, etc.)
Business Sign
Call Center Script (reservations, tech support, telemarketing, etc.)
Catalog (industrial, redemption, retail, etc.)
Check (cashier's check, money order, etc.)
Job Application (cover letter, resume, etc.)
Insurance Document (actuarial table, appraisal, damage report, etc.)
Inventory (retail, wholesale, etc.)
Invoice (sales reciept, etc.)
Menu (placemat text, tabletop display, etc.)
Policy (HR guidelines, etc.)
Post Card Caption (photo caption, etc.)
Product Label (ingredients, instructions, origin, side effects, etc.)
Sales Pitch
Stock Certificate (savings bond, etc.)
Video Billboard
Want Ad (newspaper, online, etc.)
Entertainment
{Text related to the entertainment industry.}
Anime script (numerous subtypes)
Banner (marquee, etc.)
Betting Sheet (bingo, keno, lotto ticket, etc.)
Crossword Puzzle (other puzzles, etc.)
Opera Libretto
Playbill (program guide)
Script or Screenplay (film, speech, stage, TV, video game, etc.)
Song Lyric (cheer, choreography, etc.)
Storyboard
Ephemera
{Text intended for short-term use only.}
Announcement (poster, spoken, sports, etc.)
Fortune Cookie Text
Greeting Card
Instant Message
Luggage Tag (airline routing tag)
Instant Message
Shopping List (chore list, Post-it note, etc.)
Skywriting
Ticket (movie, sports, etc.)
General Use
{Text utilized in a wide variety of activities and venues.}
Application Form
Blueprint
Boundary Sign (no tresspassing, welcome, etc.)
Calendar
Character Sketch
Chart
Essay (informative, narrative, persuasive, scholastic, etc.)
Eyewitness Account
Frame Narrative
Humor (jokes, satire, etc.)
Index Card (file card, etc.)
Interview (transcript, etc.)
Language Lesson
Lecture (PowerPoint, etc.)
Log Book
Manifesto (treatise)
Map (atlas, GPS directions, guidebook, etc.)
Monologue
Oral History (narrative nonfiction, etc.)
Pamphlet (broadside, brocure, religious tract, etc.)
Plaque (commemorative, historical, etc.)
Press Release
Programming Language (Basic, C++, Java, Linux, etc.)
Recipe (cookbook, food preparation, etc.)
Review (art, book, movie, restaurant, etc.)
Schedule (airline flights, etc.)
Survey (census form, poll, etc.)
Technical Manual
War Correspondence
Government
{Text utilized by official and/or sovereign governments, at various levels.}
Constitution (amendment, declaration of war, treaty, etc.)
Currency (coins, bills, food stamps, etc.)
Customs Form
Law (ordinance, statute, UCMJ, etc.)
Legal Documentation (birth certificate, license, passport, etc.)
Legal Summons (jury summons, subpoena, traffic ticket, etc.)
Military Plan
Police Report
Political Speech (bill debate, campaign, inaugural, etc.)
Road Sign (electronic message, trail sign, etc.)
Tax Form (guidebook, official manual, work sheet, etc.)
Transit Schedule (route map, etc.)
Wanted Poster
Internet or Digital
{Text that is primarily in electronic form.}
Audio Book
Blog Post
Discussion Board Post
eBook
Podcast
Text Message
Web Page
Wiki
Jumbo or Supergraphics
{Text with lettering and/or numbers over 12 inches in size.}
Billboard
Commercial Signage
Hillside Sign
Runway Marking (airmark)
Sports Field Marking
Traffic Lane Marking (RR crossing, speed limit, etc.)
Transport Marking (airliner, rail car, rolling billboard, truck, etc.)
Legal
{Text utilized for formal legal purposes.}
Contract (corporate, deed, employment, financial, mortgage, etc., etc.)
Lawsuit Papers
Legal Brief (amecus, appeal, etc., etc.)
Legal Disclaimer
Other
{Categories that just don't fit!}
Asemic Writing {Wholly, often deliberately, illegible scribbles.}
Periodical
{Text that appears in semi-permanent media, and is published on a recurring schedule.}
Advice Column
Charticle
Cartoon (comic strip, editorial, etc.)
Editorial (newspaper, web-based, etc.)
Magazine Article (weekly, quarterly, etc.)
Newspaper Article (interest section, special feature, wire service text, etc.)
Obituary (epitaph, eulogy, etc.)
Opinion Column (commentary, etc.)
Personal Use
{Text utilized by, or intended for, individuals.}
Bumper Sticker (protest sign, slogan, etc.)
Diary (daybook, journal, scrapbook, etc.)
Genealogy
Graffiti (gang symbol, hobo mark, etc.)
IOU
Jewelry Inscription
Medical Report (prescription, test results, etc.)
Personal Letter (email, telegram, etc.)
Scrapbook (clippings, collage, etc.)
Self Help (presentation, quiz, text, etc.)
Sermon (invocation, ritual, etc.)
Tattoo Text
Trading Card (baseball card, etc.)
T-shirt Text
Yard Sign
Poetry
{Text in one of the very many distinctive styles of a poem.}
Acrostic
Aubade
Ballad
Cinquain
Clerihew
Diamante
Didactic
Doggerel
Epic
Epigram
Free Verse
Haiku
Iambic Pentameter
Lied
Limerick
Lyric
Ode
Quatrain
Rhapsody
Scifaiku
Sonnet
Speculative
Spoetry
Tanka
Tyburn
Villanelle
{There are many more types.}
Publication
{Text published in an enduring form, usually on paper, and for public use.}
Almanac
Autobiography (fake memoir, memoir, spiritual, etc.)
Book Jacket (album/CD jacket, blurb, TOC, etc.)
Bibliography
Biography (dossier, expose, etc.)
Children's Genre Fiction
Children's Literature
Computer Book (programing, etc.)
Creative Nonfiction
Erotica Genre Fiction
Experimental Fiction
Fantasy Genre Fiction
Graphic Novel Text (comic book, manga and its many subtypes, etc.)
Health Genre (diet, fitness, nutrition, sex, etc.)
Hobby Text
Horror Genre Fiction
How-To Guide (assembly instructions, DIY project, etc.)
Literary Fiction
Mainstream Fiction (blockbuster novel, etc.)
Mystery Genre Fiction
Mythology (ancient, fable, fairy tale, tall tale, etc.)
Nature Writing
Rhymed Prose (fu, maqama, rayok, saj, etc.)
Romance Genre Fiction
Rule Book (card game, parliamentary, sports, etc.)
Sacred Text (apocrypha, catechism, commentary, hagiography, theology, etc.)
Science Fiction Genre Fiction
Thriller Genre Fiction
Travel Literature (guidebook, travelogue, etc.)
Western Genre Fiction
Young Adult Genre Fiction
{Also see our Literary Fiction Genres list pages.}
Scholastic
{Text intended for educational and scholarly purposes.}
Curriculum (course list, syllabus, etc.)
Dictionary (glossary, thesaurus, etc.)
Encyclopedia Article (fact book, list book, quotations, etc.)
History Text (ancient, regional, national, world, etc.)
Manuscript (medieval, papyrus, scroll, etc.)
Museum Display Text
Philosophical Text (ethics, dialogue, logic, psychology, etc.)
Social Science Text (anthropology, economics, political science, etc.)
Test Questions (brain teaser, homework, etc.)
Textbook (flash cards, study notes, etc.)
Thesis (dissertation, etc.)
Yearbook
Scientific
{Text utilized primarily by scientists and related specialties.}
Medical Text (anatomy, diagnoses, field work, etc.)
Peer Reviewed Paper (research results, etc.)
Raw Data (equations, experiment, observation, etc.)
Scientific Text (astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics, etc., etc.)
The popular Goodreads project has a very long genre list, although because it's edited by numerous participants there are many errors, overwhelming overlaps. and no specific definitions given.