Rethinking Genre: Genre as a tool for writers throughout the writing process

Genre is used and defined in different ways depending on different social and cultural contexts. For writers, genre is often thought of as a system of labelling works designed to help publishers, booksellers and readers, rather than as a helpful construct to assist during the writing process. Yet by drawing on a sociolinguistic and applied linguistic application of genre, the importance of considering genre and using genre as a tool during the writing process becomes clear. Different genres are applicable in different social contexts and considering genre when writing enables writers to communicate their ideas in the clearest possible way. The boundaries of genres are constantly renegotiated in social interaction between writers and readers through texts, shifting to reflect changing social contexts. Through the decision to conform to or subvert genre conventions in their writing, writers contribute to these changing genre boundaries