The Western Intro
Riding a horse and chasing robbers isn’t all that makes up the Western literary genre. By the end of this blog post, you’ll have a better understanding of what makes up this genre and some writing prompts to get you started on your own pieces.
What is a Western
A western is a popular literary genre that found its height in the U.S. in the 1860s to the 1900s as a romanticized version of the western frontier.
Settings
Such typical settings include the desert, mountains, and prairies. The rugged locations commonly act as characters in themselves, battling the protagonist on their journeys.
To quote RT’s book review article, “Western: Book Genre Explained – Ultimate Guide,”
“The landscape is a key element of the genre, with the harsh, often lawless frontier serving as a backdrop for the stories. The setting is often depicted as a place of danger and hardship, but also of opportunity and freedom.”
Characters
Characters within a Western fall under a small envelope of options. Most commonly in Westerns, we have the “lone wolf” character that has no friends or helpers. Such characters in Westerns include the robber, gunslinger, sheriff, bandit, indigenous person, pioneer, or outlaw.
Each character usually seems to be living by their own code of conduct and morals. You have honest lawmen and the train robbers, for example. Most commonly, you have the ruthless outlaw, an honest sheriff, and a rugged cowboy.
Examples of Popular Western Stories
Among the countless examples of novels to pick that helped raise this genre’s popularity are:
- The Revenant by Michael Punke
The History of a Western
The genre began in the 1860s and started to drop in popularity near the end of the nineteenth century. The stories were originally made as a replication of true events out on the frontier. They were first told in dime novels, then later, in pulp magazines.
The Virginian by Owen Wister cemented the genre in 1902. Often, these stories were based around lawmen and cowboys fighting robbers or natives persons as they traverse the untouched landscape.
The Conventions of a Western
As the setting for this genre is always the “Wild West” of America, the terrain alone serves as a character that interacts with the story. The location offers obstacles and unforgiving conditions. One of the most exciting tools for Western genre writing is description. How lonely is the town? How cold is the night?
Themes
A Western will typically follow a few themes incorporated throughout the story. Such themes could be survival, wilderness vs. civilization, identity, and justice.
Overall, Westerns are stories of chaos in the face of a new civilization. The stories often have a tension between settlers and indigenous persons, cowboys and ranchers, outlaws and sheriffs.
Subgenres of the Western
Like other genres, a western has various subgenres its stories can be categorized into.
These include:
- Traditional Western
- Spaghetti Western
- Contemporary Western
- Epic Western
- Acid Western
- Revisionist Western
- Electric Western
- Neo-Western
- Fantasy Western
- Space Western
- Science Fiction Western
- Romance Western
- Comedy Western
Etc.
In fact, since the landscape and setting of a western is what makes it so versatile, the literary genre is continuously expanding to new genres today!
How to Write a Western
A Western is a very accessible genre to get you started with your first writing piece.
To quote Writing Mastery and their article “How to Write a Western,”
“At its heart, the Western is about the frontier. Traditional Westerns usually involve small towns, open wilderness, horses, and gunslingers, but the deeper appeal lies in the tension between civilization and chaos, justice and revenge, freedom and survival.”
Your western should come alive with its backdrop. Have characters fight for their morals in the ultimate man vs. man or man vs. nature showdown. It is usual to include stereotypes in your story, such as cowboys and bandits, but remember to make them complex and three-dimensional.
Research
Similar to historical fiction, you need to research this genre before you begin. Whether you are placing your Western in a specific location or time, small details matter most in order for your story to feel grounded to your reader.
Ensure you know how people were speaking, what cultural practices were popular, how people were making money, and how they lived.
Check out the blog post below to help fully develop your characters.
Western Writing Prompts
Now, grab some paper and a writing utensil, and a timer. Write on one of these prompts for fifteen minutes and see what you’ve come up with.
Better yet, try to incorporate multiple and share them with friends. If you like your story enough, try to expand it; if not, hopefully this is still a fun activity to get you engaged.
- The setting sun warned him he only had an hour before the sheriff returned.
- The gold felt heavy in his pocket once he mounted his horse. This was going to be a long journey!
- Gunshots were heard as they reached the top of the hill. They could see the house in the distance if they could only reach it!
- She was starting to be less careful, taking swigs from random puddles here and there just to get by.
- The rope was starting to chafe his skin, and he could see that his only chance of escape was after the chief agreed to it.
- It would take a day’s journey to reach him, that is, if he was still alive when they got there. With all this undeniable violence waiting, was it worth it to go back after coming so far?
- She had just wiped the various spilled refreshments about the piano before another drunk man was hollaring at her to start playing.
- Running in the prairie now, it felt like the farm and this small town were finally behind her, but then she saw the smoke coming from the woods out yonder.
- He sat down and checked his pocket watch, scratching his ears under his hat when the train window was suddenly shattered, and a dirty hand was reaching toward his moustache.
- The dirty saloon was quite a scene that night; fists full of beer or cards, laughter and spit shooting across the room, dancing legs and hoarse voices as he walked in and removed his hat.
- Her mother wanted her to mind the animals, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the new colt, longing for the day it would be big enough to ride.
- “I warned you before about stepping into this town again,” he said, raising the cigar to his lips,” there’d be trouble. Lucky for you, trouble still hasn’t taken a smoke yet.”
- The dirty dog followed them into the camp, sniffing the woman weaving by the fire.
- They shook hands and smiled, but I could feel the tension with each glance. Looking around at the other white aliens, I saw each start moving their hands to their guns.
- The beads were light blue and white, and they sat on her neck, holding the memory of what they did to her mother with each glance and light tap.
- When Curly wasn’t around, it was his job to bring in the cattle. He got his big boots on and looked at his reflection in the mirror before heading out the back door.
- In the house, she adjusted her long skirt and sat down, offering bread to the two lonely horsemen.
- The rooster crowed early, and he felt like he had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. The air smelled wet as he slowly straightened his back. He was getting too old to farm, and those coyotes would be back.
- The sun seemed to lick at his neck, causing him to keep dampening it with his bandana as he slaved away, building the house he hoped she would say yes to.
- The town gathered at the sides of the streets, waiting for the two men to turn and shoot. You could hear a dog barking, faint notes from the piano down at the saloon, and this moaning wind that put the scene in a chilling halt.
Conclusion
Whether you enjoy a good cowboy tale or wish to see more come back into the spotlight, these prompts are definitely a great way to get the ball rolling for your next writing adventure!
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