What Is Cozy Fiction? & How To Write It

What is cozy fiction? We include the types of cozy fiction – with plenty of examples. We also tell you how to write cozy fiction in any genre.

What Is Cozy Fiction? & How To Write It

The latest fad in interior design is to put the word ‘core’ after a literature genre – fantasy core, or a broad-based design concept – cottage core. This allows you to decorate your home with the most comfortable elements of that style, or a mix of related styles that you most enjoy without sticking pedantically to the non-core style itself. Quaker core, for example, doesn’t exclude electricity.

Adding the word ‘cozy’ in front of a fiction genre is much the same. ‘Cozy’, like ‘core’ is non-threatening, comfortable, and gives you the elements of the genre you like the most, without unsettling you or giving you nightmares. ‘Cozy’ equals ‘safe’.

6 Examples Of Cozy Fiction

1. Cozy Mystery

This was the original cozy sub-genre. Agatha Christie – the queen of cozy murders, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, and Martha Grimes are prime examples of the best in the genre. More modern examples are The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwan, The Thursday Murder Club mysteries by Richard Osman, and The Village Library Mysteries by Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Cozy Mystery Writing Tips

Although there may be several bodies – think Midsomer Murders – avoid gory descriptions in either the committing of the crimes, or descriptions of the bodies.
Limit the number of suspects to between four and seven.
Keep descriptions of sex to that which happens behind closed doors.
Set the story in a ‘closed environment – a hotel, an island, a train, an aeroplane, a village, a manor house, an estate etc.
Choose your era carefully. Most cozy mysteries are set in a previous era, usually close to, or just after the end of WWII. If not, they still carry the same sense and feeling.
Build in meals – breakfast, lunch, teas, and dinners.
‘Quaint’ is good word to describe locations, homes, characters. Think Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Miss Lemon, Melrose Plant, Agatha Raisin, etc.

2. Cozy Fantasy

The newest cozy sub-genre, cozy fantasy, is quite different to…one wants to say, ‘real fantasy’. But cozy fantasy, bar the magic and non-human characters, is probably more real in the sense that they are more slice-of-life, than defeating Sauron. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, and the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett are both excellent examples. The Discworld books have more action and bigger casts, but they follow the rules.

Cozy Fantasy Writing Tips

Keep the stakes low – your characters aren’t trying to save the world, just their village, bookshop, bakery, city, etc.
The magic is generally low-key, unless it’s Guards, Guards where a dragon as big as its ego has a bad attitude.
Think Hallmark with magic and kindly orcs.
There would be nothing wrong with the solution to the story arc being homemade jam.
Life lessons need to be a part of the story and can be as simple as ‘having coffee with friends really matters’.
Set your story in small communities – a bookshop is a community. Ankh-Morpork, although a city, is not New York, and is also a community made up of smaller communities, like the Assassins Guild, the Night Watch etc.
Write characters that are ‘quaint’ – they may be wizards, but Gandalf would probably roll his eyes, and sigh heavily, if he spent any time with them.
Write witty dialogue. Sarcasm and irony work well.

3. Cozy Science Fiction Or Coffee-Cup Science Fiction

Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, C3PO, R2D2, and Chewbacca may be a small, close-knit gang, a pre-requisite for cozy sci-fi, but Star Wars isn’t cozy. The stakes are too high and while there are non-human characters and feisty heroines, the plot takes precedence.

Stakes in cozy science fiction are personal rather than galactic. Firefly, one of the best cult-tv shows of all time is cozy sci-fi with one of the best crews ever written. It’s their relationships that keep viewers hooked rather than the Klingons on the starboard bow. When the Firefly crew are trying to evade the Reavers, we care because we are so attached to the crew. They feel like family, and their ship feels like home to the viewers. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers has also been described as feeling like home to readers. Her Wayfarers series, including Record Of A Spaceborn Few and A Closed and Common Orbit, also fits into cozy science fiction. They are full of friendly tropes.

Cozy Science Fiction Writing Tips

Write a small, tight-knit crew – character plays a larger role than plot. That’s not to say plot doesn’t matter because plot always matters. But ‘cozy’ implies characters who know each other well, and whose relationships are the backbone and drive of the story. These relationships are also responsible for the resolution of the plot.
Write relatable characters. While this applies to all fiction, it’s especially important for cozy sci-fi. Readers and viewers are less interested in weird looking aliens, than they are in the interactions between the human crew.
Humour matters in this sub-genre. Avoid slap-stick humour. Just as with cozy fantasy, it’s witty, ironic dialogue, and sarcasm that’s needed.

4. Cozy Romance

Cozy romance is the bedrock of Hallmark movies. Anna Kareninna it’s not. But that doesn’t mean all cozy romances are plot-weak and saccharine. Georgette Heyer’s Regency books are wonderful examples of cozy romances. They are incredibly well-researched, witty, and page-turning. The television series, Gilmore Girls is an excellent present-day example. A great literary example is The Pumpkin Spice Café by Laurie Gilmore.

Cozy Romance Writing Tips

As with the other cozy fiction sub-genres, set your story in small communities, a small-town, a village, a library, an apartment building etc. A great example of a cozy romance is the film Esio Trot.
Cozy romance is not Fifty Shades Of Grey. ‘Cozy’ is a synonym for ‘clean’.
Keep the angst to a bare minimum, and the connection quotient high. You’ve Got Mail is a great example. The angst is funny, heartwarming, not destructive or heart rending.
You can add cozy romance to any other cozy sub-genre.
The romance is more of a warm hug than desperate need and longing.
Write characters who are relatable. There’s no need for deep emotional hurts, wounds, or dark pasts and dangerous secrets.
Keep the love story simple, but profound.
A sense of calm is the main ingredient. Like a cup of hot chocolate and a ginger biscuit. No one wants an angst-ridden hot chocolate.
Write love that conquers simple hurdles, small misunderstandings, and that emphasises emotional maturity, emotional intimacy, and a strong, supportive community.
Write stories that are more about courtship than grand passions.
Keep the atmosphere light and charming.
Cozy romance can be set in any era.
The characters can be of any age. Readers don’t need Barbie and Ken. The film Last Chance Harvey, for example is a lovely example of an older-person romance.

5. Cozy Historical Fiction

Like cozy romance, historical cozy can also fit into cozy mystery. Obviously, as it’s historical, the era in which the book is set is always the past. And there’s lots of past to choose from. A historical cozy can take place when the world is going to hell, or recovering from it, but is usually set away from the main global drama, in a small cozy village. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer; Annie Barrows, for example.

Cozy Historical Writing Tips

Make your setting a unique one. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles is the charming story of Count Alexander Rostov who is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin.
Write stories that offer both intellectual and emotional satisfaction to the reader.
Ensure you do great research into the era, and people’s daily lives within that era. Write era-accurate settings, customs, beliefs, and language. No, you don’t have to write Middle-English, but ensure you’re not writing modern slang, or phrases. Whether you’re writing historical cozy or other historical genres, sites like etymology.com need to become one of your favourite, and most-used, resources. Even if you write an alternative history, make sure your language, costuming, setting, etc is still real-historical correct.
Ensure your use the right titles and forms of address for nobility. There’s nothing worse for a knowledgeable reader than incorrectly used titles.
Write relatable characters. A good example is the Mapp and Lucia series by E. F. Benson featuring humorous incidents in the lives of upper-middle-class British characters in the 1920s and 1930s. Consider avoiding kings and queens as not many people can relate to them. And besides, there’s more than enough books about them as it is. And very few of them led cozy lives.
As with the others, keep the setting small – small communities, average lives, genuine emotion, minimal angst, etc.
Build quirkiness into some of your characters – their hobbies, dress sense, jobs etc.

6. Cozy Horror

Horror isn’t the first genre that springs to mind when you think of cozy stories. But it can be done. Click here for examples of cozy horror.

Cozy Horror Writing Tips

Don’t write stories that will give readers nightmares. Stephen King-style stories should be avoided if you’re aiming for ‘cozy’. His horror is about as cozy as an angry hedgehog on acid.
Your supernatural characters should be non-threatening. Take for example the characters in the British TV series, The ghosts outnumber the humans, but their intentions are good. That’s the core of cozy horror supernatural characters – their intentions are good or become good.
Nobody dies. They might already be dead, but no one else dies because them. Humans may become better people thanks to supernatural intervention.
The supernatural characters may regain their previous ‘aliveness’ because of their interaction with humans. The film Warm Bodies is a great example in which a zombie find both love and life.
While there can be spooky atmosphere, the story should have large dollops of humour running through it. (In What We Do In The Shadows, the four useless vampires do kill others, but the viewer barely notices this. It’s very funny. They live in a suburb near New York, and it’s all very cozy.)
As with all cozy genres, the reader should be left feeling uplifted, in a better mood, encouraged rather than threatened, and as satisfied. As if they’ve just had coffee and delicious chocolate cake with a good friend.

The Main Characteristics Of All The Cozy Genres

They are character-driven.
They are a slice of life.
They feature slightly quirky characters.
They can crosspollinate each other – you could write a Cozy Historical Mystery story, for example.
They are clean – no sex, no gore, no violence.
They take place in small closely knit communities.
They are satisfying, gentle, intelligent stories.
Humour is required.
They revolve around everyday life, hobbies, quiet moments, coffee shops, bakeries, libraries, bookshops, cake shops etc.
They are fun. Like a warm hug.

The Last Word

If you would like to learn how to write cozy fiction, use these tips. You can also sign up for one of the rich and in-depth workbooks and courses that Writers Write offers, and get your book off to a great start.

Source for image: Pixabay

by Elaine Dodge. Author of The Harcourts of Canada series and The Device Hunter, Elaine trained as a graphic designer, then worked in design, advertising, and broadcast television. She now creates content, mostly in written form, including ghost writing business books, for clients across the globe, but would much rather be drafting her books and short stories.

What Is Cozy Fiction? & How To Write It