Literary Fiction What is it?

 

Literary Fiction What is it?

 Literary Fiction is usually filled with political and social issues along with psychological friction or conflict. The characters are dealing with some form of conflict associated with the above and lead the reader to a conclusion of revolution or a level of nuance that made the writer do some serious research to come up with a conclusion that helps the reader understand the issues at hand. Basically, this form of writing is Character driven – like them or not. As a writer, you must think seriously about how you will write this type of prose and remember that reading world issues can have real-world consequences.

Since I have never written Literary Fiction, I turned to a writer friend of mine and asked them to give me a sample idea for me to reference in this piece and they suggested I use The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. The main characters in the books are Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, Primrose Everdeen, Gale Hawthorne, Haymitch Abernathy, and Cinna. Ms. Collins not only used social issues about inequality, but she also included romance, coming of age, and some serious action-packed style plots to entice the reader to keep reading. Social issues aren’t the main topics in this book, but rather a side issue mixed into a very intriguing storyline. While some call this book genre fiction, many writers call it literary fiction based on the depth of the storyline.

I remember reading J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye” novel in high school. Mr. Lotosky was my English teacher and drilled this book into our heads. I can remember his describing the main Character Holden Caulfield as one of us, a seventeen-year-old kid who dropped out of school. Salinger made Holden a total reprobate character that you truly hate due to his personality and his actions within the novel. This is actually very hard to do as a writer, but he did it with ease and grace. This type of story is the definition of a hallmark of literary fiction.

The publishing industry is forever changing its definition of various genres and the writer’s requirements for the industry are also changing. One minute their romantic comedy to the crime genre, to another genre trying to find their voice for that covenant Pulitzer Prize Laurette title.  No matter what their characters remain constant, which are as follows:

Character-focused narratives

Ample symbolism, metaphor, and allegory

Advanced vocabulary infused with imagery

Ambiguous plot points, including even the work’s conclusion

Exploration of larger philosophical themes regarding the human condition and the will of nature

Exploration of larger trends in history and culture

Lack of adherence to a fixed plot formula

So, what is the difference between Literary fiction and genre fiction? Well, let’s look at authors whom you’ve heard of and can understand this comparison easier. The most successful of the genre fiction would be Danielle Steele, Anne Rice, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, and James North Patterson, maybe even David Baldacci.

Now let’s look at the literary fiction writers you’ll recognize. J.R.R. Tolkien is the best writer of literary fiction of literary fiction, many people don’t know that the Lord of the Rings novels were depicted in the WWI and WWII geopolitical settings of the world. Many think it’s just man’s relationship with nature, when in fact it was a story about the geopolitics of the twentieth-century Western world.

Literary Fiction is a challenge that some writers are not willing to try, whereas others spend years trying to develop. Are you a challenging type of writer or the kind that just likes to get the story out of your head? I’m the latter for sure. 

Elizabeth Kilbride is a Writer and Editor with forty years of experience in writing with 12 of those years in the online content sphere. Graduating with an Associate of Arts from Pheonix University, then a degree in Mass Communication and Cyber Analysis from Phoenix University, on to Walden University for her Masters in Criminology with emphasis on Cybercrime and Identity Theft, and is currently studying for her Ph.D. degree in Criminology, her portfolio includes coverage of politics, current affairs, elections, history and true crime. In her spare time, Elizabeth is also a gourmet cook, life coach and avid artist, proficient in watercolor, acrylic, pen and ink Gouache and pastels. As a political operative having worked on over 300 campaigns during her career, Elizabeth has turned many life events into books and movie scripts while using history to weave interesting storylines. She also runs 6 various blogs from art to life coaching, to food, to writing and opinion or history pieces each week.