I recently read an article entitled “How to Create Literary Fiction” by Magdalena Bell. The article itself is very well written and makes some great points but one of her suggested tips gave me reason to pause and ask myself – Is there a general attitude that genre fiction is lazy or sloppy writing and that literary fiction is highly polished, high quality writing?
From the many articles I have read on the subject of literary fiction it would seem so and I definitely got that impression from Ms Bell’s article How to Create Literary Fiction. It is the third and fourth tips that I want to draw your attention to.
Magdalena Bell writes:
So how can we ensure that our work is literary fiction rather than some other form? Here are five tips to guide writers who are inclined to produce literary fiction:
1. Aim for transcendency. The one quality which seems to be present in abundance in literary fiction and much less so in other forms, is what agent and author Noah Lukeman calls “transcendency.” It isn’t easy to define, and in his exceptional book, The Plot Thickens (St Martin’s Press, 2002), Lukeman presents a number of points, such as multidimensional characters and circumstances, room for interpretation, timelessness, relatability, educational elements, self discovery, and lasting impression. I would say that transcendency equates to depth, to writing which does more than entertain its readers, and instead, changes something, however small, in the way they perceive themselves. How do you get transcendency in fiction? With a deep theme, deep and powerful characters, complex plots, and exceptional writing skills. Sound easy?
2. Read quality literature. This is a lot easier than transcendency, though not unrelated. Since achieving literary fiction is a subtle and difficult thing, you’ve got to develop your literary senses. The best way of doing that is to read books which fit this genre. If you want to create literary fiction, chances are, you probably are already reading it. These are books by the writers we call “great.” Your list of names may differ from mine, but these are the writers who win prizes like the Booker, the Pulitzer, the Commonwealth Prize, and the National Book Award to name just a few. The more great literature you read, the better able you will become at recognising the elements which make a fiction literary.
3. Don’t get defensive! Lubar’s article is lots of fun, but literary fiction isn’t meant to be snobbish, academic, plotless, or boring in any way; just well crafted. That may be daunting if you are a writer, but it won’t help your work to shrug off quality by calling it dull or unachievable.
4. Re-write. This may be the single most important distinction between literary and other types of fiction. Work which is timeless takes time. There’s no other way to achieve literary fiction than re-writing, dozens, and maybe many more, times. It isn’t glamorous, nor is re-writing dependent on a muse or inspiration like the first draft is. It is just going over and over a work until every word is relevant and integral to the story. This process cannot occur solely in the fingers of the author. Every writer of literary fiction requires an ideal reader, a critique group, a mentor, or someone who can provide the kind of objective advice which will transform your inspiration into a stunning creation.
5. Don’t stress about it! Of course there is no point in worrying so much that you get writer’s block (and if you do, get hold of Jenna’s terrific book on the topic
. If you read great books, write fiction which is true to your own creative vision, and revise (with feedback from others) until the work is as perfect as you can make it, you will produce literary fiction. That’s all there is to it. Writing a novel is about as hard as writing gets. Writing literary fiction can take years, often with little reward, at least until the book is completed (and in many instances, thankless even after publication, assuming you are published). But if you can’t stop yourself; if the desire for producing something truly beautiful outweighs utilitarianism, then you are really and truly a literary writer and your work will have transcendency. I’ll look forward to reading and reviewing it!
In tip three Ms Bell writes “…literary fiction isn’t meant to be snobbish, academic, plotless, or boring in any way; just well crafted. That may be daunting if you are a writer,…” Why should any writer find the idea of creating well-crafted fiction daunting? The innuendo here is that other forms of fiction aren’t well-crafted and that writing literary fiction could be overwhelming for the common writer. Now you may think I’m being a tad sensitive or overly dramatic but I have read this type of attitude time and time again and it is condescending to say the least.
In tip four Ms Bell writes “4. Re-write. This may be the single most important distinction between literary and other types of fiction. Work which is timeless takes time. There’s no other way to achieve literary fiction than re-writing, dozens, and maybe many more, times. It isn’t glamorous, nor is re-writing dependent on a muse or inspiration like the first draft is. It is just going over and over a work until every word is relevant and integral to the story. This process cannot occur solely in the fingers of the author. Every writer of literary fiction requires an ideal reader, a critique group, a mentor, or someone who can provide the kind of objective advice which will transform your inspiration into a stunning creation.” This tip stunned me the most. The suggestion here is that writer’s of genre fiction do not bother with rewriting nor do they care to take their time to create stunning works of fiction. In fact, tip four is a suggestion I feel all writers should see as pivotal to creating great fiction, literary or genre!
As a writer I aspire to create fiction that is well-crafted, intelligent, entertaining, addictive and powerful – regardless of the genre. It is unfair to paint writers of genre fiction in such a disparaging light and by portraying writers of literary fiction as creators of well-crafted, highly polished work to the exclusion of other genre writers that is exactly what this and many other articles do.
What right do any of us have to assume a position of superiority based on the genre we write. It shouldn’t matter whether we write erotica, romance, horror, sci-fi or literary fiction so long as we all strive to write exemplary work. After all, as writers we are servants to our readers whom without we are nothing more than noise makers.
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