Attitudes and Literary Fiction

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.

LiveJournal Tags: Personal experience/opinion,literary fiction

The ‘Why’ of Great Characters

Characters are without a doubt, the core of great fiction.  The closer we as writers are able to emulate real three-dimensional characters within our work the stronger our work becomes.  There are many guides available for assisting an emergent writer in the process of creating unforgettable characters and these guides provide a strong support in our writing journey but I wanted to touch on a facet of characterization that I personally feel needs more attention. 

Most character creation guides will tell you that the more you know about your characters the better they become.  I don’t think this is enough.  You can know what she looks like, her marital status, likes and dislikes etc and still fail to develop a character that functions authentically within the confines of a story.  I believe the strongest tool to creating authentic characters lies in understanding why your character is the way he or she is.

Start asking yourself why your character dislikes jazz music or the color blue.  Ask yourself why your character reacts to things the way she does.  Rather than run through a list of attributes your characters have, try creating a personality profile that explores and identifies the way your characters react and look at why they react the way they do.

Two different characters can have the same list of attributes and yet function in completely different ways.  Say, for example, we have Jane and Jill, two fictional characters.  They both dislike dogs.  On the surface they appear the same and if they come across a dog may react the same but if we examine these characters and start asking why then we discover some very important personality traits that will affect how these two characters react to different events. 

Jane dislikes dogs because she was chased by a dog when she was younger.

Jill dislikes dogs because they are smelly and messy.  She had one as a pet and it drooled all over her stuff and covered her clothes in dog hair.

So if we put these two characters in a scenario where they see a man who assaulted them years earlier we can expect they will react differently.  Jane will have a strong emotional response because past traumatic events tend to stay with her.  We know this because she still dislikes dogs after being frightened by one in her childhood.

Jill may still be fearful but is less likely to show a strong emotional response because she doesn’t form emotional attachments to events to the same degree.  We know this because Jill’s strongest memory of her pet dog is not one of fondness but rather disgust at its drooling and shedding.  She is able to distance herself emotionally.

Although this example is very simplistic you can see how by asking why the character dislikes dogs we develop a depth to them and a greater understanding of their motivations.

Once you can identify the motivating factors that drive your characters then you will find they will also drive the plot.  It doesn’t matter whether you will ever use the details you uncover about them, what matters is that they respond to events in your story in an authentic and believable manner.

LiveJournal Tags: characters,writing,fiction

Evolution of the Writer

One of the things that struck me most about writing is how it changed me.  I have been writing for just over a year and initially I believed that writing or being a writer was something I did instead I have discovered that it is something I became.  What was at first, just a tool for expression soon evolved into an inseparable part of me.
I recently took part in NaPoWriMo, the National Poetry Writing Month and I am stunned at the outcome.  I’m not a poet.  I write fiction but my fellow scrawlers encouraged me to give it a go so I did.  Poetry has this way of demanding we ditch the crap and get real.  Poetry settles for nothing less than our purest voice, freed from pretension, protection and presentation.  Poetry needs to be spoken from the soul and for anyone who hasn’t experience the denuding of such language the results are both exquisite and brutal.
As I delve deeper into the world of writing I find myself in a state of perpetual transmutation.  Each evolutionary stage brings me closer to who I was meant to be, who I am beneath the bullshit and bravado I don everyday.

The Art of Chewing Crayons

The purpose of this blog is to document my journey toward becoming an accomplished writer and in the process, share the knowledge I gain, and show how the acquisition of such knowledge changes me as a person.

I have the privilege of being in the company of accomplished, highly talented writers and editors from whom I hope to learn much, and in whose company, I often feel like the kid in the corner chewing crayons while the grown-ups talk.  Being an emergent writer is humbling but also welcome because at least I know what I am and what I am aspiring to become.

The journey I am on is often confusing filled with misinformation, rule exceptions, and art versus craft issues, yet those I am learning from write which such a natural ease that they seem to have been born with the ability to divine words. I watch them sculpt their work with the precision of a plastic surgeon, taking something ordinary and paring it down until it is a living breathing beauty but more than that, they infuse this exquisite creation with depth of meaning far beyond the aesthetic. The resulting sculpture is a gift to the minds and hearts of readers. The ability to conjure such gifts, to write words that cling to the bones and move us beyond whom and where we are, is my ultimate desire.