How to Write Literary Fiction
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- Опубліковано 5 лип 2024
- Literary fiction is known as one of the hardest genres to define, often described as a "you'll know it when you see it" type of genre. Today we're tackling this elusive genre, explaining how to go about writing it, and why it's worth giving a try!
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0:00 - What is literary fiction?
4:23 - Think carefully about form
5:26 - Create a flawed character
6:16 - Know what you want to say
7:03 - Write reflectively
8:04 - Be purposeful
8:40 - Be specific in your themes
9:31 - Don't overthink the prose
10:53 - Create events that reveal character
11:24 - Don't be afraid to be weird
12:13 - Focus on writing an interesting story
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"be specific"
would it even be a shaelin video if this was not one of their tips?
This was really helpful, I honestly had no idea what was considered Literary Fiction. I definitely understand where the elitist reputation comes from though. I've always thought of the genre as stuff well educated "ivy leaguers" read. As a community college dropout I never thought I'd enjoy it so didn't seek it out, but now I realize I have read several stories that would be considered literary fiction and they were some of my favorite ones. Thanks for the video, you're so good at turning on the lightbulbs in my head 😅
Hi Amanda! I would like to venture into writing again after a major employment/school gap since being a fulltime mom, I just don't know which books to start reading again for creative inspiration. Please inform me of any personal recommendations, from the list of books you've read, pertaining to this genre? Thanks.
@@tiatsele
I recommend:
Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go, The Remains of Days, Klara and the Sun
Emily St John Mandel - Station Eleven
Anthony Dorr - All the Lights We Cannot See
Khaled Hosseini - The Kite Runner
Kawai Strong Washburn - Sharks in the Times of Saviors
Amor Towles - A Gentleman in Moscow
@@Kintaro0e Thank you very much!
1. As others have said, this is helpful.
2. My current project is literary fiction. I've been asking myself whether I read enough of the genre to do that. Then I realized that the book I'm reading now is lit fic, half the books on my shelves are lit fic, etc.
Thank you so much for this video 😊 You vocalised a lot of my mental blocks that were keeping me from writing, I appreciate this channel do much!
Excellent video. Some of the best and grounded info I've encountered on the subject. Focus on writing an interesting story.
literary fiction is my favorite to read/write because of the allowance for experimentation and social commentary
I’m SO glad you did one on literary fiction! It’s pretty much all I write, and the Reddit sub I followed was all about fantasy so I felt wayyyy out of place.
Adam ALL fiction is fantasy. The rules of good fiction apply to the Literary and Fantasy genres. This is what Brandon and I decided.
In Literary genre, there is far more room for developing a Writer's Voice and Style.
@@carlajenkins1990 correct, but I was practically ostracized for not writing about magic and dragons. I said it doesn’t matter what we write as long as we love the craft of writing itself, and I got downvoted and laughed at. But really that doesn’t matter so much. I love writing.
@@ACD95 Smiley Face. You found all the nuts in that genre. We belong to a more open-minded group of writers.
Thank you for this :) It has really helped me with my assignment on writing a literary fiction piece!
This was very helpful. I didn't know that I was working on a literary fantasy this whole time. Thanks for giving me a better view of how to project this to an agent
I always joke that with literary fiction, the cat is only saved occasionally. ;)
Just remember folks, The Road by Cormac McCarthy is an example of literary fiction, but also dystopian, speculative, and with a bunch of horror mixed in.
Thank you. This was extremely helpful.
I thought my novel idea lacked external jeopardy acting on its main character. This isn't a flaw, as it is about their internal struggles.
Thank you so much. I really needed something like this. Please keep up the good work
Oh man this is really freeing. I’ve always felt like I *aspire* to write literary fiction but surely I couldn’t *claim* the genre until my work is quality-tested. Surely I couldn’t market as literary as a first time author…
This is the first time I feel like I can bust that notion. And it actually makes me feel like it will be easier to keep writing the way I am (tip 7 is SO especially useful!) Some doubts have been lifted. Thank you!
Thank you for this video. This was very useful.
Great video, as usual. Thank you! Think it would have helped had you mentioned few 'good' examples of the genre, though.
I know it's not the way it's marketed, but I consider literary an approach that places a high value on the writing itself rather than a genre.
There are lots of books that overlap literary and genre. 100 Years of Solitide is both literary and fantasy. Beloved is literary and horror. Never Let Me Go is literary and SF.
I was waiting for this one! It helped me a lot
I agree that the beauty of literary fiction, both as a writer and reader, is there are no rules. I love a good genre story, but I hate the I know the whole time that the detective will solve the crime or the astronaut will get back to earth etc.
I was looking for some insight into this subject. This was certainly helpful. Thanks!
New sub here! Thanks for the helpful info
Language, Language, Language and how it is told is truly what sets Literary fiction apart from basic fiction (simply character driven) and genre fiction. I would caution in attributing Literary fiction as mostly based on character driven, or the arch of character and how it develops in a story. Where she misses here is by informing how theme and tone are written and what it relays in some profound philosophical part. I stop short of relaying the human condition because then it keeps Literary fiction bound to what happens to the characters. There is quite a bit of literary fiction found in the New Yorker and Harpers (just to name a few of the popular magazines where you will locate these stylistic stories), and/or (not so common ones) such as Virginia Quarterly, The Threepenny Review, Ploughshares or Story which demonstrate mostly a slice of life tale in which the characters aren't even that interesting but the language and the way in which the story describes the circumstances of their environment propels the story meaning into a debatable form.
Many of my favorite books are literary AND genre. Beautiful language with fantasy, SF, or horror elements.
Touching on the elitism stigma, I’ve found it rather difficult to find a decent sampling of authors of literary fiction (even in genre fiction it’s uncommon) who do not hold a degree. To clarify, I mean any degree, not just an MFA or specifically a creative writing degree. The impression is that traditional publishers wouldn’t take a chance on writers who are not formally educated. Maybe they’re saying, “what would the blurb even say if not announcing the authors credentials?”
i write litfic, too. my take is that litfic is not a genre, but what i call a super-genre. the other super-genre is poplit. any genre can be lit or pop. for example, wells and verse wrote litfic sci-fi, tolkien and lewis wrote litfic fantasy, doyle wrote litfic detective.
I know it is violent fantasy, but would Robert E Howard's Conan stories be literary fiction? They are just so beautifully written.
Right on.
In literary fiction, “The (character’s) flaw is the point of the story”, whereas in genre fiction the goal is for the character to overcome the flaws. This has helped me a lot Shaelin. I have a character whose flaws are to be embraced and I’ve struggled for a year trying to figure out how to grapple with this aspect. Something has settled in me now. I will write from this place.
Good job.
Your enthusiasm and love of literary fiction SHINE in this video! And your descriptions/distinctions from genre fiction make lit fic seem much less intimidating. I feel like all the literary fiction I read in school was about…emotionally constipated white people, and all sounded the same - so I abandoned the genre. This video makes me want to explore lit fic again!
Lol imagine I just changed one word in your statement... the outrage
That was very interesting. I'm focused at the moment on personal essay (1500-2500 words) but without an overall memoir intention. Its an exercise toward improving my skills and building my writing practice. I find I have tons of good story ideas but when I start to write, I collapse a few paragraphs in, bc there is no conflict, drama, climax, action. They are interesting stories (IMO) about a scene, a strange moment I experienced, a strong feeling I had. Those are the ideas or feelings I'm trying to communicate. It sounds like literary NON-fiction might be my type.
NOTE: As a result of this video, I went back to my personal essay and changed the POV. I focused on form, character building, scene. I juxtaposed two opposing desires held by the protagonist and while neither wins and there is no conflict, the summary paragraphs emphasize the idea again. I'm very happy with the resulting piece. Your video got me past my block about lack of climax, conflict and drama. Brava and TY.
That moment you realise your entire manuscript was literary fiction all along
thank you
As a newly minted fiction writer who is finding my voice in very unorthodox ways, this video brings me a certain comfort. Perhaps I shouldn't need permission to write what I want to, to tell stories the way I want to, and to ignore the formulae, but I must have felt some need because you just explained writing in a way that makes me feel like a valid contributor, whether I make a commercial success of it or not. Thank you for that.
I LOVE YOU SHAELIN !!!!!!!!!!!! YOU ARE FREAKING AMAZING !!!!
Are Sally Rooney's books considered Literary Fiction? I like to write intimate stories about characters and relationships, but I get so confused by the terms Literary Fiction, Commercial Fiction, and "Chick Lit" - I hate that term, it feels super reductive. If you were writing something like Conversations with Friends, would you say it's commercial fiction because it's super popular, or literary because it's focused on characters and voice?
Wow! I am a writer and a happy one. I think blurring the lines between fact and fiction is a cool thing to do.
i would like to know what you do when you not online?
A few days ago I sent the following regarding literary fiction to my beta readers. I thought it would be helpful to send you a copy: FYI. I want to tell you that I’ve changed the title of my new book from Jason’s Choice to Jason’s Journey, because I feel my genre has changed from contemporary fiction to literary fiction. I am excited about this change and I hope you will too.
In short, the protagonist, Jason, is more than a man making choices; he is a man on a journey to resolve deeply-seated issues from his past. Although the theme of the story is the power of choices, it is also not only about Jason’s choices, but it is Jason’s Journey, which is everyone’s Journey. Therefore, I feel that this story is more than contemporary fiction; it is also literary fiction.
*Author A.J. Smee says that genre fiction seeks to entertain and follows technical rules. He adds that literary fiction “probes deeply into our humanity.” The differences between literary fiction and genre fiction are the existence of four hierarchal points. They are dealing: with social constructs; the human condition; internal struggle and compromise; and, style in writing.
Dealing with social constructs: Literary fiction deals with our constructed politics, social, and economic systems of the culture of the protagonist. How do protagonists fit in with these systems and how are they failing them. Confrontation with the culture and how the protagonist responds are what drives the story.
The human condition: confrontation with the social system leads to the discovery of the best and worst of humanity. The clash of the antagonist as he/she supports the establishment with the protagonist’s ideals forces him/her to question their ideals. Why we do what we do is the common thread the reader is forced to consider.
Internal struggle and compromise:a character driven vs a plot driven story means that the conflict will center on in internal struggles of the protagonists. The protagonist must resolve the internal conflicts between their ethics and morality and show how this struggle demonstrates their moral growth.
Style in writing: genre fiction targets specific audiences and responds to the commercial appeal and audience expectations. Literary genre has greater flexibility n this area. This may include complexity, play, and originality of language.
*A. J. SMEE has been an international teacher for over twenty years, specializing in environment, languages, philosophy and design. He holds an advanced degree in Environmental Studies and an MA in Political Philosophy. His passion for learning and experience has carried him around the world, living and teaching in numerous countries in South America and Asia. Music, songwriting and novel writing are just some ways of his creative expression. He lives internationally with his wife and cats.
how to make a memoir what do you need
Shaelin, do the same "rules" apply for literary fiction regarding stakes, conflicts and a character's desire? Suddenly I feel like most of the videos I've seen with you mostly concerns genre fiction? Big question I know.
I would say that it is the literary version of form over function.
I think I might be accidentally writing litfic and I don't know how to find out for sure ._.
is there any literary fiction novels you’d recommend for someone’s new to the genre?
What type of work do you enjoy? There's a huge range but I'm sure I can recommend something that's to your taste!
Thank you.
Shaelin, what do you write? I would like to read something.
I always get so much from Shaelin's videos - thank you, Shaelin!
She said that literary fiction does not, in fact, "have to be realistic." I always thought any kind of magic or supernatural was Strictly Verboten in literary fiction. Can anyone give me an example of a work of literary fiction in which there is magic? I mean magic that is actually real, not some kind of Scooby-Doo thing where someone was tricked into believing in a ghost, or where the magic was just because the main POV was nucking futz the whole time. But actual ghosts or faeries or something that was actually, within the context of the story, real. Thanks!
Borges and Kafka both wrote fantastical literary fiction. Morrison’s Beloved has a malevolent spirit in it.
I’m currently reading Killing Commendatore by Murakami, and it has some cool supernatural elements
I think Literary fiction is my favorite genre
Def not my favorite personally but it's cool to learn about cause I like the insights but not the actual reading
Thanks for the video! It's very helpful, but it would be even better if you just slowed down a bit. It would help give viewers time to assimilate what you're saying. A couple of direct quotes from books as examples would be nice, too.
you are the best, buddy
I'm here more to understand what it means, but I still don't get the distinction. Not your fault though, you did a great job. I just have trouble with this. Like aren't all stories concerned with these things (study/exploration of flawed characters, theme, style, form)? Don't all characters have goals? Don't all characters react to events and reveal who they are in the process while working through their flaws to achieve their goals? And when did the distinction happen? Based on older novels it seems to me (and I'm probably wrong) like most novels had varying degrees of all these elements and then at some point publishing divided books into entertainment (genre) and art (litfic). I kind of wish there was something in the middle, though, because I often (not always) find litfic a bit too serious. Even when it's trying to be humorous, it's taking itself very seriously. It's not an issue exactly, because a lot of people like that, I just prefer things less intense. But then I find genre often doesn't take itself seriously enough based on the quality of the writing and the way characters are explored and the story told, like lack of nuance and depth. I kind of wish there was a distinct middle genre with strong writing, character exploration, plot, and theme that balanced levity and profundity. Am I the only one? I'm not demanding answers here, just hoping for some discussion.
why shaelin have two channels im just curious
If as you say, one is not restrained by many of novel writting rules (which is what is frustrating in creating fictional works), then, that would be what makes easier to write than the rest of fiction types, I think.
Nicholson Baker has a book called The Mezzanine that takes places in the timespan of a character leaving a CVS and going up an escalator. Yeah, literary fiction can have some interesting situations and ideas.
That sounds so cool!!
It's funny. I'm binge-watching your videos on Reedsy and on your own channel, and I seriously think that you give the best writing advice on UA-cam, but I struggled with this one. Literary fiction is so difficult to define, and you give a very specific and personal definition, but idk there are some aspects I disagree with, because maybe I don't agree with that it is even a genre. You can write a genre novel in a literary way for instance (Ishiguro? Does he write SF or literary fiction or literary SF?). You mention "experimenting with form" as the first major characteristic, but then you also say (rightfully) that most literary fiction is actually written in a very straight forward, functional style. It's almost like you attempted the impossible by trying to define literary fiction.
Literary fiction doesn't have to experiment with form, the form is just prioritized over the plotline! However, it *is* very amorphous and there are plenty of books that float between genres, Ishiguro being a perfect example of a writer who draws elements of literary fiction and SF. It is definitely challenge to try and concretely define what literary fiction is for sure!
@@paris2993 regardless of what’s going on in the world, I promise it’s not a good time for you to write as most people find it necessary to know a language first.
@@Exayevie how did our lill missy deduce that there is a certain lag in terms of language. Did my comment gave u sweety any idea. Or was it just that u had to puke everywhere hateful heart.😁😎
I didn't know I was writing literary fiction.
That's why I dont believe in the distinction of literary fiction and genre fiction. What is considered literary fiction is actually "good"or "quality" fiction. The other genres such as thriller, historical, etc are real genres and being literary is the quality towards which all good writers strive.
I love to write stories, but i always think that my Language is not good
I disagree with your definition of Literary Fiction. I would define it as containing heavy use of literary devices.
Well, that could be any writing. There are tons of genre work that is full of literary devices. By your logic then literary fiction only becomes so by crossing over some arbitrary amount of literary devices used.
@@CGMiller Yeah... That's my definition.
Literary Fiction word count x67.. have fun and tell interesting stories.. thanks got it..
"how to write literary fiction"
aight bet, another Shaelin video.
Shaelin: "hi everyone--"
yep.
also, YET AGAIN, how in the name of all that is holy did shaelin know this was EXACTLY THE VIDEO I NEEDED ON THIS PARTICULAR DAY?????
I was gonna say the exact same thing lol
It's a suggestion -
You should read Mahabharat.🕉❤❤❤❤❤
i literary ficton books to read at home.
weird litfic is the best litfic
I agree!