Authors of literary fiction focus on the art of writing as the main
interest of the author and the reader. Literary artists write novels
that have plot, but they are more concerned about creating a sort of
onion effect. The more you read the story, the more you discover. As you
peel away one layer of story, say the plot, you find a second story
built around the theme. Read the story once for what happens. Go back to
ask why. Another reading gets you thinking about how the author created
such a beautiful, cohesive whole. You may enjoy the way the author
developed the character as the story moved forward. The main character
goes through a big change of some sort. Literary stories may or may not
have a beginning, a middle and an end.
One example of an artistic onion layer can be found in Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises.
Read the novel a few times and you begin to see that all the characters
equate to bulls or cows of one sort or another. That’s why the author
spends so much time telling you about bullfighting and the different
types of bulls. Gaining that understanding from a single reading is
difficult. Knowing it helps to make the story come together for you.
Meanwhile… back to suspense/thriller novels
Serious
writers of suspense/thriller novels or other genre fiction will tell
you they do the same thing literary novelists do in creating character
depth and layers of artistic merit. And they will point out that most
literary authors actually write genre fiction. For example, Charles
Dickens, if not the first author of a murder mystery novel, was
certainly an early adapter of the genre. So what’s the difference for
you as a reader?
The first rule is to find novels you enjoy. Read
other novels written by the same author or authors. If you enjoy the
classics, you may enjoy modern authors who pride themselves in writing
“literary” novels. If you enjoy murder mysteries, read them.
The
point is simply this: the better authors invest themselves in
developing the literary quality of their work as well as entertaining
you with a good plot. “Literary” authors generally are not concerned as
much about plot as they are character and literary tradition. They
mainly write for themselves as artists. They trust that literary readers
will find their work.
Genre authors emphasize telling a
compelling story within their genre to entertain their readers. Their
stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. They know how to develop a
character so you can empathize with her. They know how to make you weep
or laugh. They are not afraid to kill off a character, but also
recognize there are consequences to their actions. They know how to make
you want to turn the page, something literary authors are less
concerned about.
Read literary novels when you enjoy an author
who plays with the language, writes poetically and provides insights
into philosophy and why the world works the way it does. Read genre
fiction when you want to enjoy a good tale well told.
And speaking of tales worth telling, please consider my suspense/thriller novel Fulfillment, click here for Amazon or click here for paperback.
Here’s another novel idea…
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The Missing Dwarven Phaser is a group blog contributed to by members of the Write Time Writers Group in suburban Chicago, IL. Members write mystery, suspense, fantasy and science fiction (hence the name.) We look forward to sharing our unique writing perspectives, thoughts, and opinions with you.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
based on true events
Hovering bedside, the demon started out in a playful mood. He toyed with ideas of escape from imminent danger, entangled relationships from disparate social circles, and added a smattering of spooks and creeps where appropriate. His specialty was not so much in blood and gore, but illusions of deformity, illness and the like. He liked to throw in possessed children, depending on the dreamer.
This time she happened to be an insouciant waste of time. She was one of those. One of those who like to write on the side. On the side, top, bottom and middle of their daily lives, they were unassuming emotional vampires, sucking the beauty and chaos out from any situation, as if they couldn't cope without arranging words to process the things that did and didn't happen. Getting chills in her bed, she secretly lavished in the scared feeling. Instead of waking up, forcing happy thoughts, or crying out to God, she seemed to be trying to actually prolong the nightmare. Could this be this right? Along the edges of his consciousness, the demon began to suspect that she was working out descriptions of characters and setting from what she saw. Infuriated that the writer was using even this opportunity to cultivate plot fodder for scenes of her next book, shook her awake with a loud shriek and dissipated out of the room.
The demon returned with new strategies, worse images. But the woman in her fear, welcomed it and would wake up to begin writing furiously before the details tapered out. This of course challenged the demon even more....
Sometimes our muses aren't friendly. I was thinking, that writers make muses out of anything, seizing upon facts, thoughts, events, all the time with a persistent ulterior motive: in part, to exploit them as material for their writing. Whether it be the experience of a nightmare, a loved one's financial or health struggles, romances of all kinds, etc., we are opportunists of all we encounter whether or not we like it.
What do you think? Are we vampires?
This time she happened to be an insouciant waste of time. She was one of those. One of those who like to write on the side. On the side, top, bottom and middle of their daily lives, they were unassuming emotional vampires, sucking the beauty and chaos out from any situation, as if they couldn't cope without arranging words to process the things that did and didn't happen. Getting chills in her bed, she secretly lavished in the scared feeling. Instead of waking up, forcing happy thoughts, or crying out to God, she seemed to be trying to actually prolong the nightmare. Could this be this right? Along the edges of his consciousness, the demon began to suspect that she was working out descriptions of characters and setting from what she saw. Infuriated that the writer was using even this opportunity to cultivate plot fodder for scenes of her next book, shook her awake with a loud shriek and dissipated out of the room.
The demon returned with new strategies, worse images. But the woman in her fear, welcomed it and would wake up to begin writing furiously before the details tapered out. This of course challenged the demon even more....
Sometimes our muses aren't friendly. I was thinking, that writers make muses out of anything, seizing upon facts, thoughts, events, all the time with a persistent ulterior motive: in part, to exploit them as material for their writing. Whether it be the experience of a nightmare, a loved one's financial or health struggles, romances of all kinds, etc., we are opportunists of all we encounter whether or not we like it.
What do you think? Are we vampires?
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