My inclination as a fiction writer has always been to write literary fiction. First—what is literary fiction exactly? The way I distinguish literary fiction from genre fiction is by what I call the bones of the story, as in its structure, like we say the “bones” of a house.
The bones of a literary fiction novel are comprised of themes and philosophical ideas related to the human condition. Due to the emphasis on these things, the author spends more time in the characters’ heads, so one could say literary fiction novels are character-driven rather than plot-driven.
In genre fiction, the plot is the true frame of the story. The author might enrich the story with the exploration of themes and philosophical questions, but without them, the novel can still stand, so long as it has a solid plot that follows the conventions of the given genre, which is what readers expect from genre fiction.
I think the blurriness around what literary fiction is and isn’t comes from the fact that it’s a rather vague term. I’d say something like “theme fiction,” “character-driven fiction,” or even “ideological fiction” would more accurately describe what it truly is.
Last year, I found myself feeling discouraged as a lit fic writer and reader. All the social media spaces I was trying to build a community in seemed dominated by romance and romantasy. I got me thinking that no one buys lit fic anymore, which would mean I’m writing for nobody but myself and would continue having a difficult time finding people who enjoy the same books I do.
But it’s really not true that no one buys literary fiction novels anymore. It still sells pretty well to the audience that Substacker Lincoln Michel calls the “general book buyer” in his post Who Is Reading What and Why.
So then why is it so hard to find these lit fic book buyers on social media sites? Is it simply that the online communities for lit fic are much smaller than genre fiction communities—perhaps because readers of lit fic have personality types that make them less interested in following book influencers? Or is it that literary fiction doesn’t perform well in algorithms? I’m asking because I honestly don’t know. Do you?
Before I started writing my own book and educating myself on the publishing industry, I found all my next books by perusing the shelves at my local bookstores. Maybe that’s still what most literary fiction readers are doing? If so, that puts indie lit fic authors at an even greater disadvantage, because it’s extremely difficult as an indie author to get your book stocked in brick-and-mortar stores. I’ve heard others suggest this before—but maybe sites like Substack are the future of where lit fic readers will search for new novels (besides physical stores), if I, myself, am any indicator of lit fic readers’ preferences for fiction book discovery.
Even if it were true that people are reading lit fic much less than genre fiction, I decided I’m OK with having a smaller potential audience. I’d like to place the focus more on the strength of the connection between readers and what I write than the number of readers. I want to be the best that I can be at meeting the needs readers turn to literary fiction for, which is to feel understood, enlightened, and inspired. Simply to feel any of the range of emotions that are unique to humans.
In the spirit of honing my ability to write my best lit fic, I started reading more classics.
I’m currently reading The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë. Some of the inner dialogue of my first novel’s main character, Dani, and one of this novel’s main characters, Helen, is strikingly similar, and I am awed by this. Here is a book written in England in 1848, and I was having the same questions and beliefs about life and relationships in modern-day America. It’s an example of how parts of the human experience remain the same across time and continents, which overwhelmed me with feelings of unity and connection, despite the fact that some of these experiences I’m referring to from the stories aren’t happy ones. And it’s a reminder of why we need to keep writing literary fiction, even when it’s not getting the hype online that other types of fiction do—to continue chronicling the ways our experiences have changed, and the ways they haven’t. To help answer questions about human nature. To give a sense of solidarity, and maybe even hope.
Until next time, friend. Cheers.
Great thoughts here. I agree with your definitions. You might enjoy Wellness by Nathan Hill. Great lit fic that has gotten some popular attention.
As probably the only reader of litfic I know (offline at least), I find myself asking these questions too. It seems though from certain subreddits that a lot of readers of litfic have certain imprints that are a marker of quality, same with certain lit mags. It’s hard to find good literary fiction because so much of it is so middlebrow. There’s a general understanding now that highbrow literature is going to come from indie presses and not be nominated for the Booker prize (though I think some of the recent winners are still quite a touch more elevated than your typical Sally Rooney novel).
These days I just keep my eye out on Substack for reviews. Anything that comes across the desks of Ross Barkan or John Pistelli are worth a look. And the funny thing is, book reviews are not the primary things they typically write.