This week we talk about the genre of Literary Fiction. Our first hurdle is the word “literary” whose use in this context can imply that all other genres are somehow not literature. In that vein, then, we’re talking about mainstream, or “non-genre” fiction which is crafted with close attention to the finer points of the prose. After framing our discussion, we dive into the nuts and bolts of writing in the Literary Fiction genre.
Credits: This episode was recorded by Andrew Twiss, and mastered by Alex Jackson.
You drive your spouse to the airport and watch them fly away on a trip. Then you go straight home, and find them there in the house, sitting at the computer…
You love ’em, we love ’em, and there’s never a shortage of questions so here’s another another fast-paced Q&A. Here are the questions that we field in this episode:
How do you prepare to write?
How do you write stories that are important without being heavy-handed?
Magical realism vs. Fantasy — what’s the difference?
Do you have recommendations or techniques for serving as a beta reader? (Here’s the promised liner-note bit from Mary.)
Is it possible to do a serial with short stories and novellas all in the same setting?
Why do publishers say they want crossed-genre books, but they’re not publishing crossed-genre books?
Picture books and books for beginning readers: can you ‘cast on this for us? (Answer: not until we’ve got an expert guest in that field. If you want that info, go to SCBWI.org)
Can you do a ‘cast on reading aloud? (Answer: yes. This is not that ‘cast.)
What is the primary thing you’ve learned from reading Literary Fiction that has informed your Genre Fiction writing?
