You want to tell your first story. But before you can put that out to the public and reach many readers, you need to know what genre you want to write for.
Budding writers will not fail to write for those who are a fan of fiction.
Knowing what readers you would target and what type of literature you will specialize in would impact your success as a literary fiction author.
This guide will teach you all you need to know about literary fiction writing and how you will approach this genre.
What Is Literary Fiction?
Literary fiction is a genre of literature that focuses on the human condition and the social issues of life. It often includes elements of drama, mystery, romance, and humor.
It is typically character-driven, meaning that the plot centers on developing characters in a way that allows readers to sympathize with them.
Literary novels are from a specific period or location, which helps set the tone for each story. They also tend to focus more on character development rather than action sequences.
These books may also include multiple narrators to tell the story from different perspectives.
The History of Literary Fiction
In many ways, the roots of Literary Fiction are similar to those of the novel. Wherein a character, rather than the action, is the emphasis. So let’s look at how literary fiction evolved throughout the years.
One of the oldest examples is the book The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha (1605-1615) by Miguel de Cervantes. The novel’s main point is how they affect Don Quixote’s psychological state over time.
The novel emerges as a genuinely intellectual vehicle for authors, readers, and critics to engage with contemporary societal challenges during the next 300 years.
Novels are now accountable for influencing politics, and their characters serve as symbols in more extensive social or psychological discussions.
In Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (1843), you will meet Ebenezer Scrooge, a character whose greed has profoundly harmed him.
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852, the book shows how certain events enraged American opinions toward slavery that it is credited with sparking the Civil War.
By the late 1800s, Modernism’s preoccupation with society and its consequences on us as individuals had become a standard of Literary Fiction.
By the early 1900s, Literary Fiction has embraced Stream of Consciousness, immersing further in the meditative, human experience.
William Faulkner famously begins The Sound and the Fury (1929) by immersing readers in the thoughts of one character, Benjy.
The reader can only figure out the storyline with context and a chronological chronology. Postmodern novels stretch the boundaries even further after the tragedies of WWII.
While most protagonists continue to doubt the morality of the day, they also dispute the existence of truth or objective reality.
You can consider Captain Yossarian’s struggle with the absurdity of free will in Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 (1961) or how the ladies in Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping (1980) decide what defines them as a family and what does not.
Types of Literary Fiction
There are four main types of literary fiction. Let’s discuss each one below.
Contemporary Literary Fiction
Contemporary literary fiction is a subgenre within literary fiction that focuses on recent events, often with a political bent.
It deals with issues such as war, terrorism, environmental degradation, and personal themes like family relationships and romance.
A book about an American soldier returning home from Iraq can be a contemporary literary fiction if it’s more concerned with his emotional life than showing off military tactics or strategies used in combat situations.
Realistic Literary Fiction
Realistic literary fiction is a subgenre that centers on everyday people living in ordinary circumstances.
It’s not fantasy or science fiction. It’s just life as we know it.
The setting may be unusual or foreign, but the characters are familiar to us: people who work hard to make ends meet, trying to find love in a world full of distractions, people who have lost hope but still manage to keep going every day.
Experimental Literary Fiction
Experimental literary fiction can be difficult to categorize because it often doesn’t fit neatly into any one genre.
Writers of this genre may use techniques like stream-of-consciousness narration or unconventional punctuation to challenge readers’ perceptions of what a story should be like.
Many also try to subvert traditional narrative structures to expand their readers’ understanding of what constitutes reality and how we perceive it.
Philosophical Literary Fiction
You can define philosophical literary fiction by its themes and tone. It’s a genre that explores questions about life, the universe, and everything about who we are, where we originate from, and what our purpose for living is here on Earth in an intelligent way.
The stories are usually through the eyes of characters grappling with these issues themselves: They may be searching for meaning in their lives or trying to understand the importance of life itself (or both).
Philosophical literary fiction can be from any era. Still, it usually takes place in modern times and has no fantasy elements like magic or time travel.
Instead, it often uses science fiction elements to explore philosophical questions about humanity’s place in the world or within our minds.
Characteristics Of Literary Fiction
There are several characteristics of literary fiction. Let’s take a look at each one below:
It doesn’t follow a formula.
There needs to be a set structure for writing literary fiction.
Some writers use the first-person point of view, and others don’t.
Likewise, you can write some novels chronologically, and others aren’t.
You can tell some stories through dialogue alone, and others rely heavily on description and description alone.
Some characters are developed throughout several books, while others appear only briefly before disappearing again forever into oblivion. Some have happy endings while others don’t, and the list continues.
It uses creative storytelling.
The writing style may be experimental or traditional, but it’s meant to challenge readers’ perceptions of what fiction can be.
It explores the human condition.
It often explores themes such as love, loss, and family relationships. Thus it is more complex than other forms of writing, with more complex character development and plot structure.
It often features a first-person narrator who expresses their thoughts in the text, as opposed to third-person narration, where the narrator’s thoughts are implied but never stated outright.
It’s character-focused
The story is character-focused rather than plot-driven, so character development takes precedence over plot development. Literary novels often focus on one main character who undergoes a significant transformation during the story.
Since literary fiction focuses on characters rather than the plot, it’s more challenging to summarize than genre fiction, such as romance or sci-fi/fantasy novels.
It often has an ambiguous ending.
Literary fiction can challenge readers because it sometimes has a vague resolution. For example, the story may end with the protagonist’s death, but the reader isn’t sure how they got there or what happened to them after their death.
It’s award-friendly
Literary fiction often wins prestigious awards like the Pulitzer Prize or National Book Award because it appeals to people interested in serious topics such as politics or philosophy.
Final Thoughts
If you are a first-time author, you’ll want to know the genre under which your story is.
So check this guide to learn more about the details when writing literary fiction.
