Literary vs Genre, Defining the Debate

 A debate I often see on various websites is the value/worthiness of genre novels in comparison to literary fiction. Usually, it’s genre writers fighting back at what they perceive as a slight against what they write.  Unfortunately, most don’t have a clue about the difference between popular genre and literary fiction so their arguments make little sense.  I thought I’d rectify that problem.  

The simplest comparison between literary fiction and popular/genre fiction is that literary fiction is about the telling of the story, popular fiction is about the story itself. 

In literary fiction, the author is always evident through the flashy style and the use of complex structure.  Plot isn’t important. A common technique found in literary fiction is the frame story where someone in the present is looking into the past, or the end of the novel is revealed at the beginning.  In other words, time in most stories isn't linear, and the reader doesn't read primarily to know what happens next and how it turns out in the end.  This technique emphasizes character over plot.

In genre fiction, the writer should be invisible, and the reader should be part of the story and not really aware of the writer and the way he's putting the story together.  Anything that breaks this "dream state" is a failure on the writer's part.  

In literary fiction, the opposite is true.  The language draws attention to itself, and the reader pauses to think, "My, what an excellent use of metaphor and language!  I think I'll reread that again."  This is what the literary writer aims for.

In recent years, since the big publishers now demand decent sales from literary writers, authors have been using genre techniques in literary fiction or vice versa in order to widen their audiences. 

Young Adult vs New Adult Books

 One common problem in promotional and cover blurbs is the poor choice of which genre or reading audience would be interested in the book.

This is a serious flaw because the wrong genre or audience tag means those who would enjoy your book won’t find it, and those who want a certain type of book will be unhappy if they buy yours and discover you lied to them about what they bought.  This is definitely not how to build your readership and your writing career.  

One very common area where authors make the wrong choice of an audience tag is New Adult and Young Adult which are not only about the age of the main characters, but also the issues that drive their lives.  If the book isn’t about those issues, particularly New Adult, then it doesn’t belong in that category.

One instance of this was an urban fantasy I read recently with a younger protagonist who must deal with a death sentence and solve a murder.  Her age and life choices have nothing to do with the plot yet it is labeled as New Adult with no mention of urban fantasy which not only fits it better but has a much wider audience.  

What exactly are New Adult and Young Adult?  Here are some definitions I found online.  

NEW ADULT:  

“New Adult books feature characters with slightly older teens or in their very early twenties. They are more commercially accessible coming of age stories, ones that take a look to life beyond school. They are learning who they are and how they are going to respond to adult challenges. Moreover, and this is important to me, they are fairly independent.” from Dear Author.  

“New Adult fiction bridges the gap between Young Adult and Adult genres. It typically features protagonists between the ages of 18 and 30.

The genre tends to focus on issues prevalent in the young adult genre as well as focusing on issues experienced by individuals between the area of childhood and adulthood, such as leaving home for university and getting a job.

New adult is typically considered a subcategory of adult literature rather than young adult literature.” from GoodReads.

YOUNG ADULT:  

“Essentially, it’s just literature for and about teens, there to bridge the gap between children’s and adults’ books. It can be subdivided into the same genres as adult books—romance, paranormal, mystery, horror, literary fiction.”  Jim McCarthy, agent.  

It's the Romance, Stupid

In the 1992 campaign against George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and his advisers realized that the economy was Bush’s weak spot so they decided to focus on that subject.  Around Clinton’s headquarters, the sign, “It’s the economy, Stupid,” was posted to remind everyone to stay focused on that issue.

In the same way, a writer needs to hone in on the targeted audience of her book.  

When you are writing and you get a clever idea about the romance heroine’s business problems, you need to decide if that has anything to do with her relationship with the hero.  If it doesn’t, out it should go.  

Particularly at the beginning of the novel, that target audience should be kept in mind.  The reader wants girl to meet boy as soon as possible so the heroine’s backstory and everything else must be second in importance in those first pages.  

In the same way, the mystery reader wants the murder to happen, the science fiction reader wants some brand new scientific idea or world to startle him, and the horror reader wants his pants scared off of him.

When you are rewriting, always remind yourself that “It’s the romance/mystery/sf/horror, Stupid” and focus your book toward that kind of reader.

What's Your Genre?

Within a genre or subgenre, there are different styles and types of books.  The difference can be the sensual/sex level, the romantic level, the amount of plot and characterization, scientific level, adventure levels, world building levels, etc., etc.  

These differences often mean that one reader will like certain books but not others within the same subgenre.  

In your own reading, you have probably noticed that you gravitate toward certain writers, and others leave you cold.

I have a question for you, and I want you to think really hard about it.  

Can you name several authors or book series that you want your books to be like?  I'm not talking subject matter, I'm talking the whole feel of the books.

Why are this question and its answer important?  

Novels don't exist in a vacuum.  Your novel will not only need a publisher to publish it, you'll need an audience to write to.  And despite publishers saying they want different, they want close-to-the-same different, and readers are the same way.  

You absolutely must have an answer to this question before you begin to market your book to agents/publishers/readers.

Classifying Cross-genre

 If a novel is cross-genre, one of the genres must be the strongest and its genre tropes and plot must drive the novel throughout.

A sf romance is first and foremost a romance.  Linnea Sinclair's sf romance novels are driven forward by the romance. Catherine Asaro's novels are science fiction novels with a romantic element. The science fiction plot and world building drive the novel forward, not the romance.

A werewolf novel that is driven forward by the world building and various werewolf political/pack struggles is urban fantasy.  A werewolf novel where boy wolf meets girl vampire, and they fall in love during various werewolf political/pack struggles is a paranormal romance.

The important thing to pull out of this is that you must understand what the central genre of your novel is so your novel doesn't fail by genre standards which are really reader expectation standards.  

When you are writing your book, staying within genre or subgenre expectations makes the book much easier to market to the correct readers.  

Marilyn Monroe and Writing

 After film beauty Marilyn Monroe was dressed for going out and finished with her makeup, she'd study herself in a full length mirror, then turn her back and glance back at herself. Whatever element of her makeup jumped out at her, she'd make less noticeable.  She'd do this until she had a complete look.

I've always thought this story is an excellent metaphor for writing genre fiction.  Anything like overwriting, fancy words, and moments of being too clever need to be toned down.

That doesn't mean that a viewpoint character can't be clever or use an occasional big word if it fits his personality, but it should be the viewpoint character, not the author.

During the rewriting process, be sure to look for things that stand out too much and remove them so the story is what is important, not your writing.

The Problem with Avoiding Formula

One of the pluses mentioned by authors who self-publish is that the author isn’t trapped by the formula insisted upon by the big publishers.  

Unfortunately, many don’t realize that this formula is more related to what the reader wants than what the publisher demands.

I’ve been reading a bunch of self-published books, and I’m seeing this problem with surprising frequency.

For example, I started a paranormal cozy mystery series.  The heroine sees ghosts and solves their murders so they can rest in peace.  A cozy mystery tends to be laid back with an amateur sleuth who uses nosiness and intelligence to figure out the murder.  Violence and the gross elements (the dead body, blood, etc.) are usually off page until the very end when the amateur sleuth faces the killer but prevails.  

In one book in this series, the amateur sleuth is heading to a Western ghost town which is now a restored tourist destination.  She falls asleep and dreams about a ghost taking her to the local town where she meets the sheriff and discovers that a little girl and her family have disappeared, probably trapped in a mine or lost in the desert, and the little girl is in deadly danger.

After the amateur sleuth wakes up, she arrives in town and discovers her dream was accurate.  The hotel is exactly as she dreamed, and the sheriff is the person she dreamed about.  People know the family she dreamed about were there, but no one realizes that the family is in trouble.  

At this point, you’d expect the amateur sleuth to tell the sheriff about the little girl in danger and to do everything in her power to find her.  She does not.  Instead, she acts like this is her standard cozy mystery and begins a very slow and casual investigation while enjoying her vacation. 

Later, she meets the owner of the hotel who knew the family had expressed interest in exploring dangerous mines in search of treasure.  The hotel owner finally realizes the family may be in trouble but won’t tell the sheriff.  The amateur sleuth then gives her three days to tell the sheriff or she will.  All this while the young family may be trapped in a gold mine or the desert without food or water.  

I was screaming at the main character at this point as well as the writer who took a thriller plot and inserted it into a cozy then failed to follow through with the changes.  Needless to say, I haven’t bought any of her other books.  

Another novel with a weird mix of amateur sleuth and thriller had the amateur sleuth trying to solve a crime while the police and FBI were attacking it from another angle so its plot resembled a regular deck of cards with a UNO deck shuffled in.  The frustrating mix not only destroyed whatever tension and mystery existed by giving away too much information, but it alienated readers who prefer thrillers or amateur sleuth mysteries.  

Romances with other elements like a mystery or the paranormal often lose sight of the romance and let the other genre drive the plot.  Part of this problem is poor branding or a misunderstanding of what a romance is.  

If you want to break the rules of a genre, you must understand them first as well as the audience’s expectations and then, very carefully, make your changes so that they make sense within the genre or genres.  Then you must brand the book as the correct genre or genre cross-mix so you find the right readers for your book.  

Those rules about formula are there for a very good reason.

The Moral Core of Genre

One of the primary hallmarks of genre fiction is its moral core. The characters and their choices may be morally gray rather than the white and black of good and evil, but the reader expects that good will eventually triumph. The good guys will gain some victory, and the darkness will be banished. 

If the author fails to deliver on this promise of light over darkness, she fails a fundamental promise to the reader.

In the same way, the major character or characters must have a moral core that helps them recognize the right choices and gives them the strength to follow through, whatever the cost, to reach that triumph over darkness. 

Happiness can never be gained without a struggle against the forces of darkness. The darkness may be a black-hearted villain, but its most important manifestation is within the main character who must fight her inner darkness with that moral core. 

Sometimes, if the main character is an antihero or shallow chick-lit heroine, the struggle will involve a great deal of protests, whining, and foot-dragging to reach that point, but that point is reached. 

Betsy, the Queen of the Vampires, in the MaryJanice Davidson series, is a perfect example of this kind of character. Shallow, shoe-absorbed, and selfish, she whines her way through each book, but her inner moral core always leads her to do the right thing in the end.

If Betsy never did the right thing, this series wouldn't have been the success it is because shallowness won't hold a reader's attention or their emotions for very long. 

Sometimes, in a series, a character will change from evil to good, or good to evil, but that change must be foreshadowed in earlier choices and decisions. Bart the Bad may be up to no good through the early novels, but the reader should see that he chooses not to ambush the hero because a child is nearby. This not only adds moral complexity to Bart, but also makes his move toward the light more believable. 

In the same way, a good guy's pragmatic or selfish choices will foreshadow the coming darkness.

Reality vs. Fiction

"The way things happen in romance novels don't truly reflect the way things happen in our subjectively real universe." -- Someone's comment during blog discussion on romance.

The truth of the matter is nothing reflects the "real world" of experience. Not fiction, not nonfiction, not news reports, not even media like film and TV. Reality is simply too complex.

A writer uses her own vision of the universe to create her fiction. That vision is ordered so that the complex chaos of reality makes sense and has a pattern. 

If readers find her vision of reality to be truthful for them, (they buy into her vision and understand it), the writer has been successful. Part of that buying in while reading romance is seeing the complexity of the human personality and the male/female romantic relationship reflected in that writing.

Since so many women read romance, romance must reflect emotional, if not physical, reality for women.

In the same sense, most of us don't believe in vampires, but that doesn't prevent us from enjoying a good vampire romance. Those of us who analyze our responses to books see that the vampire romance reflects certain emotional needs and power issues for us so it is emotionally real although not "reality" real.

Do Writers Lie?

“Writers lie.”  — Chuck/God, SUPERNATURAL

Warning:  Spoilers for SUPERNATURAL’S “Moriah.”

In the Season 14 season finale of SUPERNATURAL, God aka Chuck the writer of SUPERNATURAL novels, comments that writers lie which proves not only to be one of many meta moments that this show is prone to but also foreshadows a total shift in God/Chuck’s personality from likable silliness and kindness to total dick.

Do writers lie?  I’ve been thinking about that over the last few days.  

I’ve pulled up some of my old articles which consider the point.

From “Why Don’t You Write a Real Book?”  

Fiction isn’t a lie; it’s the truth in parable form.  In the Bible, Jesus and the Old Testament prophets explained eternal verities by the use of stories.  The parable of the Good Samaritan is a perfect example.  Is its message any less valuable because the Samaritan was a fictional character created by Jesus?

  

Fiction writers are telling the truth through their fiction.  They create the world as they see it and offer their own beliefs.  That belief may be as simple as "everyone has a true love and with courage and compromise can win that love."  Or it can be much more complex.

Is a novel any less valuable than the true-life story found in Reader's Digest which illustrates the same point?  I don't think so.  The only difference is the medium used to express that belief.

So, no, fiction isn’t a lie if the story is true to both the writer’s beliefs and the world within the story’s events.  

How about lying in the creation and depiction of a character?

From “The Moral Core of Genre”

Sometimes, in a series, a character will change from evil to good, or good to evil, but that change must be foreshadowed in earlier choices and decisions.  Bart the Bad may be up to no good through the early novels, but the reader should see that he chooses not to ambush the hero because a child is nearby.  This not only adds moral complexity to Bart, but also makes his move toward the light more believable.  

In the same way, a good guy's pragmatic or selfish choices will foreshadow the coming darkness.  

SUPERNATURAL’S writers use “writers lie” to justify Chuck’s complete shift in personality in one scene. There has been no foreshadowing of this up until this episode.  

This show has been perfectly capable of showing a character’s growth.  Take Rowena, as a recent example. She went from selfish evil to someone trying to do good to make up for what she's done. The change started with her son’s death and built to the point we believe she's changed in the last two seasons. 

“Surprise, I'm a manipulative dick” in one scene just doesn't work. 

So, do writers lie?  No, good writers don’t lie.  They build a world and characters from their own beliefs and worldbuilding so everything is true.

Bad writers who use sloppy or lazy writing to justify false behavior or world changes lie all the time.  

Bad Blurbs in the Real World, Part 2

A book description or back cover blurb is the third-best promotion you have.  (The first is name recognition, the second the cover.)  The first two may get a reader to glance at your offering, but a good or bad blurb can make or break the sale.  

I receive a number of ebook promotion emails like BookBuzz and Fussy Librarian, and some of the book blurbs have been so bad that I’ve started collecting them.  

Here are a few with the author and book title removed to protect the incompetent.  My comments beneath each one.

NOTE:  To see how to write a good blurb, please read my article on the subject or do a search of my blog with the term “blurb” for links in my “Links of Interest” articles.  To learn how to figure out your genre, clink on this.  

HORROR 

INSPIRED BY THE LEGEND OF THE WHITE RIVER MONSTER NEWPORT, ARKANSAS. 

The White River Monster has eluded people for over a century. Manhunts were brought to a fever pitch in Newport, Arkansas, where people were anxious to prove its existence of the river monster. But, it went unfounded. 

For years, sightings were reported up and down the White River, but no physical evidence ever came forth. Soon the monster faded into obscurity and was dismissed as a legend never to be solved ... that is until now! 

Thriller writer ******  brings this cryptozoological mystery to life -- in a classic tale of drippy, slimy, and deadly horror!

Yes, it’s about a legendary monster.  We got that the first time you said it.  You didn’t have to keep repeating it.  Get to the point already.  Also, what is the threat that makes us want to keep reading?

*~*

YOUNG ADULT

Three months ago, I was the girl who wore her hair in a saggy ponytail, the girl with the stutter. I despised my mom's cooking, gamed too much, and laughed at all my dad's corny jokes. I'd never been kissed or gotten into trouble. I was *****, human, prone to screwups and mishaps. No more, no less. Three months ago, my new life started. And nothing's been coincidence since.

A good start with a character description then ends with so much vagueness that the reader has no idea what kind of novel it is.  She could have gotten a makeover, become a vampire, or died.  

“Coincidence” is the wrong word.  “Ordinary,” maybe?

*~*

MYSTERY

Meet retired cop, Sam Prichard. Sam opens his practice as a Private Investigator, and gets his first real case almost instantly: Find Barry Wallace, a local rock singer who was on the verge of making it big, and vanished suddenly! When Barry's body turns up minus his head and hands, the case becomes ominous, and now he has to find a killer, instead! 

Meet this author who can’t punctuate sentences correctly and really, really loves exclamation points!!!!!!

*~*

COZY MYSTERY:

Out of work reporter Clarissa Spencer is being stalked by a stray cat. She can’t cook to save her life, her garden is an overgrown mess and her chocolate chip cookie addiction is out of control. Then to top it all off, she gets struck by lightning!  

Clarissa thinks she has it bad - until she learns the town mayor has been shot to death and his widow has been falsely accused of killing him.  Okay, so it could be worse…

Clarissa makes it her mission to expose the true killer before her arch nemesis - an infuriatingly handsome reporter from the city newspaper - can.  Unfortunately, solving a murder is easier said than done...especially with the lunacy in Clarissa's life!

The cover with a witch and the title both say magic, but the blurb does not.  Sometimes, the blurb is the only selling tool you have so you need to make the genre known.  Also, too much space is spent about gardens and cooking which have nothing to do with the plot.  The author should have used it to up the paranormal element.  

*~*

HORROR:

Does the Devil exist? there really a fallen angel named Lucifer? Are the temptations that beset mankind really the products of an evil Satan? Are the fires of Hell a reality? And your answers to these questions are:_____? Undecided, perhaps? Then, read on. Compared favorably by many to renown authors of horror and suspense such as Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Bram Stoker, Russia's Master of Horror ******** introduces us to his world... the world of angels and devils, of Lucifer and Lucifer's son, the world of temptation and seduction in his latest masterpiece of deviltry and suspense. In a world of horror and fear that is almost too realistic to be fiction, *****’s characters burst from the pages, come alive and open up their innermost beings... revelations that will shock and mesmerize the reader, who--while filled with fear and anxiety--will be unable to put ***** down until the last terrifying conclusion.

Since the answer is a foregone conclusion, the first sentences are an utter waste of space when the writer should have been concentrating on what the dang book is about.  Which he doesn’t do, by the way.  A nice presentation of the author’s credentials, though.

*~*

MYSTERY

With her romantic life in turmoil, reporter Jenessa Jones makes dangerous enemies when she digs into a cold case… Twists and turns abound in this delightful mystery! 

This isn’t a dreadful blurb, but the bit about the character’s romantic life really doesn’t add anything since it’s a mystery, not a romance, so the space would be better spent on the mystery.

*~*

ACTION ADVENTURE

John ****  is the man the government depends on when all else fails. Can someone with such valuable skills ever hope to lead a normal life? 

Action/Adventure isn’t about finding a normal life.  It’s about having an extraordinary life that the reader can live vicariously.  

*~*

FANTASY/PARANORMAL

His precious touch could prove deadly… When Taylor **** moves from New York City to Big Bear Lake, California, her life is forever changed when she meets a hot guy with winter-blue eyes named Jesse. Their attraction is instant, the chemistry undeniable. But sadly, things aren't adding up. Taylor wonders what her 'crush' is hiding.

“Precious?”  A very poor word choice.  

Also, this description sets up a romance, not a fantasy/paranormal novel.  

*~*

HORROR

The Shade a Vampire has left in my family is still hunting me, making my life a restless chase.It's not only my job, I have a personal vendetta to carry out against vampires. 

Huh?  

*~*

SUPERNATURAL SUSPENSE

When Eve moves to the big city, she’s determined to discover the life that enchanted her mother so long ago. Can a cranky ghost help Eve find her own place in the world? 

Supernatural suspense is about suspense, danger, and maybe a bit of horror.  This book description is about none of these things.

*~*

MYSTERY

The girl’s body lay on the riverbank, her arms outflung. Her blonde hair lay in matted clumps, shockingly pale against the muddy bank. Her face was like a porcelain sculpture that had been broken and glued back together: grey cracks were visible under the white sheen of her dead skin. Her lips were so blue they could have been traced in ink.

Mysteries are about the solving of the murder, not a visual of the body.  The reader wants to know about the sleuth and/or the killer.  There’s no hint here of either.  Plus, the first sentence has a misplaced modifier, and the rest of the sentences are repetitive in structure.  Visuals are nice, though.  

*~*

MYSTERY

“Emergency!” “Christ! Who shot her?” “Don’t know.” “What a mess.”“Better call Dr Warburton.” ***Bright lights. A sharp, antiseptic smell. Pain. Nausea. Feel so weak. The cat, who’ll feed the cat? “Marlowe.” “She’s babbling.” “She’s lost a lot of blood.” Blackness. “Have we lost her?” I don’t want to die! 

It’s certainly viscaral, but, again, the emphasis is on the inciting event, not on what the book is about.  A humanizing touch, though, when she worries about her cat.