genre is literature
8th April 2017 | for Creatives | books, literary fiction, genre, literary vs. commercial, John Steinbeck |
"I had to keep arguing for so long that genre is literature just as much as The Grapes of Wrath is. Of course, most of it isn't as good—but most realism isn't as good as The Grapes of Wrath either."
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where fiction is heading
"Literary/commercial fiction is a forecast of where fiction is heading in the 21st century. It's an approach to novel writing that eschews both snobby pretense and genre dogma. It is personal, impassioned, and even downright quirky, yet through its rebellious refusal to please, it paradoxically achieves universal appeal. It panders to no one. It speaks to everyone."
genre fiction can include good storytelling
"Commercial fiction can have literary qualities ... genre fiction can include good storytelling, and literary fiction can have a plot."
a lot of bunk is talked about short stories
"I do think a lot of bunk is talked about short stories. ... I feel there's a way that the quote-unquote literary short story has unfairly hogged the limelight. A short story is a great way to explore mood, a pregnant silence, a seemingly mundane scenario that's somehow charged with significance. But I don't see why that kind of short story is the only kind or necessarily the most valid. A short story is just short. Beyond that I think anything is possible."
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"Today, thanks to certain pioneering authors, some great books, and some great movies and TV series, the wall between genre and mainstream fiction has become not a wall, but a river. It can be forded or bridged."
I don't like labels
"I don't like labels. I don't like it when bookstores have sections labeled 'Women's Fiction' because they don't have sections labeled 'Men's Fiction.'"