literary fiction

"Fiction is the art form of human yearning."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives | reading, art, Robert Olen Butler, artist in the art, literary fiction, writing

"Skillful story technique can sell even the most outrageous premises and protagonists. Check out Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita (1955) and Yann Martel’s Life of Pi (2001). They turned fringe into famous. You can, too."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives | books, fantasy, novel writing, literary fiction, writing, storytelling, Donald Maass, creative freedom, Vladimir Nabokov

Follow Your Curiosity

Turn of Mind

(written by Alice LaPlante)

Follow Your Curiosity

"Good fiction is not trying to imitate life or trying to reproduce what's going on in life. Life serves as a catalyst, as a provocation that leads to something fictional that's interesting. It creates a new world that has its own constraints, its own rules, and its own system that can really be intersting in and of itself. It can also come back and teach us something about life. There is a constantly circulating movement in the interchange between life and fiction."

— Brian Evenson

for Creatives | literary fiction, writing, inspiration/the muse, artists must EXPERIENCE, the creative life, Brian Evenson

"For me, where genre ends and literature begins doesn't matter. What matters is whether a given novel hits me with high impact. If it does, it probably is fulfilling the purpose of fiction."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives | novel writing, literary fiction, writing, genre, categorization of art

"What narrative teaches us about characterization: we are all made up of contradictions, and, as a result, we are all somewhat unknowable. We are capable of surprise precisely because of this fact."

— Lee Martin

for Creatives | characters, literary fiction, Lee Martin

"One of the reasons a lot of us read fiction—including me—is that we respond to characters in fiction as if we are responding to people. We can have intense reactions to them. We can enjoy them as people."

— Brian Evenson

for Creatives | reading, characters, literary fiction, Brian Evenson

"Charles McGrath wrote in The New York Times about his experience of being a judge for the National Book Awards. ... He didn't entirely enjoy the task. The title of his article was 'Caution: Reading Can Be Hazardous.' Of the numerous volumes he had to read, he wrote, 'There were moments when I began to doubt the whole enterprise of fiction writing itself. Does the world really need hundreds and hundreds of new novels or story collections every year, especially when so many of them are so similar? Eventually, I had trouble keeping all the stories straight, and in my mind—and even in my dreams occasionally—the book overlapped, with couples failing to understand each other over and over again, and families endlessly dumping their woes onto the next generation.' McGrath's frustration here would seem to be about subject matter. Why always the oh-so-familiar psychology of couples and families?"

— Debra Spark

for Creatives | reading, books, awards, artist integrity, short stories, novel writing, literary fiction, writing, artist's voice, Debra Spark, Charles McGrath

"Memoir is not court stenography. But neither should it be fiction."

— Augusten Burroughs

for Creatives | literary fiction, nonfiction, writing, memoir, Augusten Burroughs

"The only reason I was asked to edit this volume [of The Best American Short Stories] was because someone out there in the world was equally conscientious and didn't let this nobody writer slip between the cracks."

— Junot Díaz

for Creatives | books, short stories, literary fiction, writing, editing, editors, artists supporting artists, Junot Díaz

Follow Your Curiosity

"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."

— Ursula K. Le Guin

for Creatives | books, literary fiction, genre, literary vs. commercial, John Steinbeck

Follow Your Curiosity

"The movies have not undermined the influence of fiction. On the contrary, they have extended its field, carrying the ideas which are already current among readers to those too young, too impatient, or too uneducated to read."

— Dorothea Brande

for Creatives | reading, film, literary fiction, reaching your audience, filmmaking, ideas, value the art, artists supporting artists, Dorothea Brande

"We need a new sociology of literary studies, and we need it right now."

— Charles Baxter

for Creatives | reading, literary fiction, Charles Baxter, formal arts education

"I like high modernism and low genre. I'm bored by middlebrow literary realism, which seems to be the dominant mode of contemporary American fiction."

— Viet Thanh Nguyen

for Creatives | literary fiction, writing, genre, American, Viet Thanh Nguyen

"My problem with realism is that a realistic novel about the psychological problems of middle-class people is a story which is very similar to the life I'm leading, and thus is not too interesting. Whereas the minute you throw in a dragon or global warming, it becomes very interesting."

— Eleanor Arnason

for Creatives | reading, novel writing, literary fiction, writing, Eleanor Arnason, literary vs. commercial

"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."

— Marcel Theroux

for Creatives | short stories, literary fiction, Marcel Theroux, literary vs. commercial

"Commercial fiction can have literary qualities ... genre fiction can include good storytelling, and literary fiction can have a plot."

— Jennifer Landels

for Creatives | literary fiction, writing, storytelling, genre, Jennifer Landels, literary vs. commercial

"We have split in the 20th century between genre fiction, which tends to be about action, and fiction that's about interpersonal relationships and psychology."

— Eleanor Arnason

for Creatives | literary fiction, writing, genre, Eleanor Arnason, categorization of art

"If you are a screenwriter, LITERARY AND COMMERCIAL translates to INDEPENDENT AND STUDIO. If you are a playwright, LITERARY AND COMMERCIAL translates to CHARACTER DRIVEN AND PLOT DRIVEN. If you are a nonfiction writer LITERARY AND COMMERCIAL translates to JOURNALISM AND NARRATIVE NONFICTION. No matter your intended Story career path, the divide remains… and always will."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives | literary fiction, nonfiction, writing, publishing, Shawn Coyne, screenwriting, categorization of art, literary vs. commercial

"What actually gives fiction its power is that which is personal."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives | literary fiction, writing, Donald Maass

"Ultimately, the question 'Who's the target reader, and why?' must be answered by everyone in the publishing chain (writer, editor, marketer, publicist, publisher). Identifying the audience (the people who will buy your book) defines which of these two cultures 'Literary' or 'Commercial' you belong to."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives | literary fiction, writing, reaching your audience, publishing, editors, Shawn Coyne, categorization of art, literary vs. commercial

"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."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives | novel writing, literary fiction, writing, genre, Donald Maass, literary vs. commercial

"There are two categories in book publishing, like yin and yang, light and dark, wet and dry. There is 'literary' and 'commercial.' The divide seems ridiculous of course, akin to the old chicken and egg debate. Obviously, what is literary must be commercial too and what is commercial is also literary."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives | novel writing, literary fiction, publishing, Shawn Coyne

"High impact comes from a combination of two factors: great stories and beautiful writing. High-impact novels utilize what is best about literary and commercial fiction. They embrace a dichotomy. They do everything well and as a result sell astoundingly. The publishing industry has a convenient term for these wonder books: literary/commercial fiction."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives | novel writing, literary fiction, the successful artist, writing, Donald Maass

"Literary and commercial: If you are a writer, an editor or a publisher in traditional trade book publishing, you have to decide which of these two cultures you want to align yourself with."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives | literary fiction, writing, publishing, editors, agents, Shawn Coyne, literary vs. commercial

"In our new century, literary fiction is selling the way that commercial novels are supposed to. ... Certain commercial novelists, on the other hand, are celebrated for their literary quality and simultaneously sell far better than most in their category."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives | novel writing, literary fiction, the successful artist, Donald Maass, literary vs. commercial

"As long as I'm in that 'zone,' I'm happy enough whether I've written 700 words or, like one crazy day writing The Turning Point, 7,000."

— Freya North

for Creatives | books, novel writing, literary fiction, writing, creating in the moment, women's fiction, word count, Freya North

Follow Your Curiosity

"Read, and not 'how to' books, but literature. I think a lot of 'how to' books really give bad advice or the wrong advice. It's not necessarily bad, but it's not going to make you a writer."

— Ann Hood

for Creatives | reading, literary fiction, writing, Ann Hood

"Fiction [is] the exploration of the human condition and yearning ... its compass."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives | Robert Olen Butler, literary fiction, writing