I like to make the distinction this way: commercial writing is writing outside-in: you write to satisfy the expectations and needs of an outside audience. You pay attention to the audience. The audience comes first and determines what and how you write.
Literary writing is writing inside-out. You write to satisfy some need or needs in yourself, to reach for a kind of perfection that is defined by the writer and the writer alone. The audience, such as it exists, is a group cloned from your own literary tastes and values. The audience is an after-thought.
In this sense, it is perfectly natural that commercial fiction is more popular than literary fiction. There is nothing wrong with this. What is wrong is that the corporate publishing industry no longer is interested in publishing books that won't sell a lot of copies BY DEFINITION. The old family-owned publishers considered it a cultural duty to publish literary novels, KNOWING full well they would not sell. From the bottom line point of view, from the business point of view, this is ridiculous, obviously bad business, and this is the mantra of the recent corporate publishing industry.
In general, too, I think commercial fiction is plot driven and literary fiction is character driven, but there's some wiggle room there. I know I have a hard time reading commercial fiction because I get into the beginning of the book and ask myself, Do I care what happens to these people? -- and since I usually don't, I quit reading. In fact, I cannot remember the last "best seller" I actually finished. It may have been decades ago, THE HUNDRED DOLLAR MISUNDERSTANDING. Hmm. There must be a more recent one but offhand I can't think of it. Interesting.
clipped from seattlepi.nwsource.com
|
5 comments:
A cyber greeting, a nod of essential agreement to your essay on the difference between the commercial and the literary. We have Royce Hall and the UCLA English department in common in addition to our being teachers. Good to read you.
I discount Jodi Picoult
I like writing inside-out, and I like literary writing that delves deeper into life, that stays with you after you put the book down. I like character-driven work, and the characters mean everything. I think the best a person can do these days, unless they self-publish, is to write the best book they can and blend the two. I write from the heart and soul, and I put that into my characters. I hate it when I want to submit and look at the guidelines and realize my work is not suited because my novel does not reflect only the main character's point of view and/or one other character's. I like to write using multiple points of view and when I read, I like books that give me multiple viewpoints. I think Lynn Austin's All She Ever Wanted is about as close as you can get, what I'd call blending both.
This is just what I needed to read today. I found this through an ACFW post. I am defintely an inside-out writer, and person in general. The affirmation on that approach is a big help right now. It feels ostentatious to say "I write literary fiction," but according to this, I certainly fit the bill. I've taught college and high school lit, so I'm always reaching for that ideal, although I don't want to be stubborn and ignore the market either.
And like you, I prefer to read literary novels. I've been thinking about going with a small press for my first novel, since the big publishers keep saying they love my book and then turning it down anyway.
Isn't it cool how you can find something written years ago, and it speaks to you today.
Like Dina, I found this via a PortYonderPress link given to us on the ACFW loop.
I've always considered 'literary fiction' to be that fiction which survives the 'test of time' and is read a hundred years later for its masterful content and society-influencing visionary style.
A writer with a message, that will influence the generation, hopefully, toward a better world and the improvement of society as a whole. Much as 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' did to educate the public of the issues of slavery.
Some books that became classics did not seem a 'good read' to me, but they were motivating. Like 'Animal Farm', '1984', and 'The Lord of the Flies'.
My writing style is based on dreams and adventures I imagine that I feel compelled to share. This is not based on 'what will sell' but on what sings in me.
Unfortunately, since these novels are action/adventure/fantasy and scifi, they most probably will not be considered award-winning literary fiction, even though some scifi like Madeline L'Engle's 'A Wrinkle in Time' really are classics.
Post a Comment