

(Of course, genre fiction can do this too, but we’ll get there in a moment.) In general, literary fiction describes work that aims to resemble real life. A four week class with Giulietta Nardone.

For writers of all kinds of fiction: thrillers, mysteries, romance, humor, literary and memoir. Inject suspense into your stories to keep readers turning pages. Suspense Sells! Power Up Your Writing With Conflict, Tension and Emotion Nonetheless, literary fiction and genre fiction help describe today’s literary landscape. Terms like “mystery,” “thriller,” or “detective” wouldn’t start describing literature until the 1900s, particularly when these genre tags helped distinguish and market new works. But when he published this story, it was just that-a story. genre fiction is recent: book publishers had no need to make these categories until the 20th century, when genre labels became a marketing tool for mass publication.įor example, many consider Edgar Allan Poe to be the first modern mystery writer, as his 1841 story “ The Murders in the Rue Morgue” was one of the first detective stories. The distinction between literary fiction vs. Genre Fictionīefore we describe these two categories, it’s important to note their origins. (They’re not as different as you might think!) Literary Fiction vs. But first, let’s dissect the differences between literary fiction vs. genre fiction, how can we better define these categories, and what elements can you apply in your own fiction writing?Īlong the way, we’ll take a look at some literary fiction examples, the different types of fiction genres, and some writing tips for each group.

What are the elements of literary fiction vs. So, let’s break down this binary a bit further. If our human experiences are widely variegated, our fiction should be, too. Sure, every piece of fiction can be categorized in one of two ways, but there’s a wide variety of fiction out there, and very little of it falls neatly in a particular box. Part of the issue with these definitions is that literary fiction vs. Literary fiction can absolutely be unrealistic, trope-y, and plot-heavy, and genre fiction can certainly include well-developed characters in real-world settings. That said, these kinds of reductive definitions are unfair to both genres. Literary fiction (lit fic) generally describes work that’s character-driven and realistic, whereas genre fiction generally describes work that’s plot-driven and based on specific tropes. The world of fiction writing can be split into two categories: literary fiction vs.
