Changing Tunes

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Tedium

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I hope this is a good place to post this. I figured you other literary-minded folks might have a solution or maybe you could just commiserate.

I like to think my reading is pretty varied. I love everything from hard boiled detective stories to essays to horror to, of course, literary fiction.

Here's my problem:

Every time I sit down to write the only types of stories that seem to want to come out are literary. I'll start on something that I want to be a horror story or a mystery and it just ends up being some sad, deeply introspective piece. That's sort of an exaggeration, but you get the picture. Either that or the genre piece I am working on comes out stale or stops dead in its tracks.

I've taken breaks in writing(maybe you've noticed I have been here five years with only 93 posts), I have stopped reading literary fiction, I have only read literary fiction to try to make myself sick of it. Nothing seems to work.

I enjoy the literary pieces I write, but I mean come on, I feel like I need a little change now and again. I know this all may sound sort of trivial or whiny, but it's starting to drive me nuts.

Is there something wrong with me? Does anyone have any suggestions? Is this something I should just stop fighting and let happen? Or am I just making a really big deal out of nothing?

Please God, at least, tell me I'm not the only one.
 

Marya

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Well, you're not exactly the only one Tedium because literary fiction is my first love, but I have learned to appreciate some edgy and in many way literary genre-busting authors who publish spec fiction.

One author I have read for many years now is the English SF writer M John Harrison and his work is filled with literary allusions and the kafkaesque. Then there's China Mieville who writes with great insight and at times baroque density and zest. The fiction of Nina Allen is fascinating and her influences are mostly literary -- and of course there is Margaret Atwood.

Introspective only works in certain contexts and when I read 'literary' writers like Lydia Davis, Amy Hempel or AL Kennedy, I'm conscious that the writing is taut and never self-indulgent, very skilful. Those are models I use (among many others) to keep my own writing in check and ensure it is readable for others. I like work that is haunting or menacing, whether this is literary or genre fiction, and that kind of ambience is what I aim to achieve rather than just a genre lookalike.

And the key for me with genre is to keep the tone and 'world-building' consistent with where I'm going -- I do sometimes go into deeper motivations or political asides or landscape descriptions, but then I cut them out if they don't work when I reread.

It's slow work though. And some kinds of structure and texture in the narrative works better for me than other stuff -- I can't get that slick commercial knack I find in many genre writers, a spin at the end or those wonderful throwaway lines. I just keep doing it my way and hope it comes together.

In some ways I feel that the old division and perceptions of what is 'literary' and what is 'genre' are breaking down and that is exciting for all of us.
 

KellyAssauer

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I hope this is a good place to post this.

It's a great place to post this ;)

Every time I sit down to write the only types of stories that seem to want to come out are literary...

My first reaction to this is that it might not be a bad thing! Anything well written should be able to find a market, so my suggestion at this point is to post a piece or two to the Literary SYW and let the critters assist in commentary.

I have only read literary fiction to try to make myself sick of it. Nothing seems to work.

If you really want to twist your stories to another place I'd pick up a favorite genre book and for experimentation only replace the characters with some of your own and write a short piece to see where they take you. Might be a lot of fun. =)


...but it's starting to drive me nuts.

Is there something wrong with me? .

You're a writer is all... but if it's stopping you from writing that's a problem. Test out some of what you have in SYW, listen to the critters, and try a few experimental short scenes with your MC's in completely different roles.



Introspective only works in certain contexts and when I read 'literary' writers like Lydia Davis, Amy Hempel or AL Kennedy, I'm conscious that the writing is taut and never self-indulgent, very skilful. Those are models I use (among many others) to keep my own writing in check and ensure it is readable for others.

-Oh yes. I keep Hempel next to me at all times just to remind me of how to write a sentence! =)

In some ways I feel that the old division and perceptions of what is 'literary' and what is 'genre' are breaking down and that is exciting for all of us.

This is soo true, defining the qualities that are supposedly 'literary' is nearly impossible. Each aspect of those definitions can be found in many other works. All of this goes back to the same repeating theme for me. Well written pieces can find an audience - what genre or classification the story is given in the end, may be decided by the audience and not the author. Write it now, and worry about what book shelf the store puts it on after it's sold. =)
 

Tedium

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Well, you're not exactly the only one Tedium because literary fiction is my first love, but I have learned to appreciate some edgy and in many way literary genre-busting authors who publish spec fiction.

Yeah, I read authors like Kelly Link or George Saunders and I realize that I'll probably never quite get to that level, or at least not anytime soon.

It's slow work though. And some kinds of structure and texture in the narrative works better for me than other stuff -- I can't get that slick commercial knack I find in many genre writers, a spin at the end or those wonderful throwaway lines. I just keep doing it my way and hope it comes together.

That. That is exactly the issue I am having. Thank you. It is taking a lot more time and attention than I am used to giving, I think. It's like I have to shift my entire thought process around, and I'm not quite sure how. I think part of my problem is losing my ego. I think if I just come at it with more of a beginner's mind, realize there are different elements involved that may require some practice, I might be alright.


My first reaction to this is that it might not be a bad thing! Anything well written should be able to find a market, so my suggestion at this point is to post a piece or two to the Literary SYW and let the critters assist in commentary.

Ha ha, it really isn't a bad thing. I guess it's more frustrating than anything, because I would like to work on some genre pieces, too. I did post a story to the Literary SYW, received some amazing feedback, and did find a market for it. I am working on some others as we speak and will post another soon. Actually, for a change of pace, I was going to enter the Western Contest here. I thought it might be a good segue into more genre pieces in the future. Wish me luck. :)



If you really want to twist your stories to another place I'd pick up a favorite genre book and for experimentation only replace the characters with some of your own and write a short piece to see where they take you. Might be a lot of fun. =)

That is actually a really good idea, and it may just work. Thank you.




You're a writer is all... but if it's stopping you from writing that's a problem. Test out some of what you have in SYW, listen to the critters, and try a few experimental short scenes with your MC's in completely different roles.

I am going to do just that, I think. I'm just going to bite the bullet, finish a genre piece, and post it. That may be the only way I'm going to break through this funk.

Thanks for listening to me rant, guys. Sometimes the frustration just boils over and it's hard to see which way is up.
 

Marya

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That Western contest sounds exciting and I'm thinking of doing something that mashes up the influences of Willa Cather and Elmore Leonard -- no doubt it'll come out as spaghetti Western full of aimless monologues, but we all have to start somewhere!

Good luck, Tedium.
 
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Tedium

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That Western contest sounds exciting and I'm thinking of doing something that mashes up the influences of Willa Cather and Elmore Leonard -- no doubt it'll come out as spaghetti Western full of aimless monologues, but we all have to st
art somewhere!

Ha, that sounds pretty awesome. Good luck to you.

I'm hoping I get done with all my coursework in time to start on something. I'm hoping that a month is long enough. School is kind of consuming my life this term. The sad thing is, they're all lower-level classes.
 

KellyAssauer

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*One way to find out what literary fiction writers at AW are reading or writing, or who's getting work accepted and where are they getting accepted... or where to find a critter when you really-really need one... is to peek in on AW's Literary & Misfit Writer's Group -not that I would know about anything about that. ;)
 

kuwisdelu

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I guess it's more frustrating than anything, because I would like to work on some genre pieces, too.

You sound like you're writing under the false impression that you can't write literary genre story.

I write literary, but all my stories still have a genre.
 

Tedium

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You sound like you're writing under the false impression that you can't write literary genre story.

I write literary, but all my stories still have a genre.

It's more like when I add a bit of genre (be it horror, supernatural, or whatever), it comes out flat or the story goes nowhere or it seems like a literary piece that has this added element for the hell of it. This doesn't seem to happen if I write a straight literary piece.

I think it may all be in my head. I used to write sci-fi and horror when I was a lot younger, and I had a lot of people whose opinion I valued sort of look down on me for it. They would ask me what I was reading, see that it was Clive Barker or something, and ask me why I was wasting my time on books like that. Some of these people were MFA students or directors. It didn't seem to matter to them that I also read classics and literary books.

I know I should not have let that affect me, and I thought that it didn't, but maybe I'm wrong. I never looked down on authors who added genre to their writing But maybe I subconsciously fear that people might look down on me? I don't know.

I've been thinking about it a lot since I made my OP, and I keep coming back to that. That's a bit emo, I know, but it is the only thing that I can think of. I think I may just need to bust through that mental block, if that's what the problem is. And like they always say, the only way out is through.
 

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I find genre writing to be great fun, but it is tough for those of us who have a tendency toward literary fiction.

The best advice I ever got on pulling myself out of my ego/overly analytic writing was to do NanoWriMo. You don't have to do it in November - buy the book, read it over, and commit to writing an absolutely ridiculous novel in one month. An insane deadline like that (and telling yourself upfront that this is going to be SO BAD) gives you a sense of freedom you rarely feel when working on a "serious" novel you expect to publish.

Good luck!
 
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