Genre Fiction and Literary Fiction: What’s the difference and why can’t I write Genre Fiction in my
Hi, everyone. My name is Brenna and I am interning with Books for Bing! I’m a college Sophomore, majoring in English and Creative Writing at SUNY Binghamton.
Before I started taking college level Creative Writing courses, I didn’t realize Genre and Literary Fictions were things. I didn’t understand why my Creative Writing professor said our short stories couldn’t be ‘Genre Fiction’ and I also didn’t really understand what he meant by that. When pressed, he explained that by Genre Fiction, he meant Fantasy or Sci-Fi (but aren’t there more genres than that? I thought). If the plot hinges on whether or not magic is real, he said, then that’s Genre Fiction and you can’t write that because I won’t accept it. Well, alright, but that still doesn’t really answer my question. And that’s why I have decided to make this the topic of this blog post.
The most basic definition of Literary Fiction I found was: “Fiction that is regarded as having literary merit, as distinguished from most commercial or “genre” fiction.” The most basic definition of Genre Fiction I found was: “A plot-driven fictional work written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre, in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre.” (Both of these are from Wikipedia—links below!) However, when taking into account Literary Fiction’s definition, I can think of a lot of books that have literary merit while still falling into the category of Genre Fiction: Rowling’s Harry Potter, Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, and Wells’ War of the Worlds are a few titles that came to mind. So, does that mean people who consider themselves readers of Literary Fiction would not consider these books good? Because, if so, I think that’s unfair and frankly quite silly. I guess it’s time for me to do some snooping…
The first link I clicked on after searching “Why do people not like Genre Fiction?” was a Huffington Post article (Literary Fiction vs. Genre Fiction by Steven Petite). In it he states that “the main reason for a person to read Genre Fiction is for entertainment, for a riveting story, an escape from reality. Literary Fiction separates itself from Genre because it is not about escaping from reality, instead, it provides a means to better understand the world and delivers real emotional responses.” What he doesn’t seem to take into account here, in my opinion, is that books like the ones I mentioned above still teach lessons that can be applied to real life. (PSA: I will continue to fight for the validity of Harry Potter in everyday life because it is my favorite series. Ever.) Just because Harry learns the importance of friendship and kindness at a magical wizarding school doesn’t mean a reader couldn’t apply that to their normal, muggle high school. In The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Tolkien shows readers that it is important to fight against oppressors and always strive for what’s right—readers get this even though Tolkien is telling a story that includes Hobbits, Elves, sorcerers, and Gollum.
Needless to say, I didn’t really find the answer I was looking for in this article. So, I continued my search. The next thing I found was on a website called ‘Ordinary Times.’ The article was: ‘The Real Issue with Genre Fiction.’ In this article by Tod Kelly, he addressed both sides of the issue a little bit, while also giving his two cents.
He focused more on how the different readers of Genre and Literary Fiction read. He said how people who generally read Literary Fiction read books with “a critical eye toward quality of writing.” He then said how this doesn’t mean readers of Genre Fiction don’t read critically, there is just a large portion of Genre Fiction readers who do not.
What I got from reading these two articles is that one reason people may look down on Genre Fiction is due to the people who read it, and the way in which they read. Because, while many people read both types of fiction similarly—looking for quality in writing as well as quality content—many readers also do not read Genre Fiction in this way and therefore read it only for entertainment, like Steven Petite said. However, I don’t think that the quality of someone’s reading should degrade a whole section of literature. The quality of writing should dictate the reaction of critics, not the quality of reading.
All in all, I have come away from this research having learned a lot. But I still don’t have a definitive answer to why people look down so much on Genre Fiction, just one possibility.
I do have a possible answer as to why I am unable to write Fantasy or Sci-Fi stories in my creative writing classes, though. Maybe the professors are worried that students would spend too much time focusing on the fantastical elements in the stories, and not enough on plot and character development.
If that is the case, then the professor should just say that because up to this point in my Creative Writing Student career, they just seem to imply that these genres are not as valid as realistic fiction. We are students and therefore we are learning, so, not writing anything but realistic fiction would make sense since we need to practice writing realistic characters and developing good plots. But professors should tell us that and not make us wonder if they think Fantasy or Sci-Fi books aren’t well written because their plot wouldn’t stand without the Fantasy or Science Fiction elements.
Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings could both potentially not be Fantasy novels, but then they might not have become so beloved and famous.
In the next Creative Writing class I take, I plan on asking the professor why Genre Fiction isn’t acceptable and I hope that whoever it is gives me a better answer than the ones I’ve heard in the past. If they do, I’ll just have to write another one of these. And if they don’t, I guess the half-answers I have found will suffice for now.
Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_fiction
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genre_fiction
First article mentioned:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-petite/literary-fiction-vs-genre-fiction_b_4859609.html
Second article mentioned:
http://ordinary-gentlemen.com/2012/06/22/the-real-problem-with-genre-fiction/