How do we define a style that many see as elitist, pretentious, and irrelevant?
What does the term “literary fiction” mean? What makes a story or essay or novel literary instead of … something else?
That’s a question I’ve been pondering for some time now. Lately, a series of pieces appearing online have attempted to get at an answer.
Continue reading “What makes fiction literary?”Why verisimilitude matters in all forms of fiction (with examples)
Note: If you don’t want to wade through this entire post, feel free to go directly to the examples near the end of this post. – AC
I was reviewing some early chapters of a work in progress recently when I discovered a problem with the text that–while perhaps insignificant to the overarching plot–could ruin the story’s credibility and my credibility as a writer if I didn’t fix it.
The novel is set in the early 1980s, and music plays a significant role in it. In one early chapter, I reference a song that, when I was writing the chapter, I was certain was ubiquitous on FM radio during the time frame of this portion of the novel. But as often happens when I rely on my increasingly foggy memory, I did not remember correctly.
Continue reading “A boring realist’s thoughts on keeping it real”
Andrew Careaga 