More thoughts on democracy + the difference between literary and genre fiction

Author Abroad S2:E3

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day🍀☘️ This month’s edition of Author Abroad takes a look at the differences between literary fiction and genre fiction, the state of democracy in the world, and some of the books I’ve been reading lately.

Writing

A conversation with a friend got me thinking about the difference between literary fiction and genre fiction. This is one of those distinctions that can be difficult to pinpoint, yet readers and writers often feel quite passionate about. Here’s my attempt to lay out the differences:

Genre fiction tends to be more plot-driven, as evidenced by its many sub-genres: romance, mystery, science fiction, crime, fantasy, horror, etc. This type of fiction generally follows a specific recipe or set of ingredients that readers expect and enjoy. This doesn’t mean that there’s no creativity involved; sometimes, having parameters frees the imagination. (That’s why writing prompts are so popular among writers.) One of these ingredients is a happy and tidy ending, where most, if not all, of the subplots are tied up by the last page. Mystery readers count on the mystery being solved by the end the book; readers of romance expect the couple to be united by the final page. Genre fiction—or commercial fiction as it’s sometimes called—is more commercially successful because it appeals to a larger subset of the population. In addition to being more popular, these books are easier to market and sell. Cover design and title font differ according to sub-genre, and bookstores generally have designated sections or shelves for these books to help readers find them.

Literary fiction is more character-driven than plot-driven, which is to say that the reason we care about the events in the plot is because of how they impact the characters—especially the main character. It may be hard to distinguish which characters are “good” and which are “bad,” and that is often the point, to reveal something about the human condition. Because it’s more focused on character, literary fiction tends to be more introspective. In many cases, we’re right there in the characters’ heads. It’s also a lot messier than genre fiction. There are no rules or formulas. Readers don’t know what to expect. Endings are often ambiguous, leaving the reader to figure out what happens to the characters after the novel ends. Theme plays an important role, too. We may not fully understand what the book is about until after we’ve finished reading it, and even then, it’s probably something abstract like love or friendship or play (see below under Reading🙃). Literary novels seek to explore deeper themes, push boundaries, and challenge personal/societal preconceptions, but are notoriously difficult to market and sell.

Like most things in life, these categories are not hard and fast. There is a lot of overlap. A literary novel might include elements of romance, fantasy, mystery, and so on. A science fiction or romance novel may feel more literary because it focuses on the character’s journey of self-discovery. I’d argue that the most successful authors find a way to marry the two categories in their writing. A lot of people in the industry will say that the distinction between literary and genre fiction comes down to marketing, but I think it’s more complicated than that. Readers are a diverse group. Some of us read for entertainment or escape, while others read to enhance our understanding of the world, and still others do a little of both. These categories, however slippery they may be, help us to find the books we want to read in a given moment.

What types of books do you like to read and why? Does it vary depending on what’s going on in your life? Let us know in the comments below.

Life Abroad

Source: The Atlantic

I cast my ballot in the US presidential primary last week. Over the 30+ years that I’ve lived abroad, I’ve managed to vote in nearly every federal and state election, and many local elections, too. Americans have multiple elections per year; in addition to voting for president every four years, senators every six years, and representatives every two years, there are a host of other state and local elections, from governor to judges to county coroner!🤔

My mom has always been passionate about the democratic process, and she passed that passion on to me. Long before I was old enough to vote or have an opinion about politics, she had me out leafletting for her preferred candidates. Once I was eligible to vote, she trekked down to city hall each year to make sure they snail-mailed me an absentee ballot, which I dutifully snail-mailed back from Dar es Salaam, Banjul, Luanda, or wherever I happened to be. It helped that she was on the ballot herself as an elected official in my hometown from 1981-1993. Nowadays, I have the possibility of requesting and submitting my ballot by e-mail—much easier!

This year’s democracy index [Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit]

I love these maps, don’t you? Sadly, two of the countries where I’ve lived (Myanmar and Mozambique) have experienced a reverse democratic trend over the past ten years and are now considered authoritarian. Another 5 countries I’ve lived in (Angola, Bangladesh, Malawi, Tanzania, and The Gambia) are classified as hybrid regimes, although in the case of Angola and The Gambia, this actually signifies a positive trend away from authoritarianism. Italy is classified as a flawed democracy, as is the U.S. The U.S. fell from full democracy status in 2016.

I know many Americans feel discouraged about our electoral process at the moment, and I get it. U.S. politics is becoming more polarized by the minute, with Congress appearing almost completely dysfunctional, and the presidential contest now down to two old white men. It may seem like we have no good options, but the choice is not insignificant: we’re choosing between democracy and authoritarianism, a decision that my friends in Myanmar and Mozambique no doubt wish they had the freedom to make.

Reading

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: A Novel by Gabrielle Zevin, audiobook narrated by Jennifer Kim and Julian Cihi (Random House, 2022)

I loved this one! Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is the story of Sam Mazer and Sadie Green, two nerdy kids from different sides of LA, whose mutual love of video games brings them together and carries them through the invariable ups and downs of life. Set against a backdrop of the gaming industry, this fascinating and heartwarming novel is about love, friendship, play, and the intersection of real and fictional worlds. I almost didn’t read it because I’m not into video games, but as I quickly learned, the creators of videogames are just another kind of storyteller. One of the most beautiful books I’ve read in a while.

Lessons in Chemistry: A Novel by Bonnie Garmus (Doubleday, 2022)

This novel has been on the NYT bestseller list for months. A writer friend and I were talking about book covers, and she mentioned Lessons in Chemistry as an example of a cover that misleads the reader into thinking it’s a different kind of book. Of course, that meant I had to read it! The novel is about a chemist named Elizabeth Zott, who is smarter than all her male peers but held back by the sexism of 1960s America. In addition to being brilliant, Zott has no filter and is unconventionally matter-of-fact, which unsettles many of her male counterparts. A charming and funny read, the book reminded me a little of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman or The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.

From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction by Robert Olen Butler, edited by Janet Burroway (Grove Press, 2005)

I’m not sure how it’s possible that I never read this craft book. Robert Olen Butler is a talented writer, whose work I studied during my MFA program. (My favorite short story of his, “A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain,” is about an old Vietnamese man, who’s visited by the ghost of Ho Chi Min in a baker’s uniform.) From Where You Dream is a series of Butler’s lectures, which one of his students recorded and transcribed so that the rest of us could benefit from his wisdom. The title comes from the first lecture, in which he asserts that good fiction comes from our intuition rather than our heads: “Only the unconscious can fit together the stuff of fiction; the conscious mind cannot.” In another lecture he talks about how to apply filmic devices, such as the shot, the cut, the montage, and dissolve, to fiction writing. There are also some good exercises on visceral writing. I recommend this book to all the fiction writers out there.

That’s it for this month. Let me know your impressions in the comments below.

💕 Liz