Category: Musings

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Weekly Musing: Genre Beef

DH Hanni

East Coast vs. West Coast. Hatfields and McCoys. Republican vs. Democrat. North vs. South. All famous feuds. Another kind of feud, less known, is Literary Fiction vs. Genre Fiction. Apparently as a writer you must pick one or the other. Like any good feud each side believes their side is the correct one.

Bollocks. I’m not one for conflict. Absolutely hate it and try to avoid either being directly involved in and I get massively uncomfortable when I see people arguing. So to learn that there is this apparent battle between Literary Fiction and Genre Fiction greatly puzzles me. I don’t understand why anyone thinks one is inherently better than the other is. Granted Literary Fiction has been around a lot longer although there are examples of Genre Fiction with Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, and many others. But being able to say “First!” doesn’t mean it is better. It simply means it was well, first.

Before I go any further let’s briefly define Literary Fiction and Genre Fiction. Literary Fiction is fiction which holds literary merit in that it involves social criticism, political criticism, or commentary on the human condition. In other words, it is serious literature examining reality rather than providing an escape. Think of all the books you were forced to read in high school and college. On the flip side Genre Fiction is fiction aimed at the general population and is broadly considered escapism. This is the type of stuff not forced upon students because it’s not serious enough. But just like Literary Fiction having elements of Genre Fiction creeping onto the pages, there are countless examples of Genre Fiction with heavy Literary Fiction elements. Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Left Side of Darkness, The Ends of the Earth by William Golding, and Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende are but a few examples.

hope it is as obvious to you as it is to me how inherently snobby and rather dumb these definitions are. And I’m sure it obvious why these two have beef. There’s this notion those who write Literary Fiction are smarter, better educated, and better writers because they write Serious Stuff. Plebs need not bother. Those who write Genre Fiction are frivolous, write fluff for the masses, and must be worse writers because they don’t write complex, emotionally fraught work.

As a writer and a reader, why does there need to be this distance? Plenty of Genre Fiction books could definitely be considered literary not only because of the beauty of the prose, but also because of exploring themes supposedly only owned by Literary Fiction. Sci-fi and Fantasy often explore themes of humanity, right and wrong, gender roles, stereotypes, rights of the individual, etc. Historical Fiction teaches us not only teaches about the past, but also shows us gender roles, human rights, and how people try to fight societal norms. Women’s Fiction explores issues an entire gender typically faces such as discrimination, how does one define what a woman is or is not, and finding strength from within. I’ve read Mysteries which while primarily focused on whodunit, also spoke about racial differences and classism. I’m confident many other genres also explore serious issues.

So why is there this rivalry? What is it accomplishing? One thing that bugs me personally is trying to shove people into boxes, labels, whatever because it’s easier for them to know how to act rather than treating each person as an individual. Why can’t people just read and enjoy what they want without judgment? Why can’t writers just write whatever suits our fancy without a giant label on it?

Because human beings love those labels and the publishing industry is run by humans. Genre labels help readers figure out what they want to read. They help publishers determine how to market a book. Labels help libraries and book retailers know where to shelve a book. Labels aren’t necessarily bad, but when people start poo-pooing one genre over another than it’s just silly.

At the end of the day it’s perfectly fine for a book to just be a book but let’s reexamine the archaic assumption only Literary Fiction is serious and therefore better and Genre Fiction is fluff to be looked down upon. Not to sound all lovey dovey but can’t the two just get along? Our genre doesn’t detract from we write because we have stories to tell. We all have the desire to share with the world those stories regardless if our motivation is escapism or enlightenment.

Front Page, Musings

Weekly Musing: Freebies!

DH Hanni

Freebies. Everyone likes them and like getting a deal. I’m going to go out on a limb and claim bibliophiles in particular. It’s why used bookstores are awesome and my favorite place to get books. It’s what makes libraries great because there the books are free (as long as you return them).

With the explosion of ebooks and their popularity, reading and getting a hold of books has become even easier. This has given bookworms another opportunity to bargain hunt. Many authors, mostly new and proudly independent ones, realized this and figured out if they run freebie or lower price specials, they could potentially drive up their sales.

At first this was great for readers. We could hoard books without spending much money especially considering paperback books are well over ten dollars and hardbacks have always been expensive. I know once I got a Kindle I went on a shopping spree and acquired literally hundreds of free books. I figured if the book wasn’t too great then no big deal; it didn’t cost me a thing. I’m not alone in this behavior and in a recent post on Writers in the Storm, the author admits to being a bargain shopper and having a Kindle full of free and reduced price books. However, people like myself and the blog poster have realized we’re probably never going to get to all those freebies.

The publishing industry has taken note of this behavior and will often offer a lower price if a reader pre-orders. Other authors, again mainly newer and independent authors, will offer the books for free when initially launching their book. Some will give away free copies to bloggers in exchange for a book review. Still yet another strategy is after the book has been released to run occasional specials where the book’s price is reduced or free. This helps to boost sales in the hopes of getting the book on a bestseller list, in particular, Amazon’s.

Yet is this necessarily a good thing? The above post caused me reexamine my thinking. As a writer and as someone who looks to hopefully become more of a novelist than short story writer, are the low prices and free giveaways a good thing? A point I’d never thought about until the above post was the message it sends to potential readers. If a book goes on sale either before it’s even released or shortly thereafter, is it any good? Personally I don’t keep track of stuff like that and I’ve never thought such a pricing tactic means the content isn’t great. Perhaps because when I became a writer I also started reading about the industry and knew pricing strategies were common.

But does the average reader view think this way? Some due, of course, and perhaps a few years ago it was truer when many free books were self-published and not good. Nowadays I don’t think that’s the case. As self-published and indie books have gotten vastly better in quality and as more readers realize books will go on sale, the stigma has waned.

Even before the Writers in the Storm post I was beginning to change my thinking on freebie books. With a bloated Kindle I started getting pickier. As a fellow writer I want to be paid for my published work so why shouldn’t I pay for these books? The authors have put in countless hours, weeks, months, and years into their story and took a chance by birthing it into the world in the hopes they’d find readers. Buying the book pays the author which is something I’m firmly for. Writing is a job. It’s why I dislike entry/reading fees and outfits who don’t pay writers other than with “exposure” and complimentary copies. As far as I know, whether a book is purchased for free or not, it still counts as a sale.

It is enormously difficult to make a name for yourself in publishing. Any little trick or bit of help an author can get, we’ll take it. If this means running a freebie or reduced price special, it’s going to be done. If it means giving a reviewer a free copy in exchange for a review, they’ll do it. But as readers, we should reconsider our thinking. When I see a friend offering their latest endeavor for free, I don’t gobble it up. I’d rather pay them. Readers as a whole should be doing this. If we want to see more work, quality work, then actually buying it only encourages the author. After all, price doesn’t change if the story works or not and the risk is still the same for the reader.

Front Page, Musings

Weekly Musing: Purple Rain. Wait, I Mean Purple Prose.

DH Hanni

A topic of some discussion every once in a while amongst writers is Purple Prose. The definition of which is a bit nebulous. Purple Prose is generally defined as extravagant, flowery, and ornate language loaded adjectives and metaphors. Some would argue that such prose ultimately draws more attention to itself rather than the story. Still further it has been argued Purple Prose slows a story’s pacing and can come across as pretentious. As you can imagine Purple Prose is heavily discouraged if you want to write anything other than literary fiction. Apparently then it’s okay and pretty much expected.

But is Purple Prose a truly bad thing? The definition given seems quite subjective. What may be too many descriptions for one reader may very well be just right for another. Also the usage of the term flowery is problematic. It conjures up images of sweet-nothings whispered on a page, but could not constant descriptions of a depressing wasteland, such as can be found in Benjamin Percy’s The Dead Lands, also count?

Granted too many intricate sentences and long paragraphs containing them is tiresome and tedious. Purple Prose is probably why many modern readers have difficulties reading the classics. Many of those authors certainly suffer from an overabundance of flowery, tedious sentences which can tax even the most patient of readers. Yet those works endure. Much of their appeal comes down to themes explored and unforgettable characters, but I’d argue the biggest reason is due to the author’s usage of language. The poetry, cadence, and construction of sentences which conveys so much emotion. Can it be melodramatic at times? Of course.

When it comes to genre and modern works there’s this push to banish even the faintest hint of Purple Prose from works by beginning writers. To me this creates the potential to suck emotion from a piece and creates a situation where so many authors have the same generic sounding voice. It’s bland writing, bland reading, and bland characters.

As a reader the biggest thing I respond to, and the biggest thing that makes me jealous as a writer, is when an author digs deep into what the character sees and feels. Often this has manifested itself in what could be considered Purple Prose. I thoroughly enjoy it when an author uses several concrete, descriptive adjectives to show the reader what a character is seeing and feeling. Or when one uses metaphorical descriptions. For example, someone in my writers group once included the following sentence in their piece: “Blue eyes dancing with vigor.” Personally I loved visual. Logically eyes cannot dance, but that’s okay because the author was probably trying to get across this character’s eyes lit up with joy, that the character is probably a happy person, or has just seen something or someone which brought joy to his or her life. Yet one of the critiques was it was too purpley and should be rephrased.

Books which read as if the characters are reporting and only vaguely reacting to whatever’s going on are the ones I’m bored by and forget. Can an author inject more emotion without resorting to Purple Prose? Of course and I’m not saying it’s the only way to bring out the depth in a story. But to actively discourage it, scoff at it, or relegate it to literary fiction where pretention supposedly reigns supreme seems to be missing one of the fundamental points of literature: the joy and beauty of language. Think about many of the break out authors. Those who grab readers and are nominated or win prestigious awards. It’s due in large part with word usage. Writing and reading are all about words and a piece of advice I see over and over again is when revising be a better wordsmith. Choose strong verbs and adjectives. Sometimes in order to accurately convey what a character sees and feels more is needed.

When it comes to Purple Prose it really is a subjective thing. What may be overkill to one person may be just the perfect amount of beauty. Perhaps instead of pushing this notion of stripping down sentences to their bare bones, maybe more of an effort should be made to encourage bringing back the beauty of language. I know in this age of 140 characters or less, short posts are better than longer posts, texting, and short attention spans literature is unfortunately following suit. While literature should be a reflection of culture and society it has a critical job to improve language skills. Reducing everything to bite-size pieces like the Halloween candy already out in the stores, runs the risk of dumbing down language even further. Complex sentences, flowery language, metaphorical language may make us stop, pause, and re-read in order to comprehend is a good thing. The human brain should be challenged and in a small way Purple Prose can do that.