5 Tropes in Literary Fiction (the best and worst!)

Unlike other genres, literary fiction isn't often known for its tropes--but it does still have them. Many tropes in literary fiction are more stylistic, and these style trends can be hit or miss depending on how well they're executed. Today let's chat about five tropes in literary fiction, two to be avoid, one to tread carefully with, and two to embrace in your work.

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Intro
1:24 - Illogical framing devices
3:19 - Writing about writing
4:11 - No quotation marks
5:44 - Retrospection
7:20 - Genre bending

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RESOURCES:

[vikillustrations]

genre-bending is such a great thing. Most stories aren´t just one thing. I don´t understand people who try to force themselves to fit just this one thing. Write the story you want to write and worry about the categories later. Genres aren´t walls, they are for readers to know if the story is what they are into

[Robin-ihjv]

5:03 I think the best use of no quotation marks I've seen is Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, where it's essentially used as a tool for characterization of the narrator (there aren't any quotations around the narrators lines) It blurs the line between the internal monologue and external dialogue which makes sense because yk, famously during most of the book he's just talking to his own hallucination. Really adds to the overall disassociated tone of the story.

[Snarflelocker]

I didn’t know my novel was literary fiction until these past two videos. It’s been a revelation, thank you so much. I thought my prose was too proletarian for my novel to qualify, and now I feel like I’m understanding it completely for the first time.
Which is convenient since I’ve only been working on it for 9 years.

[Ozgipsy]

Young lady, I have no idea why you don’t have way more views. Very insightful. Every time.

[judsonl]

One of my favorite literary fiction writers is Cormac McCarthy. His book The Road is such a great example of genre-bending. Post-apocalyptic and beautifully written with plenty of retrospection.

[mcrumph]

The great thing about writing about writers is they are one of the few professionals that have the time to sit around (or walk around) thinking; but, you are correct about the writer's block aspect of it. I would much rather see a writer at the top of their game (say, Umberto Eco) pounding out words. This would be a significantly better way to address creativity & the process of turning ephemeral thoughts into words on the page. Concerning fiction, all I read is literary & I am currently working on a novel where the reader is introduced to three characters & as those people move around the reader is introduced to other characters, each told in a specific way with an individual point of view. Give me another 10 or fifteen years & I will have my first draft finished.

Great video, keep up the good work. Yes, I did subscribe, but not the notification, because, as a writer, have plenty of time to sit around & think & see who has put up new videos.

[billyalarie]

thank you for saying this about genre-bending.

i think so much of my time has been wasted on worrying about leaning too heavily on A Genre, that i forget that literary fiction is FAR more interested in the W A Y it is written, rather than it being about completely normal day-to-day shit and pointless introspection.

[Iloveliterature]

Two tropes. 1. Protagonist returns to home town to see mum who has dementia. 2. Goes for a walk - sea-gulls. Also over-doing the 5 senses thing. Boy fancies girl and goes to a café with her. Buys a scone. Smells the scone, tastes it, watches butter melt on it, the texture of the scone, its taste . . . as if he would give a **** about the scone if he's with a girl he fancies for first time!

[r.harlansmith]

Your talks on literary fiction are very good. I write almost exclusively in Literary/Upgrade fiction. Your information and examples are reaffirming for me. Thanx.
R. Harlan Smith

[newtocamelot]

Regarding retrospection, I thought that could only be done in past tense, but I think the novel “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” does it in present tense, if I’m not mistaken. Here’s an example:

“She could not break the figurine.
But she could take it.
Amid the growing list of negatives—she cannot write, cannot say her name, cannot leave a mark—this is the first thing she has been able to do. She can steal. It will be a long time before she knows the contours of her curse, longer still before she understands the shadow’s sense of humor, before he looks at her over a glass of wine and observes that a successful theft is an anonymous act. The absence of a mark.
In this moment, she is simply grateful for the talisman.”

Is this an example of retrospection?

[karenboyd]

Very interesting and helpful video. I have been buying literature from sites that categorize some novels as literary fiction and I have wondered what it was. As a former teacher of writing and literature, among other things, I have struggled at times to explain to students what good literature and good writing is and why it is worthwhile. One of the first topics we covered that a good (worthy) book is not defined by what you like. Books are important for many different reasons. A book that makes a person think and analyze the issues in the book, is best. IMHO. However I had a student who, when writing a persuasive essay without out a clearly stated thesis, said she wanted to make the reader think.... My point is that excessive framing, especially when it goes back and forth often, can be confusing and combustion is not a good way to "make people think." The same is true for un-marked dialog. Certainly, things get boring with a lot of "he said, " "She replied, " He shouted, She screened. But as a reader I get irritated when I need to reread to know who said what. Good writing should be unobtrusive. By that I mean is that the writing techniques should not be blatantly in your face. If the reader thinks, oh framing again, or Oh there's a dog barking, it is a distraction. But when they are subtly included, they make for a wonderful read. ON the other hand tropes in things like romantic comedy can be fun since they lend themselves to humorous, sarcastic or snarky comments to share with friends while you watch.

[seandavidcomedy]

Would love a recommended reading list at the end of these genre videos.

[IanHollis]

If you haven't already, could you do a video on self-publishing a *second edition* and what differs and how it differs to self-publishing a first edition? Thank you.

[demn]

On number 2, from tv tropes: “most writers are writers”

[paulapoetry]

The writer character is encountered a great deal in fiction, not only in literary fiction, but in romance and womens' fiction, and very much so in crime/mystery type genres. A crime writer with a tendency to get involved in solving real life crimes...! It isn't always annoying, but can be.

[Exayevie]

Oh my gosh I love this discussion of no quotation marks. I remember picking up The Road for the first time and rolling my eyes the way back in my head lol. I almost put the book down because I thought it was so pretentious. But by the end, I had to acknowledge it really added to the stark, isolated feel of the book.

At the time I insisted it would never work outside of an apocalyptic setting, and then I read All The Pretty Horses. So that theory was immediately shot lol.

I still refuse to do anything completely without quotation marks like McCarthy does. But I found it’s useful to pull out in select situations, specifically when dialogue is happening but it’s not the main thing on the character’s mind. Hemmingway did that very subtly in just a few passages of Farewell to Arms.

[freedomthroughspirit]

I guess I'm old school (?) but I'm still not comfortable with reading books writing in first person. I never know if I should trust the narrator, interestingly, and it's not me but it's saying "I" which is odd and as a result puts me off. I know some folks love the immediacy of it but I value the distance between me and the characters, allowing me to let the characters "in" and to put myself in their shoes at my comfort/convenience/choice. To each their own. Great video, thank you for this topic, very interesting.

[nealabbott]

i was taught that someone famous (can't remember who) who make a dog bark when he's stuck on a scene and make the characters react. raymond chandler did the same, except someone would walk into the room with a gun and people would react to that

[zenaryder]

I'd never noticed the dog barking thing and didn't think I had one in my literary WIP. But I searched the manuscript for "dog" and lo and behold, I do have one! 😂

[DalCecilRuno]

Literary sci-fi!!!! 💜💜💜 Sorry, I had to say it. I love that blend so much.