>Literary Fiction Defined

>Here’s a nice essay by Andrew Nicoll, author of The Good Mayor: A miss, then a hit. The main point of the article is that his agent insisted that he pretend to be a woman while she was trying to sell his book. He did, but she failed. And then he got a deal after she dropped him and the book has done very well.

It was a learning process for him.

I found out that all serious literary fiction MUST be written in the continuous historic present. Throughout the whole story, nothing must happen – in fact there must be no story at all – and the whole thing must be written in a tone of unremitting gloom. My book isn’t like that. It’s got a beginning, a middle and an end and everything.

About the author

I am the author of three novels--THE LAST BIRD OF PARADISE, OLIVER'S TRAVELS, and THE SHAMAN OF TURTLE VALLEY--and three story collections--IN AN UNCHARTED COUNTRY, HOUSE OF THE ANCIENTS AND OTHER STORIES, and WHAT THE ZHANG BOYS KNOW, winner of the Library of Virginia Literary Award for Fiction. I am also the co-founder and former editor of Prime Number Magazine and the editor of the award-winning anthology series EVERYWHERE STORIES: SHORT FICTION FROM A SMALL PLANET.

Comments

  1. >Love this article. Trying to publish for the market would drive me nuts, which is why I only publish writing that I love.

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