Be a Better Writer--CONTEMPORARY FICTION
Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2014 8:41 am
This lesson lists characteristics found in most contemporary fiction. Not all of these will be present in every piece of contemporary fiction, and it’s by no means an exhaustive list. But if you’re unclear of what contemporary fiction looks like, this should help to clarify things a bit.
1. The story takes place in the present time. That doesn’t mean that it has to happen in November of 2014, but it should be set in a time period that is distinctly not historical. Some of the sites I researched for this lesson suggested post-WW2 as ‘contemporary.’ I feel as if pieces that are set in the 50s or 60s, with a Leave It to Beaver feel or a Flower Power feel, aren’t particularly contemporary. The reader should feel at home in the story—as if is happening in their lifetime. Yes, I’m aware that many of us (including myself) were alive in the 50s and 60s. But think back at how the world was then: does that feel contemporary to you? Me, either.
2. The events of the story are realistic. This is not the place to introduce sci-fi or fantasy, or even highly improbable, but possible, events like a civil war between red and blue states or an 8.2 earthquake in New York City. Contemporary fiction is far more likely to reflect the lives of characters who could be your neighbors. That is not to say that the events are humdrum—no one wants to read that. The things that happen to your characters can be very significant to them, even the sort of things that might make the news (or not).
3. Contemporary fiction often tackles contemporary issues. My favorite writer, Jodi Picoult, has written novels about a school shooting, abusive priests, a wrongly accused teacher, a family who conceives a baby to provide transplants for an older sibling. These issues are all examined through just a few characters’ lives. For the writing challenge, you might want to tackle even smaller issues. When I was entering, I wrote about a bully, a woman in early stages of Alzheimer’s, a person struggling with OCD, a new wife trying to win over her reluctant stepdaughter.
4. As you can see, contemporary fiction isn’t generally humorous. Occasional amusing things can happen, and the characters can smile, crack jokes, have fun. But the prevailing tone shouldn’t be humor. The characters are dealing with things that are significantly impacting their lives. However, although contemporary literature is serious, there certainly may be a hopeful or satisfying ending. (Or there may not.)
5. Contemporary fiction doesn’t typically fit into any other genre. There may be a romance, but the romance isn’t the thing that drives the plot, so it couldn’t be considered a “romance story.” Similarly, there may be a crime or a mystery or an element of suspense or a flashback to the past or something humorous…but the book doesn’t unfold according to the formulas expected by readers of those other genres. Rather, the story focuses on the main characters, how they react, and how events change them. There’s likely to be narrative about the characters’ thoughts, feelings, motivations.
6. Because contemporary fiction is realistic, the themes are often universal. The main characters, as they grow and change throughout the story, may be experiencing something I’ve never experienced, but when they learn something significant (dishonesty will eventually cause bad consequences, a mother’s love is stronger than anything), it’s something I learn, too.
7. People speak the way real people speak. They use contractions and fragments, they interrupt each other, they use slang, they have regional dialects and individual quirks of speech, and generally their speeches are short (few people in real life speak entire paragraphs at a time). The children are not abnormally clever and articulate in what they say.
8. Some contemporary fiction writers experiment with unusual writing styles. While this isn’t true of all contemporary literature, there has been an increase in recent years in writing that is different from the classic writing of the past. Some writers have chosen unique narrators: a dead girl narrating from the afterlife, an autistic teen, a five-year-old boy, a woman in a coma. Or they may flout the conventions of writing—writing entirely in 2nd person, writing dialogue without quotation marks, or USING some other writing method that looks or sounds different from a typical narrative. You may have heard the phrase “literary fiction”—this subset of contemporary fiction often has an experimental quality.
Here are a few past challenge entries that could be called Contemporary Fiction. Don’t feel as if you have to read them all, nor am I trolling for comments. But if you’re unclear of what contemporary fiction in 750 words might look like, one of these might give you an idea.
A Subtle Softening features the overprotective mother of a child recovering from a bad accident.
Mirror has a subtle Christian message in a story about non-identical adult twins.
The Sun’s Rays, Through Rusted Iron features a jaded writer and a hint of romance.
A Waltz in 4/4 Time has a middle-aged couple who have drifted apart, and what brings them back together.
If you read one or two of these, you’ll see that they’re serious, but not oppressively so, and although they don’t have endings that solve every problem the characters were experiencing, there’s the suggestion that things might be fine. That leads to my last characteristic:
9. Contemporary fiction trusts the reader to fill in the rest of the story. No pretty, tied-up, happily-ever-after endings. Even if the main conflict is resolved, the reader gets to decide for herself how the characters’ changes will affect their lives, and how the events will continue to play out.
HOMEWORK:
Make a comment or ask a question about contemporary fiction. OR
Link to something you’ve written that fits into this genre. If you do this, please don’t just give the link, but tell us something about your writing process. OR
If this is a genre that you read (or write) quite a bit, feel free to add to my list.
1. The story takes place in the present time. That doesn’t mean that it has to happen in November of 2014, but it should be set in a time period that is distinctly not historical. Some of the sites I researched for this lesson suggested post-WW2 as ‘contemporary.’ I feel as if pieces that are set in the 50s or 60s, with a Leave It to Beaver feel or a Flower Power feel, aren’t particularly contemporary. The reader should feel at home in the story—as if is happening in their lifetime. Yes, I’m aware that many of us (including myself) were alive in the 50s and 60s. But think back at how the world was then: does that feel contemporary to you? Me, either.
2. The events of the story are realistic. This is not the place to introduce sci-fi or fantasy, or even highly improbable, but possible, events like a civil war between red and blue states or an 8.2 earthquake in New York City. Contemporary fiction is far more likely to reflect the lives of characters who could be your neighbors. That is not to say that the events are humdrum—no one wants to read that. The things that happen to your characters can be very significant to them, even the sort of things that might make the news (or not).
3. Contemporary fiction often tackles contemporary issues. My favorite writer, Jodi Picoult, has written novels about a school shooting, abusive priests, a wrongly accused teacher, a family who conceives a baby to provide transplants for an older sibling. These issues are all examined through just a few characters’ lives. For the writing challenge, you might want to tackle even smaller issues. When I was entering, I wrote about a bully, a woman in early stages of Alzheimer’s, a person struggling with OCD, a new wife trying to win over her reluctant stepdaughter.
4. As you can see, contemporary fiction isn’t generally humorous. Occasional amusing things can happen, and the characters can smile, crack jokes, have fun. But the prevailing tone shouldn’t be humor. The characters are dealing with things that are significantly impacting their lives. However, although contemporary literature is serious, there certainly may be a hopeful or satisfying ending. (Or there may not.)
5. Contemporary fiction doesn’t typically fit into any other genre. There may be a romance, but the romance isn’t the thing that drives the plot, so it couldn’t be considered a “romance story.” Similarly, there may be a crime or a mystery or an element of suspense or a flashback to the past or something humorous…but the book doesn’t unfold according to the formulas expected by readers of those other genres. Rather, the story focuses on the main characters, how they react, and how events change them. There’s likely to be narrative about the characters’ thoughts, feelings, motivations.
6. Because contemporary fiction is realistic, the themes are often universal. The main characters, as they grow and change throughout the story, may be experiencing something I’ve never experienced, but when they learn something significant (dishonesty will eventually cause bad consequences, a mother’s love is stronger than anything), it’s something I learn, too.
7. People speak the way real people speak. They use contractions and fragments, they interrupt each other, they use slang, they have regional dialects and individual quirks of speech, and generally their speeches are short (few people in real life speak entire paragraphs at a time). The children are not abnormally clever and articulate in what they say.
8. Some contemporary fiction writers experiment with unusual writing styles. While this isn’t true of all contemporary literature, there has been an increase in recent years in writing that is different from the classic writing of the past. Some writers have chosen unique narrators: a dead girl narrating from the afterlife, an autistic teen, a five-year-old boy, a woman in a coma. Or they may flout the conventions of writing—writing entirely in 2nd person, writing dialogue without quotation marks, or USING some other writing method that looks or sounds different from a typical narrative. You may have heard the phrase “literary fiction”—this subset of contemporary fiction often has an experimental quality.
Here are a few past challenge entries that could be called Contemporary Fiction. Don’t feel as if you have to read them all, nor am I trolling for comments. But if you’re unclear of what contemporary fiction in 750 words might look like, one of these might give you an idea.
A Subtle Softening features the overprotective mother of a child recovering from a bad accident.
Mirror has a subtle Christian message in a story about non-identical adult twins.
The Sun’s Rays, Through Rusted Iron features a jaded writer and a hint of romance.
A Waltz in 4/4 Time has a middle-aged couple who have drifted apart, and what brings them back together.
If you read one or two of these, you’ll see that they’re serious, but not oppressively so, and although they don’t have endings that solve every problem the characters were experiencing, there’s the suggestion that things might be fine. That leads to my last characteristic:
9. Contemporary fiction trusts the reader to fill in the rest of the story. No pretty, tied-up, happily-ever-after endings. Even if the main conflict is resolved, the reader gets to decide for herself how the characters’ changes will affect their lives, and how the events will continue to play out.
HOMEWORK:
Make a comment or ask a question about contemporary fiction. OR
Link to something you’ve written that fits into this genre. If you do this, please don’t just give the link, but tell us something about your writing process. OR
If this is a genre that you read (or write) quite a bit, feel free to add to my list.