What Is Literary Fiction?

Literary fiction is also known as "serious fiction," though personally I dislike both of those terms, implying as they do that all other fiction - genre fiction, in particular - is somehow less literate and less serious. Still, literary fiction is the term that is used and so we are stuck with it.

I'm generalizing here, but if you go into a bookshop you can usually tell the genre novels from the literary novels instantly:

• Whereas the genre novels have eye-catching covers - handsome men on the romance novels, dripping blood on the horror novels - literary novels are more subtle, more "arty." They sometimes have stickers on the cover, too, saying that the novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize or won the Orange Prize or something similar.

• The titles will also be different: genre titles tend to be more direct and encapsulate perfectly what the novel is about; literary titles are more offbeat, more "arty" again, but just as eye-catching in their way. So if genre novels have titles like Beastchild (Dean Koontz) and The Lake of Darkness (Ruth Rendell), literary titles are Instances of the Number 3 (Salley Vickers) or The Alchemy of Desire (Tarun J Tejpal).

• The two varieties of novel might be sold in a different format, too. As I mentioned, genre fiction is usually sold in the "mass-market paperback" format (unless you happen to be one of the big names), whereas literary fiction appears in hardback form first (or else as a "trade paperback," which is the same size as a hardback but has a soft cover) and then in standard paperback a year later.

• Finally, of course, you will find them in different sections of the bookshop. Genre novels will have areas of shelving all to themselves (one area for crime novels, one for romances, and so on), while literary books will appear in the "General A-Z" section, along with the mainstream fiction.

They generally sell in smaller quantities than genre or mainstream novels, meaning publishers are less likely to take a gamble on them - though you shouldn't let that put you off. You must write what you want to write. And remember that if a literary novel wins a prestigious award, or is on the receiving end of some positive word-of-mouth buzz, sales can be huge.

Apart from looking different to genre fiction, and being shelved in a different location in the bookstore, what else sets "serious" fiction apart? In a nutshell, it is this: it is more character-driven and less concerned with a fast-paced plot than genre fiction.

Though just as the best genre novels are peopled by fully-rounded characters, so the best literary novels are well plotted. It is really just a difference of emphasis. If a strong plot is paramount in genre fiction, in literary fiction the plot can be less momentous, more subtle, less frenetically-paced, more beneath the surface - but it still needs to be there.

Fans of "serious" fiction might consider genre fiction to have less artistic merit, to be formulaic, melodramatic, and so on. And fans of genre fiction might consider literary novels to be boring books in which nothing much happens. But both views would be wrong.

Literary fiction isn't "better" than genre fiction in the same way that a table isn't better than a wheelbarrow - they are simply different products serving different needs.

Think of it like this: each of the fictional genres is aimed at a specific group of readers who take pleasure from reading those types of books.

• Horror fans like horror novels.
• Crime fans like crime novels.
• And so on.

In that respect, literary fiction can be seen as just another genre - it is simply fiction aimed at a specific group of readers who like what the novels have to offer.

But what do literary novels have to offer, exactly? I've talked generally about them having a concern for the exploration of character, but read on for a wider and more detailed look at the four defining characteristics of literary fiction...