Genre Guide — Literary Fiction

Do you tire of the silly tricks and the same old plots in genre fiction? Does it all just feel like a cheesy action movie to you when you would rather be watching an art film? Then literary fiction might work for you. If you read a lot of literary fiction, then you already know that it is all different, and there aren't a lot of standard tropes and cliches. If you haven't read much literary fiction, but...

Historical fiction is all about the setting. You can do anything you want within it — mystery, thriller, drama, romance, and more — but in the best historical novels, the setting takes center stage, or rather becomes the theater itself. And the walls of that theater must become more real to the reader than than the walls of their own home. A master of this genre transports the reader to the story’s place and time entire, setting them down in the middle of not just a tale, but an entire world that hasn’t been seen in many years. The amount...

Back to historical fiction Online Resources 5 Tips for Writing a Fully Realized Historical Setting — From Writer’s Digest and Nekesa Afia The first question for historical fiction writers is “What era and area will I write in?” Along with the books in the Informational section below, here are some online options for helping you pick: Khan Academy’s World History Course — Khan Academy is a non-profit organization aiming to provide free, quality education to everyone. A lot of the material is aimed toward children, but there’s plenty of stuff for adults as well. Check out their world history courses and see...