I would argue that what ails literature today is that almost everybody is only including some of the elements of a story, often exaggerating one element to cover the gap. Thus lit fic gorges on character description but skimps on plot, while genre fiction uses stock characters and throws them into furious action. The most radical and transgressive thing you could do today is write a whole story with all the elements in their proper proportion.
Do you have any examples of a story that does this? I’m imagining that it would feel “scattered” and “unfocused” to many people, and be said to defy genre. That might limit your readership, but it would certainly make something that feels unique for our current moment.
Pride and Prejudice, The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Gatsby, David Copperfield. Of course, the needs of the story will to an extent determine the particular balance of elements that suits a particular story. It is a matter of a writer working with a complete toolbox and pallet.
There's a great interview with Andrew Klavan on Triggernometry where he talks about those moments in the history of an art when the most popular products are also the most commercially successful. https://youtu.be/4btUeRk8GDg To my mind, it is at that point that the work being done is complete, and once it declines from that point, all the work being produced is incomplete in one respect or another.
I really enjoyed the video. Interesting insight into how an art form evolves over time. I have long felt that readers have seen it all and now have a preference for subverted expectations. This can work so long as your subversion is better than what was expected - a pleasant surprise. But that so rarely happens, and instead you get mean shock with no other substance behind it.
I would argue that what ails literature today is that almost everybody is only including some of the elements of a story, often exaggerating one element to cover the gap. Thus lit fic gorges on character description but skimps on plot, while genre fiction uses stock characters and throws them into furious action. The most radical and transgressive thing you could do today is write a whole story with all the elements in their proper proportion.
Do you have any examples of a story that does this? I’m imagining that it would feel “scattered” and “unfocused” to many people, and be said to defy genre. That might limit your readership, but it would certainly make something that feels unique for our current moment.
Pride and Prejudice, The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Gatsby, David Copperfield. Of course, the needs of the story will to an extent determine the particular balance of elements that suits a particular story. It is a matter of a writer working with a complete toolbox and pallet.
There's a great interview with Andrew Klavan on Triggernometry where he talks about those moments in the history of an art when the most popular products are also the most commercially successful. https://youtu.be/4btUeRk8GDg To my mind, it is at that point that the work being done is complete, and once it declines from that point, all the work being produced is incomplete in one respect or another.
I really enjoyed the video. Interesting insight into how an art form evolves over time. I have long felt that readers have seen it all and now have a preference for subverted expectations. This can work so long as your subversion is better than what was expected - a pleasant surprise. But that so rarely happens, and instead you get mean shock with no other substance behind it.