Literary Fiction

[EMC]

Is anyone writing the above? (Or attempting to, as I more accurately say about myself!) There seems to be a lot of genre/YA writers on here, so I was curious.
I would be interested to discuss other peoples highs and (low, low) lows with LF. :)
EMC

[Netti]

I am! My current novel is about an art student. I know next to nothing about art so I'm finding it a bit difficult but I think that's mostly me psyching myself out. I'm trying to hit on censorship issues with mine though.

[polymath]

Literary Fiction Highs

  When a nonconscious or subconscious influence pops up and it works as intended, gets past a stalling point, adds a delightful sense of the proxy reality of the story in a few concise words without being too clever of a darling to call undue attention to itself.

   Realizing the manuscript resonates in its parts and wholes.

   Readers commenting the story is fully realized, if only a few little picture areas can be cleared up.

Literary Fiction Lows

   A lack of discerning readers for insightfully evaluating a manuscript and helpfully contributing to the creative vision.

   A crushing realization too much of the plot is in the subtext and not knowing what to do about it but rewrite from scratch.

   Ongoing divisiveness about the disparities of popular and artisitic appeal. I mean, why not both. Why a knee-jerk high brow or low brow either/or reaction and never the twain shall meet. Go, No Brow.

[Truth and Fiction]

I'm a literary fiction writer, too. I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for in terms of "highs and lows" but I'll add:

Highs -- It's character driven, which is what I most relate to. It can be complex and moving and beautifully written. But most simply, it's what I love to read and write. Grants, prizes, fellowships, residencies, etc. often tend to favor literary fiction.
Lows -- It's more difficult to sell overall. And since it makes less money, it's more difficult to convince publishers to take it on. And then there's the all-too-common misconception that literary fiction is all boring/pretentious/plotless.

[EMC]

Great answers folks! I guess I'm just struggling, cos it's hard enough to write/get the plot, let alone do all the beautiful things with language that I want to, that I see the masters do and want to emulate.
Was wondering was anyone else feeling the same. :)

[Ermo]

I write LF for my short stories but have abandonded it somewhat for long-form stuff. I feel like I'll be more marketable with a more mainstream book that has some flashes of LF influence. The pros to LF of course is that it is the best vehicle for extracting powerful emotions from your characters and ultimately your readers. The con is that it takes quite the commitment from a reader (so there is a smaller audience) and you ultimately might spend your life just publishing in literary journals (if you can beat out the massive competition there).