Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Hey all,

Just wondering if anyone here writes literary fiction, or mainstream literary. I've been reading through the forums, but it seems like most members are writing genre.

Anybody?

Thanks,

Suzannah
http://www.writeitsideways.com

Yes! That's what I'm working on now. And it does seem tougher to find forums, blogs, etc. that focus on literary/mainstream.

THB wrote:Yes! That's what I'm working on now. And it does seem tougher to find forums, blogs, etc. that focus on literary/mainstream.

Good to find you! Surely there must be more lurking around ..

I read through all the query critiques, but didn't end up commenting because I don't feel like I know enough about genre fiction to give any helpful advice.

Oh, we's a lurking. I'm sort of a multi-genre fellow myself, but always happy to talk Lit. If you put Lit discussion up I'm sure you'll get a few biters. Especially if the bait is good...

:)

Ink wrote:Oh, we's a lurking. I'm sort of a multi-genre fellow myself, but always happy to talk Lit. If you put Lit discussion up I'm sure you'll get a few biters. Especially if the bait is good...

:)

I might just do that :)

And I noticed, somewhere in one of these threads, you mention that you're Canadian. So am I (Thunder Bay), but I've been living in Australia for the last 3 years. Nice to see a country mate here.

You're right; it's very hard to find good info about literary fiction.

Yup, I'm a fellow Canuckian. Thunder Bay is too cold, though. I'm down in balmy Windsor, Ontario. Well, okay, it's not balmy. "Less frigid" would be more apt. It's a big selling point down here. "Hey, come on down, we're less frigid!"

I went to university in Windsor! It does get hot there in the summer though--very humid. Although, not as hot as Australia ;)

Small world.

Yup. I do. And we share a name, but I spell it "Susannah."

I'm new to this blogging thing. How can we help each other?

I too am a fanatic for literary fiction. Has the world turned and literary movements are now the grumpy stepchildren of literature? Or are literary movements as strong as ever?

I love reading literary fiction. It's probably my favorite genre to read. So far, I've written mostly science fiction and fantasy, but often with literary style sentence structure. An example is a short story entitled "Bright Moon" that I wrote, published on a Blog recommended by Nathan: http://bigglasscases.blogspot.com/2009/ ... -moon.html

And from my experience, literary writers are far less likely to congregate online than genre writers. Now, that experience of mine is utterly subjective and anecdotal, but I've found it holds pretty true in all the writing places I've been. Genre writers seem more into the community thing (Cons, forums, blogs, etc.), whereas the literary writers (and these are subjective averages, to which there will always be exceptions - and possibly numerous ones) seem more inclined to go it alone. Or, if they do congregate, they do so more in writers' workshops and creative writing programs.

Just my sense of things.

And, yup, it's a small world. When were you at school in Windsor?

@matt mc: Nice to meet you :)

@Sanna44: Another Susannah/Suzannah?? Awesome :) I've been blogging for a while, but if you're looking to get some great advice, I took Leo Babauta's blogging bootcamp a few months back and it's made a huge difference to the quality of my site. I really recommend it.

@polymath: I think literary is giving way to mainstream literary, which is fine. People are so busy these days, we can't necessarily get away with the same writing styles as the classics. That's okay though, times change :)

@Marilyn: Glad to find you, too! I'll have to check out the site you recommend, and your story.

@Ink: I think you're right about literary writers more often going it alone. I used to be okay with that, but it would be nice to connect with a few like-minded folks as well. Oh, and I was at uni in Windsor from '99 until '01, taking a degree in English lit.

Thanks all!
Suzannah
http://www.writeitsideways.com

Lol, writeitsideways, it really is a small world... I was at the U of Windsor getting a BA in English and Creative Writing from '96-'00, and then an MA in English and Creative Writing from '00-'02. I could have tripped over you in the halls. Or maybe you would have tripped over me, as I was one of those long-haired kids lazing around...

@Ink

That's crazy! I always laugh when I say I'm from Canada and people say, "Do you know so-and-so?" But apparently it's a small country after all!

Did you ever have Dr. Jenstad as a prof? I took all her renaissance drama classes. She was my favourite. I haven't been back there since '02, and all my uni friends are long gone by now. But oh, the memories ;)