Since I started writing full-time (or semi-full-time), I've become more aware of different types of books and shorter pieces...Some are purely informational, some completely fictional with no teaching, per se, while other writers use fiction to tell a greater truth.
Examples of each would be:
Informational: Dictionaries and encyclopedias (obviously); text books; non-fiction (such as Amy Goodman's Exception to the Rulers or Rachel Carson's Silent Spring).
Pure fiction: This genre is purely for entertainment purposes. This would include (but is not limited to): romance novels, westerns, mysteries, fantasy, most of what passes as "mass fiction". This is not to say that there is something wrong with it. No. In this stress-filled, fast-paced, cut-throat, hectic thing we call "life", we need something to help us kick back and relax without the possibility of a hang-over or harming our bodies. Much of it, while not giving us a message, can transform us to another time or place that we might not otherwise experience. The trick here, though, is to be discerning: while some books may be the equivalent of, say, a substantial meal, others are the equivalent of a bowl of candy or ice cream--fine, in moderation
Fiction with a message: This could be any piece that, while fiction, shows how a life can be changed for good or bad. It also brings forth a subject that, if done in text-book fashion, would bore the reader and/or not make the impact that a story with believable characters can. Good examples are Alice Hoffman's At Risk (dealing with AIDS) and Anna Quinlen's Black And Blue (domestic violence) and One True Thing (end of life care/cancer). All three of these also deal with family dynamics, making us care about the characters and their struggle with AIDS, domestic violence, and end-of-life decisions. The reader is shown something that might frighten or bore us, if done the wrong way. But many of us may be moved to do something to help, while not these characters who are fictional, but others caught in similar situations.
My biggest obstacle is to not get depressed when my writing is not published immediately. (I'm still trying to sell my first novel, which deals with domestic violence.) Publication will happen...In the meantime, I need to keep writing to change what I see is wrong for the good of those around me.
Examples of each would be:
Informational: Dictionaries and encyclopedias (obviously); text books; non-fiction (such as Amy Goodman's Exception to the Rulers or Rachel Carson's Silent Spring).
Pure fiction: This genre is purely for entertainment purposes. This would include (but is not limited to): romance novels, westerns, mysteries, fantasy, most of what passes as "mass fiction". This is not to say that there is something wrong with it. No. In this stress-filled, fast-paced, cut-throat, hectic thing we call "life", we need something to help us kick back and relax without the possibility of a hang-over or harming our bodies. Much of it, while not giving us a message, can transform us to another time or place that we might not otherwise experience. The trick here, though, is to be discerning: while some books may be the equivalent of, say, a substantial meal, others are the equivalent of a bowl of candy or ice cream--fine, in moderation
Fiction with a message: This could be any piece that, while fiction, shows how a life can be changed for good or bad. It also brings forth a subject that, if done in text-book fashion, would bore the reader and/or not make the impact that a story with believable characters can. Good examples are Alice Hoffman's At Risk (dealing with AIDS) and Anna Quinlen's Black And Blue (domestic violence) and One True Thing (end of life care/cancer). All three of these also deal with family dynamics, making us care about the characters and their struggle with AIDS, domestic violence, and end-of-life decisions. The reader is shown something that might frighten or bore us, if done the wrong way. But many of us may be moved to do something to help, while not these characters who are fictional, but others caught in similar situations.
My biggest obstacle is to not get depressed when my writing is not published immediately. (I'm still trying to sell my first novel, which deals with domestic violence.) Publication will happen...In the meantime, I need to keep writing to change what I see is wrong for the good of those around me.
posted by feminist writer - Robin Shwedo at 11:57 AM
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