I have a very good reason to ask. I'd like to enter a story into the Writer's Digest short story competition (deadline in a few days) but the story I'm entering is a bit weird. It is not speculative in nature (although there is a hallucination that some hardcore fantasy lovers might take seriously). It is a bit horrific -- ie it could be classified as horror. It is written in a weird style, a series of blog entries reported in reverse chronological order as they might appear on a web site.
A few of you may have read it...it's called "Ana" and is about a pro-anorexic and pro-bulimic web site. This is a popular enough topic that I could see it appealing to a mainstream audience.
I've never been clear on what literary/mainstream meant, though. So, any thoughts? Or even just general definitions I could extrapolate from?
Posted by Ray (Member # 2415) on :
Mainstream is writing that is concerned with modern, real life, modern kind of stuff, like daily routines, social customs, controversial issues, etc. Basically, anything that's concerned with what is important now.
I'm not sure what is meant by literary though. I don't know if there's a separation between that and mainstream, or if they're the same thing with a different name. I just don't know.
Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :
I think that 'literary' is just mainstream, with an attitude.
Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :
Christine, I remember that story, and I thought of it as more genre (something in the horror vein) than mainstream. but that shouldn't stop you from trying it on mainstream markets. you're right about the ana stuff being mainstream.
I like mike's definition! I think of literary as mainstream minus plot, plus pretension, which I am quite sure is not fair to literary people and tells you more about my prejudices than about what 'literary' means. oh, well.
[This message has been edited by Beth (edited May 12, 2005).]
Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :
In "The First Five Pages" Noah Lukeman (or whatever his name is) describes literary as focusing on the use of language.
Christine, I think you could enter that in either genre or mainstream, it's really a crossover piece.
Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
For the purposes of this contest, I read the rules more carefully and saw that the judges retain the right to reclassify entries...which made me feel a little better. I agree, Mary, that this is a bit of a cross-over piece. In the end I went with mainstream/literary because I think the issues involved fit well in that genre and because I understand that entries in that genre, for this contest, have a better shot at the grand prize. ($2500 and a trip to New York to meet with agents and editors)
Posted by Kickle (Member # 1934) on :
I just got my Writer's digest and the winner of their short short story competition fell into the catagory of magic realism. I'm not sure what the rules were for entering that competition, but it would seem they would be similar to the one you are concidering.
[This message has been edited by Kickle (edited May 12, 2005).]
Posted by Robyn_Hood (Member # 2083) on :
Christine, I wrote to their FAQ section yesterday and asked the following:
quote:I had a question about the categories. I have a story that I would consider cross-genre. It deals some mainstream issues, but has some elements that could be considered speculative. Can I submit the same story in both of the short story categories?
