Creative Writing For Dummies, UK Edition by Hamand Maggie

Author:Hamand, Maggie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Published: 2010-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

The term is also used for fiction that stands the test of time and will be read by future generations. Most of the novels produced in Victorian times have disappeared without trace; only the very best are still read today. Recognising which of today’s novels will still be read by the next generation is obviously very difficult.

Review coverage and being nominated for one of the many literary prizes is what makes a literary novel stand out and be successful. Being shortlisted for the Man Booker, Orange or Costa (formerly Whitbread) prizes can make an author’s reputation and ensure that the nominated book and future books get reviewed and sell well.

Considering the characteristics of the literary novel

Writing a literary novel involves some degree of originality. Take a look at the most successful literary novels of the last ten years; many of these use:

An unusual voice: Peter Carey’s The True History of the Kelly Gang is written in the voice of an illiterate Australian; Andrea Levy’s Small Island has a Caribbean lilt; Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time imitates the voice of a 15-year-old autistic boy; and Xiaolu Guo’s A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers has the voice of a Chinese woman who doesn’t speak good English.

An unusual structure: David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas is divided into six narratives, each of exactly 80 pages, split into two sections. Lionel Shriver’s The Post-Birthday World has the same first and last chapter, but the chapters in between alternate with two possible narratives, depending on whether she goes ahead with an infidelity or not. Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin contains a story-within-a-story, Sarah Waters’s The Night Watch has a narrative that runs backwards in time (Chapter 9 covers the traditional structure of the novel).

An unusual or important theme: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun describes the painful history of Biafra, Linda Grant’s When I Lived in Modern Times looks at post-war Israel, and Clare Morrall’s Astonishing Splashes of Colour concerns a woman with synaesthesia. Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go looks at the issue of cloning people for body parts, while Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist concerns the relationship between the Muslim world and the West.

Literary novels use metaphor and symbolism (see Chapter 7 for more on these devices); they work at more than one level. They often refer back in structure or theme to other literary texts or even art forms, echoing classic texts such as the Bible and Dante’s Divine Comedy, as well as other well-known literary novels. James Joyce’s Ulysses, for example, refers back to many events in Homer’s Odyssey, and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy refers to Milton’s Paradise Lost (the title is a quotation from it) and Dante’s Divine Comedy (the heroine, Lyra Belacqua’s surname is taken from a character in Dante’s work).

Writing a literary novel requires an ability to use language with originality and flair, a deep curiosity about character and the choices people make, and often a deep concern for

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