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Experimental Fiction: Examples and Dynamics

March 29, 2020

Literature

art, experimental, fiction, literature, writing

Experimental fiction examples aren’t easy to find. The thing is, experimental fiction is the kind of writing that rarely produces a commercial hit – though it does so every now and then.

Imagine literary fiction on LSD, and you have something like experimental fiction. But no, not all experimental fiction is literary – and certainly most of literary fiction isn’t experimental.

A definition of experimental fiction isn’t easy, either. In some sense, experimental fiction is the kind of fiction that displays significant deviation from literary norms – mostly in structural, formatting, or methodological aspects. We’ll see more about all these in a moment, through the examples I’ve picked.

At the same time, we must also recognize an interesting paradox: Whether a novel is experimental or not must be seen in connection with its context. In other words, what is groundbreaking, radical, and unorthodox today, might be the norm tomorrow.

For some, experimental fiction is “weird”. For others, it’s “awesome”. As for me, it’s an interesting opportunity to learn a thing or two about how fiction, writing, and even literary criticism operate.

Experimental Fiction, image of book
Experimental fiction examples aren’t easy to find, because this kind of writing produces a commercial hit rather rarely
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Affect in Writing: A Way of Feeling

March 10, 2020

Writing

affect, art, fiction, writing

If you searched Home for Fiction for the term “affective power”, you’d discover tons of results. I have referred to the concept of affect in writing in many of my posts – “Sounds in Literature”, “Writing and Reading Symbolism”, and “Narrative Exposition”, to name three.

I now finally decided to write a proper post about it, for two reasons: Firstly, it’s important to speak a bit more analytically about something I use so often. Secondly, I realized that some of my more academically inclined readers might think I make some claim to Affect Theory.

Let’s clear this latter part right away: Although perhaps some accidental commonalities might exist, the way I use the concept of affect has absolutely no connection to affect theory.

Rather, I deploy the concept of affect in writing to refer to emotions, thoughts, and states of mind. I’ll open up the concept in more detail, also explaining i) why it’s important for writers; ii) how to use it in your fiction.

affect, image of woman
Affect in writing is an expression involving emotions, thoughts, and states of mind
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Writing Criticality: Identify and Control Points of Divergence in Your Fiction

February 26, 2020

Fiction Writing Tips, Writing

fiction, plot, writing

In physics, criticality refers to a nuclear reaction that is able to continue by itself. But for our purposes, I use it as a metaphor to indicate “points of no return”. In other words, points of divergence in a novel, where the plot can take two (critically) different directions.

The concept of points of divergence might be familiar to authors writing alternative-history science fiction. For an example, you can see my review of Elleander Morning. However, when I refer to writing criticality, I’m not limiting myself to speculative fiction.

The concept of points of divergence is ubiquitous. It pervades all fictional narratives, regardless of genre. Or at least… it ought to! In this post I’ll show you how to work with points of divergence – identifying, controlling, and deploying them successfully.

A note on terminology: I use the terms “Writing Criticality” and “point of divergence” interchangeably in the post.

points of divergence
Writing criticality is… critical. As does criticality in a nuclear context, points of divergence imply a point of no return. Once you commit to a plot line, you need to stick to it.
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