<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';"><a href="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/writer.png"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-4454" src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/writer.png?w=121" alt="writer" width="121" height="150" /></a>As an author, I'm frequently asked what I write. You’d think the answer would be easy. It’s not.</span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">My dilemma about how to answer comes because I write a blend of literary and commercial fiction.</span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">But that answer won’t make sense to many because the nuances of publishing vocabulary can be hard to understand. Plus, readers don't necessarily think about literary vs commercial when making their choices of what to read.</span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">Usually I answer I write commercial fiction, which provides an opportunity to explain the difference between commercial and literary.</span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">Then I explain...</span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">In literary fiction, the story arc is character-driven. The story itself is episodic about personal growth or destruction as the character comes to understand his/her situation.</span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">Think of books like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kill-Mockingbird-Harper-Lee/dp/0446310786/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1398993792"><span style="color:#cc0000;">To Kill A Mockingbird</span></a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Great-Gatsby-F-Scott-Fitzgerald/dp/0743273567/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1398993848"><span style="color:#cc0000;">The Great Gatsby</span></a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Brave-New-World-Aldous-Huxley/dp/0060850523/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1398993919"><span style="color:#cc0000;">Brave New World</span></a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Huckleberry-Finn-Mark-Twain/dp/0486280616/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1398993962"><span style="color:#cc0000;">The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</span></a> or the book I mentioned in my recent <a href="http://judythewriter.wordpress.com/2014/04/28/book-clubs-do-you/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#cc0000;">blog on book clubs</span></a> titled <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Namesake-Novel-Jhumpa-Lahiri/dp/0618485228/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1398994020"><span style="color:#cc0000;">The Namesake</span></a>.</span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">Commercial fiction, on the other hand, is plot-driven. The arc is the rising and falling action of an active plot and dynamic opening hook. External obstacles lead to interior changes for the character.</span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">Another name for commercial fiction is genre fiction, which means the book category is based on content. Commercial fiction genres include crime, fantasy, horror, mystery or detective, science fiction, western, inspirational, or romance. But each of those categories has subcategories and authors can blend categories.</span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">Consider genre authors like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stephen-King/e/B000AQ0842/"><span style="color:#cc0000;">Stephen King</span></a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/John-Grisham/e/B000AQ40M8/"><span style="color:#cc0000;">John Grisham</span></a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/J.R.R.-Tolkien/e/B000ARC6KA/"><span style="color:#cc0000;">J.R.R. Tolkien</span></a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Susan-Wiggs/e/B000AQ1FJO/"><span style="color:#cc0000;">Susan Wiggs</span></a>, or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Francine-Rivers/e/B000AQ2VFQ/"><span style="color:#cc0000;">Francine Rivers</span></a></span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">Stories themselves may actually be a cross between literary and commercial. </span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">You see, commercial stories can contain great character development and literary stories can have a functional plot.</span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">And, authors often blend a literary style or voice in their writing with deep character exploration, intriguing hooks, and entertaining plots.</span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">I repeat distinctions and nuances in fiction types can be complicated.</span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">The true classification of a novel lies in the purpose of the story. Is the point to tell a tale (commercial) or learn something about a character or the human condition (literary)?</span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">One classification isn’t superior to the other. Both types of fiction have their place in literature.</span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';"><span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">The thing to remember is i</span>t’s all about the story and what you, the reader, like.</span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">YOUR TURN:</span>

<span style="color:#444444;font-family:'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';">Thinking about the last book you read or the book you’re reading now, would you classify your selection as literary or fiction or one of the crossover blends?</span>