About a week ago, in a discussion in one of the clubs, some writers came together and were lamenting the lack of a "literary fiction" genre on Wattpad and xxmajaine suggested we start our own. So following the proud tradition of for-the-love lit zines everywhere, we cobbled together our own ad hoc club here on @LitFic. We commandeered a genre tag (or two), and we set about carving out a place for the readers (and the writers) of the strange and raw and beautiful, the work that falls outside the mainstream into the slipstream. Work that tries to be more than just commercial entertainment and stumbles toward art.
The work that doesn't belong anywhere else.
When xxmajaine suggested a guide, something that would explain literary fiction to people who've never heard of it, we tried amongst ourselves to define "literary fiction"---you can read that discussion in the comments of A Non-Comprehensive Guide to Literary Fiction ("What is Literary Fiction?") if you want. There are some good definitions, but no complete definitions, and we kept coming back to the same point:
It's like porn; you just know it when you see it.
Vernichio came up with an idea: if we can't tell what it is, we should show. He suggested we each write a short piece on a theme and include them in the Guide as a demonstration, but that's not really what the guide is for. If we're going to put together a showcase, I thought, "What the hell, we might as well do it up in style."
This is that showcase, our introduction to literary fiction and litfic writers on Wattpad. It's not definitive by any means, but it's a start. And it's not just a showcase, it's a beacon.
If you find this on a list, crammed between boyband fanfic hardcore and yet another snarky first-person vampire shagger, and if you click it, and you read it, and you say, "Yes, these are my people, this is my tribe!"
Welcome home.
--- @frankiesachs
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The LitFic Review
PoetryA collaborative showcase of literary writers on Wattpad. The inaugural edition of The LitFic Review is poetry themed, in honor of NaPoWriMo. (But that doesn't mean it's just poetry. Oh no, not at all.) If you discover a writer you love here, click...
