Popular fiction, also known as mass-market fiction, is genre-based and aims to entertain a broad audience with well-defined plots and conflict resolution. It is marketed to sell and must comply with publisher guidelines. Literary fiction, on the other hand, is driven by self-expression and deep thought, focusing on character development and universal issues.
Popular fiction, also known as genre fiction, refers to the various genres and types of fiction that have proved popular among large audiences. This is the opposite of literary fiction, which tends to be more scholarly, invites analysis, and has a narrower market among scholars. Also known as mass-market fiction, this type of work is typically broken down into genres such as mystery, romance, horror, adventure, science fiction, and fantasy.
The core of the most popular fiction is the plot. Readers want to see a well-defined and interesting storyline, with lots of complications and conflicts to keep them entertained. Conflicts might be physical between characters, or they might involve problems that the characters need to resolve. The characters in these kinds of plays might get into verbal fights with each other, or they might have a murder mystery that they need to solve.
Unlike some literary novels, conflicts in pop fiction must be resolved totally or at least be resolved by the end. It tends to have a more clearly defined conflict resolution by the end of the story. Literary fiction could end without any solution to the conflicts presented.
Since the purpose of popular fiction is to appeal to the general public, it must be written in a way that sells. It is marketed in the interest of the public. Pop fiction authors who are serious about getting published may need to ensure that their writing complies with the guidelines of publishers who develop their guidelines based on what the general public will buy.
The opposite of this type of fiction is literary fiction. Literary fiction can be said to come more from the writer than from popular fiction, which comes directly from the desire of the general public to increase their sales. Furthermore, literary fiction is concerned with ideas and deep thought, and is a manifestation of self-expression for the author rather than being driven by popularity in the marketplace. Literary fiction tends to focus more on characters, giving them considerable psychological depth and universal issues of life and existence, while popular fiction is more interested in keeping the audience interested through the plot and might sometimes have characters that lack depth.
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