Formula fiction is a type of predictable fiction that reuses stories and plots. It is often criticized but appeals to large audiences. It has a fixed setting, characters, and can be written by multiple authors.
Formula fiction is a type of fiction in which multiple fictional books or works share many common elements, to the point where they are ultimately predictable. One of the main characteristics of this type of fiction is the reuse of stories and plots that contribute to a predictable narrative for each specific story. While this type of fiction is often scorned by critics and academics, some examples of this type of book appeal to large audiences. A book series that uses a fiction writing strategy can end up providing a large number of people with entertaining reading for many years, in part because some viewers appreciate the predictable nature of this type of work.
A primary characteristic that many associate with fiction is a predictable environment. In some cases, experts call this genre fiction. For example, in the western genre, the setting is often an American western, such as the Great Plains of the Midwest or an area of open ranching. This sets the stage for protective texture lines that can be recycled and reused within the same standard setting. Another example would be a series of mysteries set in the same city, or even in the same neighborhood.
Another very common element of the fiction formula is a fixed set of characters. As readers follow a series of characters through many subsequent books or fictional works, the trend toward the fictional formula becomes strong. Without a specific strategy on the part of the author, these types of books can become very formulaic, especially when the set of characters go on the same type of adventure within each book.
Continuing series publishing experts note that it is not uncommon for publishing houses to employ several different writers, or even dozens of different writers, to continue a fictional series. In many cases, the first author’s name or claimed author’s initial will always be used on book covers. Indeed, subsequent books will be ghostwritten by a series of writers who remain anonymous to the public. Because the styles of such works are so often easily copied, this type of publishing can be done over a number of years to produce dozens of titles that will continue to sell on the fiction markets.
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