#AtoZChallenge: Genres–Varsity Novel

The A to Z Challenge asks bloggers to post 26 articles on a themed topic. It’s supposed to be every day except Sundays during the month of April but I did this last year, found it way to busy for the likes of me, and decided to post mine ‘about’ once a month. Yes, it’ll take me a couple of years. Sigh.

My topic, like the last two times I did the conventional approach, will be writing genres.

This genre:

Varsity Novel

Definition

a novel whose main action is set in and around the campus of a university with a focus on students rather than faculty. Sometimes, more generally called ‘academic novels’

Tips

1. Don’t focus on faculty. This is called ‘campus novel’.
2. The primary characters are usually students, but they can interact with faculty.
3. This may be a satire but doesn’t have to be.
4. Action takes place in a finite, enclosed space (the campus)
5. Tell the story from the viewpoint of the student(s).
6. The plot may exploit the fictional possibilities created by the closed environment.
7. Include idiosyncratic characters that inhabit unambiguous hierarchies. They may juxtapose the cultural perspective of staff vs. the social attitudes of students.

Popular Books

1. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
2. Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
3. Changing Places by David Lodge
4. Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov
5. The Groves of Academe by Mary McCarthy
6. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Click for complete list of these 26 genres

Click for a complete list of all genres I’ve written about

More V Genres:

• Vampires
• Vignette

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Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, the Man vs. Nature saga, and the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers. She is also the author/editor of over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, blog webmaster, an Amazon Vine Voice,  a columnist for NEA Today, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, Laws of Nature, Summer 2021.