#AtoZChallenge: Genres–Xperimental Fiction

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 find that too busy and decided to post mine ‘about’ once a month. Yes, it’ll take me a couple of years. Sigh.

My topic, like the last three times, will be writing genres.

This genre:

Xperimental Fiction

When this genre came up on my A to Z list, I had no idea what to do. I’d never heard of ‘Experimental Fiction’. Thankfully, efriend and author, Sheri Kennedy, aka Kennedy Quinn, blogging at Miss LiV Adventures, came to my rescue. If you haven’t met Sheri, she’s the author of seven novels including the completely original Feeling Human, an example of this genre. I’m thrilled to host Sheri as she explains what Experimental Fiction is, the process for this unusual genre, and examples. Be sure to drop in on Sheri at her various social media links:

Note to acflory: Didn’t know you too wrote this genre. Kudos!

I’m honored to be here to share with you today. As I told our host, Jacqui Murray, I’m not an expert on Experimental fiction. I’m not certain anyone is, since it’s always changing. But I’m happy to illuminate some of the features of this unusual classification. I believe I’ve written an Experimental novel, and Jacqui asked if I might give you some tips on writing one. So, I’ll also share my writing process with you.

What is Experimental Fiction?

This genre is hard to define since its basic definition is it’s fictional writing that’s falls outside of current conventions and standard genres. But let’s consider some characteristics and examples to get a sense of what Experimental fiction is all about.

One feature often associated with Experimental fiction is, ‘form is as important or more important than content, and/or it has an unusual form.’

Long Way Down

I’ve read (and own) a clear example, Long Way Down, published in 2020 by Atheneum Books, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster. Jason Reynolds wrote a National Book Award Finalist ‘novel’ in oversized text with unorthodox margins, format, content, style, etc. His writing is highly expressive, but tells a story at length, so it breaks the bounds of poetry. It takes place in the period of one minute – also highly unusual. The story is hard-hitting and outside my experience, but somehow completely relatable and moving. If it hadn’t been award-winning already, I would have suggested it win one.

Maeve Maddox, in her article, “What is Experimental Fiction” says, “Experimental fiction breaks one or more of the conventions that the reader expects to find… What is experimental to one generation of readers may not be to the next, as innovations become conventions.” So as soon as an innovative writing style, character type, moral expectation, genre mashup, thought concept, is imitated enough times to become accepted, it’s no longer Experimental. A tricky genre, indeed.

Classic Examples

A few classic examples are James Joyce’s Ulysses, Thomas Pynchon’s V, and Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Authors known for their Experimental fiction innovation are the likes of Kafka, Vonnegut and Beckett. But, as I understand it, if you write works imitative of their style, characters or ideas, yours will not be Experimental fiction as theirs was perceived, because these have already entered the canon of literature.

More Definitions, Explanations, and Examples

My favorite definition I’ve come across is from William Paterson University’s article “Experimental Fiction.” “Fiction that refuses to stay within the boundaries laid out either by traditional realistic literary fiction or by the standard genres… that often unsettles, that makes one feel uncomfortable or liberated, because it breaks rules and invents new ones… to realize that the world can be imagined in ways other than those by which we are so accustomed to imagining it. … Experimental fiction is a reminder that the universe has not yet been satisfactorily explained.”

In this vein, an online commenter named Greg, suggested ‘Experiential’ rather than ‘Experimental’ might be a good label since ‘readers can explore worlds that don’t work according to the patterns that we expect in our daily lives.’

Vokhtah

One of my favorite Indie examples is Vokhtah (The Suns of Vokhtah, Book 1) by acflory which introduces characters not immediately described and lets us see through their eyes a highly alien world filled with partially illuminated bizarre creatures. The unfolding of uncomfortably ruthless mores and plots, revealed through inventive and strange thought/speech patterns, sets the reader in an oddly bleak yet fascinating atmosphere, unlike any other I’ve encountered. So, I label it ‘Experimental.’ I also label it ‘Excellent.’

How My Writing Fits In

This ‘Experiential’ breaking of patterns in Experimental fiction is what drew me to contact Jacqui Murray. She asked for book suggestions to highlight when she reached ‘X’ in her genre themed posts for The A-Z Blogging Challenge. (Her twist of choosing ‘Experimental’ for ‘X’ is appropriate to this genre.) I told her I believe my book Feeling Human is Experimental. You can decide for yourself, if you’d like. The Kindle version is 99 cents for a limited time starting today – in honor of Jacqui’s generous invitation to feature my article in this guest post.

Feeling Human

I’ve created my own genre name to describe my novels, Reality with a Twist books, because my stories begin as questions or concepts based in known reality, but they each step beyond it in some way. Similar to Speculative fiction, but without the expectation of reference to hard science. (LIKENESS: What if everyone became the same? FEELING HUMAN: What if a person could observe others from the inside? THROUGH THE CRACKS: What if the empathy learned from one person’s pain could seep in through another’s pain to comfort them?)

Feeling Human’s Experimental status was confirmed by a book review titled, ‘Unique story,’ which said: ‘I’ve never read anything quite like this. You have a misunderstood youth, sure, but he’s very different from anyone else in the world or in literature. He also matures through events in the story unlike anyone else, too, gaining understanding and empathy for others in his travels. Engaging from the start, satisfying to the end. -KathyG’

I know this reviewer personally. She’s a very well-read author and a graduate of Clarion West. I’m humbled and amazed by her observations of Feeling Human. When she saw this character and journey as unlike anyone else in literature, I realized this story truly is outside the box and not just tricky to classify.

Explaining how Feeling Human, and my writing process, may fit this genre, will illuminate one potential process of creating – or discovering one has created – a book of this unusual classification.

Experimental Writing Process

I associated Feeling Human with the Experimental genre, since I’ve been unable to categorize it correctly with any standard genre. No matter which one I’ve tried, someone who’s educated in such matters has called me out. I also believe it’s Experimental because telling the story required creation of an usual form/format.

Much of the story is told by the main character, Jac’s, consciousness separated from his body, and the internal thoughts and feelings of the people whom his consciousness is ‘inside of’ and observing. So I had to invent a form to differentiate when those people were talking aloud to others, when he was hearing their thoughts, and when he was having his own thoughts. This required a modified format, using italics in an unconventional way. It also inspired invention of what I call ‘the wall.’ Jac could put the wall up or down consciously to muffle or hear the person’s thoughts or dreams in whose body he currently resided alongside its owner. This allowed Jac (and the reader) to observe clearly, so there wasn’t a muddled overlap of two streams of consciousness when the story setting was internal.

Tips for Writing Your Own Experimental Fiction

My best tip for writing the Experimental genre is to allow a highly creative process in your approach to storytelling and/or artistic expression with words. Don’t be afraid to express yourself any way you’d like. Study the rules and then throw them to the wind.

I start with a concept and write without an outline until I reach the end of the story arch. Then I back-outline and refine the story. But defining your path for you would defeat the advice of the tip.

While letting the characters and story unfold as they will, I create a form when necessary to express the ideas and character/story that evolves, rather than pre-deciding the form, elements and character development of my novels.

So my tip is profoundly tied to the genre name, Experimental: Feel free to experiment.

Especially if you have an unusual story idea, or if your personal perspectives are difficult to communicate to others using typical writing forms, allow yourself to express how and where your unique perspectives lead you and see what happens. Then consider feedback and/or editing to help make it accessible to readers. You might create a masterpiece that redefines literature. You never know – and that’s what Experimental is all about.

Bio:

Sheri J. Kennedy a.k.a. Kennedy J. Quinn is an individual who thrives on creating. She’s a visual artist and writer. Through the Cracks is her seventh novel. She studied philosophy, literature and communications which gave her a B.A. in Humanities. Thoughtful curiosity influences all her pursuits. She enjoys participation in her community and life with her husband in a small house on the banks of the Snoqualmie River in the mountains near Seattle, Washington, USA.

Websites:

RealitywithaTwistBooks.Wordpress.com
sherijkennedyriverside.wordpress.com
FreeValleyPublishing.com

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Click for complete list of these 26 AtoZ genres

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

More X Genres:

• Xenofiction
• eXistentialist
• XX Erotica

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Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular prehistoric fiction saga, Man vs. Nature which explores seminal events in man’s evolution one trilogy at a time. She is also the author of the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers and Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. Her non-fiction includes over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, reviews as an Amazon Vine Voice,  a columnist for NEA Today, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, Savage Land Winter 2024.

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