Mainstream sounds negative.

Hi everyone!

I recently realised that the novel I'm writing is mainstream fiction, because it doesn't belong to a specific genre but has a bit of several genres. I often like these kinds of stories, I think they have a good chance to stand out and that they often have interesting, deep characters in them. But I don't like the word mainstream at all.

Mainstream is for me a kind of negative word, probably because many people in Sweden (where I come from) say things like “You're so mainstream” when they mean “You are like everyone else”. So for me, mainstream describes something that doesn't stand out, something that is basically the same as something else. For example, a book that I would consider mainstream is a book which I feel like I have read several times before, just with different names on the characters, because it's the same sort of story, same events and so on. And that is not how I see my novel at all. I see it as I described above, that the story stands out, even though it takes place in todays sociaty, and that the characters are interesting and deep.

I feel like the word mainstream says something completely different then what it apparently is in fiction, and it really bothers me.
So, what I want to know, am I the only one to think it sounds negative?

And if you want to try and change my view on the word mainstream, you are more than welcome, because I don't like feeling almost embarrassed about my novel belonging to mainstream fiction just because how I associate the word mainstream!

In the context you're taking it as, you could see mainstream fiction as being able to speak to a wide audience because it's something everyone can relate to and doesn't stick to genre-specific boundaries...
Not sure if that helps but it's the best I can come up with haha

I have "reluctantly" came to the realization that my novel is likely main stream fiction as well LOL. I agree, it has a negative connotation in my circle (parenting, music, food, etc), and yet, my novel doesn't really fit in with any of the other genre's. It's also, not the type of books I normally read, so I don't know why the first topic I came up with fits this genre :)
I thought it would fit into Adventure, because I have some wannabe super hero's, but when it comes down to it, they just have delusional disorders, and a psychotherapist has to work with them to treat their delusions.

That being said, it is what it is, and I'm trying not to dwell on the negative connotation that I have.

I'm having a bit of an identity crises myself.

I found myself leaning toward chick lit, because my MC is female, and the novel is centered around her becoming more of herself and following a chance encounter that will eventually lead to her fulfilling a dream. I am planning some romance and flirtation in the book, but not a major love story.

Then I read some of the other outlines on the Chick Lit forum, and felt like what I'm writing doesn't belong there.

Now I'm beginning to wonder if "Mainstream Lit" is where I should be.

Meh, I'm with xxCoFxx. What's wrong with a novel that will be appealing to more people because it's easy to relate to what's in it? I think people get hung up on "mainstream" because everyone wants to be original with the newest, shiniest idea.

I was not thrilled to realise that my story would probably best fit in the Mainstream Fiction category, either.

The negativity of "mainstream" for me does not come from wanting to be original with the newest, shiniest idea. It stems from a lifetime (lotsa years) of finding myself far wide of anything to do with mainstream. Mainstream media, medicine, nutrition, politics, tourism, fashion, education, etc.

However, I'm not going to waste even a second of negative energy bemoaning the fact that my novel is best slotted as Mainstream Fiction. Just gonna work on writing it. And figuring out how to have as much fun as possible along the way :)

Blessings...

Bwahahahahaaa! I am so pleased to have discovered this thread peopled with other malcontents. I too am writing a novel that doesn't quite fit into any other niche, and frankly, as a 50 year old, tattooed lesbian witch, I shuddered to think of my novel as being labeled "mainstream" (I actually had to close my eyes and click the genre.) I'm avoiding my novel page as well. It hurts my heart to see my absolutely unique, quirky, fun, adventurous, magickal (as opposed to magical), philosophical, mysterious (and occasionally romantic), romp put into the mainstream box.
Alas, any other genre would be a misnomer as well. Does a mysterious ending count as a happy one? Does a story that leaves you to make your own interpretation of the main premise fit as mainstream? It's a hard call. I'll let my editor decide once I sell it.

At first I was 'ADVENTURE', but while I had loads of mafia, I lacked ninjas- plus, Romance was a major part too. And 'Chick Lit' is a pretty good choice too. But it was angsty. And funny. So much sarcastic humor was injected into the story that it leaned towards Humor, Parody and Satire. Plus the references. THE REFERENCES.
So Mainstream Fiction is what it ended up as XD

Nah, while I dislike the word and its connotations, I do think that my story is worth writing and worth more than a word. OTL I can always think that my novel cannot be bounded to one specific genre so I had to put it here xD

Yeah, when I think of mainstream, I actually think of pop music, like rap and stuff. Well, there are only like three rap songs I actually like, and it's all because they bring back really good memories. So, yeah. Really bad connotations there. To me, it sounds like it's plotless with no character depth, just one of those short books you read just for fun, and promptly forget. Mainstream almost sounds like it would be a huge secret, something you never admit to reading. So, I stay here because my novel doesn't fit in any other genre, but I call it Realistic Fiction in my head.

another common genre title for mainstream is 'airport fiction' (being defined of the sort of books you would find for sale at an airport). And personally, I think mainstream sounds better than that. But realistically, I see 'mainstream' as being the sort of book that often get turned into hollywood films (specifically the blockbusters, not the independent films).

The reality of a genre is that it makes a nice neat little box that people who need boundaries can put your piece of work into, the reality is that you can write whatever you want in whatever genre you want. Someone who doesn't like science fiction as a general rule doesn't necessarily have to hate every science fiction story out there. Someone who loathes romance (myself for instance) isn't necessarily going to turn their nose up at a good story with interesting characters and a real story arc that develops the characters into different people just because it's classified a romance.

Just because a book is classified mainstream, doesn't mean it's going to match the trash that defines the genre, it can be amongst the stand outs of the genre (I for example have a soft spot for Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum and Matthew Reilly).

Mainstream doesn't mean "bad". To me, if you write mainstream you're got a more marketable book than, say, literary fiction. Mainstream is plot driven. That doesn't mean to say the characters don't have any depth. Usually when I read a mainstream novel, though, I notice a lot of the time that while the characters are there and they might have depth, it really is about the plot. Or how this certain characters handles this situation. There's generally more external conflict than internal. And these things in turn make it more marketable.

Sometimes in mainstream fiction, a fully fleshed out character isn't necessary for it to be a good story. It might only need a 2D character. Take the book The Lightning Thief. Heck, take that whole series ('cept for the newer series, which I don't like). The characters aren't really all that deep, but they've got some fleshed out aspects to them. All in all, it was a good story.

None of these things are bad. A lot of books that I love reading over and over again are "mainstream". I feel general fiction fits it pretty well. I wouldn't say "realistic fiction" because sometimes mainstream may have certain fantastic elements to it.

Take, for example, the book Things Not Seen by Andrew Clemens (I believe that's the author). Great book. Read it now if you haven't, because it really is a great book. I consider it to be mainstream fiction. Although in that story, the MMC turns invisible. There's a scientific reason given for it in the book, but it's one of those things where it could only ever work in a fictional world.

Mainstream isn't better or worse than any of the other genres. Saying one is better or worse than the other is like saying all the good guys go to Gryffindor, all the bad guys go to Slytherin, and all the duffers go to Hufflepuff. :]

Yes, there's a Harry Potter reference for everything. Everything. O___O

I like general fiction and realistic fiction :)

I resisted the whole Mainstream Fiction tag at first as well.
The term smacks of 'selling out' to me.

But, my novel is in no way inline with the principals of selling out.
[Hopefully the first run will 'sell out' quicker that they can print the second...teehee]

Call it Mainstream, call it Fliggertyflam.
It's a full rich story with wonderful environments, relatable fully-fleshed characters & a bum-da-bum-dum beat of a story line that keeps driving it on.

Long live the forcibly-labeled-Mainstreams!

Think of it as being "outside the box" -- it can't be neatly filed with one of the specific genre - chick lit, adventure, fantasy, etc. It's not bound by those descriptions.

We're not hipsters, guys, so "mainstream" shouldn't be a terrible word.

From what I've been reading about the Mainstream genre, is that basically what xxCoFxx (in both of her posts!!) is what it is. It's pretty much just the more relate-able, more-realistic type of story. It's not that it's the same as the widely-used, widely-understood use of the term.

I, too, was very turned off by the fact that it's called mainstream genre, but it makes sense to me.

Maybe I'm taking it all wrong, but this is how I think of it.

What doesn't make sense to me is that I've always thought of "mainstream" as applying to mass audience, i.e. from a wide range of social groups, ages etc. etc.

But you get best sellers in any genre...take Dan Brown, whose novels are classified as thrillers (even heard someone call them "historical" thrillers *shudders*) but obviously most people with any remote interest in books have read The Da Vinci Code, even if they don't read Clive Cussler, Sam Bourne and Tom Clancy. So does that make Brown mainstream?

But as far as I am concerned, as above posters have said, it's just a label.

I was told by several peple that sports would be "Mainstream" here because there isn't a sports genre; it makes sense because sports fiction isn't as popular; but then is it mainstream since it might not appeal to as many?

Then again, it could also be Science Fiction/Fantasy" in the case of my next NaNo, if things go as I think they will. Because it's the story of a seasns et in an alternate unvierse where baseball was integrated fromt ehs tart and MC - in first person as a challenge to myself - will be a bit player on the 1977 Philadelphia Athletics or some other team.

Then again, I always throw spiritual stuff in my books, and if I go that way far enough, maybe I can even put it int hat area.

So, mine is really wide-ranging. But, all thigns considered, I just want to wax poetic about baseball. :-) As long as I can do that, I dont care wht it's called.

I'm more concerned that 50,000 words from one person and his thoughts and interactions makes it a whole lot tougher than that many words with multiple peoples' thoughts and actions.