What is mainstream fiction?

Assuming from the fact that this is a brand new board, then [i]yes[/i]. For what exactly it is, well, the discussion's already going.

Here's my working definition:

Mainstream fiction is the kind of story that anybody could and would want to read, or a story that you would want anyone (and here I mean a broad demographic audience) to read. Try the "Hollywood Movie Test". If your novel were a movie, who would go see it? If it's a blockbuster, Hollywoody-type flick then it would fit into "mainstream fiction". If it's arty, then pick a more specific genre. Unless of course you have some famous hotties starring in it, in which case it becomes this bizarre hybrid of holly-indy....and you wonder, "What was that?" Anything with vampires would not go into mainstream fiction, unless it's something light like Buffy.

Good luck!

That's actually a really good set of guidelines for determining if your work is a mainstream novel or not.

Basically, a mainstream novel is usually set in this day, age, universe, dimension, or plane of existance. Sometimes the characters are part of an unknown subculture or species that coexists within those constraints.

Examples of manstream fiction would probably be the works of Eoin Colfer, J.K. Rowling, and Meg Cabot (though Ms. Cabot has been known to write the occasional romance or mystery novel).

Don't take my word for it though--all I know is what I've read!

To me mainstream is broader than other genres. The story can have a romance but that is not the driving force of the story. Mainstream fiction touches on exploring issues but in a everyday way that is more accesible than literary fiction. It the kind of story that reaches beyond genre.

I just found this definition of literary fiction on Wikipedia, and it mentions the difference to mainstream fiction as well. So I'd say mainstream fiction is mostly plot-driven, whereas literary fiction is mostly character-driven.

People love picking on JK Rowling for being mainstream but what she writes is undoubtedly fantasy. The fact that it's set in contemporary Britain and has broad popular appeal doesn't alter that.

Mainstream I think of more as your Hollywood Wives type writing - a bit of romance, a bit of drama, maybe a bit of comedy or erotic but not enough to put it firmly in any particular camp. I think you could include some elements of fantasy, but again not too much. A generic romance / drama where the ghost of the MC's ex appears for a scene, or one character has a psychic premonition about their twin, for instance, could fit comfortably within the mainstream notions of the supernatural without crossing into fantasy.

I read the Wikipedia definition of literary fiction and I"ve been thinking about the assertion that mainstream is plot-driven and literary fiction is character-driven. I'm not quite convinced of this.

An exception that comes to mind is literature written in an oppressive setting, for example Czechoslovakia during Communism or Socialism. I just finished reading Summer in Prague by Zdena Salivarova. Basically it is about her ability to function within the parameters of the society in which she lives. It seems to me that the story is fueled by what is happening to her, or the events taking place around her, not her character. I would consider this book to be literary fiction.

Of course there is also the reader's perception and the passing of time. This book was written, I believe, just after Prague Spring of '68. Maybe at that time this novel WAS mainstream fiction, but reading it now 30+ years later it has slid into Literary Fiction.

And another thing: how separable are the plot and the characters? What does that mean "plot-driven" and "character-driven"? They are arguably inextricable.

I prefer the Hollywood analogy for our purposes in the here and today. However, that's not to imply that it doesn't offer value. I fear that mainstream will be likened with fluff and I don't think that's necessarily true either.

Help! I don't know what genre to put my novel under this year. Basically it's about a family in South America and the story is told from the 1st person, with the youngest girl as the voice. It's going to be written, hopefully, in vignettes. What genre should I put it under?

Did you do the Hollywood test? What do your instincts tell you? Put yourself where YOU want to be, don't feel like you have to put yourself in a box. It's Nanowrimo....that means freedom! There really are no rules or right answers or appropriate protocols (except to be respectful to others).

Your book idea sounds fascinating! Have you read Isabel Allende? She writes similar themes.

Good luck!

This forum topic really helped me out so I won't to say thank you to everyone. I've been freaking out in the past hour that my mystery stories was going to the dogs. I've now come to the conclusion that it'd me safer and more fun to write a mainstream story.

I love Isabel Allende! And I was thinking the same thing...kinda like City of the Beasts...a little.