Fiction -- Literary vs. Genre (Popular)

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It's a contest! Short fiction. Deadline June 30. Glimmer Train, an American literary journal of outstanding repute. And they pay!

Yes, yes. I have been rejected by them before. But THIS TIME! This Time. this ti....

I forwarded the contest requirements to my daughter, Grace. She's an excellent writer and into "literary." She refrained and hurled the gauntlet back to me, saying "You should submit something."

This is her Poetry Period. Which, by-the-bye, she does exceedingly well and is on her way to recognition. (Fame and fortune do not exist in poetry. Fame, maybe. But certainly not fortune.)

"Okay. Which of my pieces, excepting the one they've already rejected, should I submit?" I asked.

"None. You should write something new. Something literary."

"The deadline is the end of this month," I pointed out.

"That's enough time. It's a short story."

"I don't do literary," I said.

"You could," she said and hung up.

We've talked again since. Several times. We cover the same ground.

"I don't even know what literary is," I argue.

"You read literary," she says.

According to Wikipedia -- "Literary fiction, also known as serious fiction, is a term principally used for fictional works that ... offer deliberate social commentary or political criticism, or focus on the individual to explore some part of the human condition."

Our beloved online free encyclopedia goes on to say "Some have described the difference between them in terms of analyzing reality (literary) rather than escaping reality [genre or popular.]

It goes on to say, "it is common for literary fiction to be taught and discussed in schools and universities." Which is, no doubt, how Mark Twain moved from popular fiction to literary.

And then Wikipedia goes on to give examples of literary fiction including "The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye, The Lord of the Flies, 1984, Pride and Prejudice, Slaughterhouse Five, and Of Mice and Men."

And, yes. I've read all of them with the following results: didn't like, loved, loved, hated, liked, liked, loved, and loved.

Then the truth comes out -- "The contrasts between these two subsets of fiction is highly controversial among critics and scholars who study literature."

Yep. The experts don't know either. It's kind of like economics and economists, isn't it?

So here I go. It should be serious. It should leave the reader with something to think about. Maybe even change their perspective.

The main character will be an ordinary person with an extraordinary ethical dilemma on at least two levels. Lyrical language, optional.

Oh, my. I may be wading into deep waters. Not being the best of swimmers, I can only hope I'll float.