Pulp Fiction

 When I say pulp fiction, I mean the mass-produced, easy-to-read books: not the movie. The kind of stuff that became popular after printing became a thing and people became more and more literate. It spans genres and eras. Louis L'Amour, Mickey Spillane, Edgar Rice Burroughs...that kind of stuff. 

I love it! Sure, I read lots of historical non-fiction stuff and have read plenty of the classics of high literature, but I find great joy in pulp fiction. It takes me back to a simpler time when I was a kid. A time without the internet and TV subscriptions, when light reading was the way to zone out. Part of it, too, was that they relied on simple story telling, not fancy points of view and narrative. We had those kinds of books at my house and I ate them up. They were and are simply fun and relaxing.

Then I started thinking about how pulp fiction has impacted my writing. Now they call it "Genre Fiction" or a "Beach Read," but a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Some of the best advice I've ever gotten about writing was, "just tell the story." I can do that! I write with some folks who write this spectacular poetry and punchy, rhythmic fiction, and it's just not me.

And in that is a great writing lesson. Every writer has to find their own voice. They have to write stories they'd like to read. And frankly, when you have to read and edit a story as many times as an author does, you'd darn well better like it. I learn from those folks and try to incorporate a little of what they do when it's right, but in the end it's not my thing. Could I write high-brow fiction? Hm, that's a fair question. Maybe? Probably? I guess it never occurred to me to try. 

Many thanks to the authors who write the fun books people like to read. And to those who enjoy light reading- you're my kind of people!