How many times have you stood clutching a drink at a dreadful gathering when your annoying host introduces you to a “writer”? As in “This is Charles, he’s a writer (too).” Chances are you’ve never heard of Charles or read any of his work. Charles may or may not have actually written much of anything, or he may have several completed works stored safely under his bed or hidden on an ancient hard drive. He probably also has a real job that doesn’t involve writing, but it’s hard

Let’s pause to make an important distinction. Regardless of the various genres failed novelists work in, most imagine that they are engaged in a literary enterprise. They may be writing (or thinking about writing) a mystery, sci fi, a coming of age story, a family drama or an adventure/thriller or whatever, but the standard they believe they adhere to is somehow literary. By “literary” we mean the stuff taught in college lit classes, authored by dead white guys, which has mor