Commercial Literary Stories

Commercial and Literary Stories Stories as defined by the Oxford Dictionary, are accounts of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment. There are two important types of stories, which are commercial and literary. Commercial stories are meant to be read for entertainment. As they are memorable stories, they usually sell more than other types. On the other hand, in literary stories, the plot is unclear until one digs for it and finds the meaning. “Return to Paradise” is a kind of commercial love story. “Cathedral” is a literary fiction story. There are characteristics that make one work commercial and the other literary which are commercial stories attract a broad audience and literary stories include social analysis, political …show more content…
“Return to Paradise” is a kind of love story, with the loss of a child. With that being said, it is clear that the protagonists do the work. The story has an overall theme, which is the romance between James and Lisa. In a commercial story, the plot is driven as it is in “Return to Paradise” because there is a clear end goal which has been decided since the beginning. The story talks about James and Lisa, who after the loss of their baby were going to divorce, but they decided that they would work on renewing their promises. According to carlywatters.com, “A commercial story has a concise hook that is trying to solve a very specific problem”. An example from the story is seen when it says: “The place was beautiful beyond belief, but it was still unable to ease the grief she felt as she remembered the last time she had been here.” (Riley 1). This sort of story engages a wide group of onlookers and also has the potential to sell …show more content…
Commercial stories attract a broad audience. Sometimes commercial readers are more likely to love a character they can relate to. As the purpose of commercial fiction is for sale, many people assume they are trash. In reality, commercial fiction can be written as well as literary fiction. However, literary fiction is more valued since it includes social analysis, political feedback, or concentrate on the human condition. Avid readers may choose a literary story over a commercial one because the characters are affable, dynamic, and critical. According to annieneugebauer.com, “Literary fiction is written for the love of the art form, whereas commercial fiction is written to make money”. This is why some authors choose to write one type rather than the