‘Escapism’ is one of the publishing industry’s favourite buzz words at the moment, and we’ve heard many literary agents using it when recounting their chats with publishers at the London Book Fair 2023. It seems a lot of commissioning editors, and therefore agents, are looking for novels that provide readers with an escape from ordinary life. But what is escapism in fiction and how do you write a novel that readers want to escape into?
Here’s what literary agents are saying about escapism:
‘As with a lot of the industry, I’m looking for positive endings. Everyone’s feeling a bit gloomy, so I’m personally not in the market for some really hard-going novel like A Little Life. I want to feel happy when I’m reading. Obviously there needs to be some jeopardy but it needs to be uplifting. That’s just a moment that we’re in now.’
‘People are still looking for that good escapist read! Along these lines, editors are craving love stories – not just the classic romcom, but something perhaps with a speculative twist, and definitely love stories that break the mould.’
‘On the whole, for commercial fiction, the trend is towards books that make you feel good in some way, and I think that’s probably because we’ve had a pretty horrible few years with the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. People are looking for some way to escape. And that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a happy book. One of the biggest debut fictions last year was How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie, which was an incredibly dark book, but because it’s still a fantasy, because everyone has a member of their family they don’t get along with, it’s still escapist.’
Important point: I’m confident none of these literary agents would encourage you to write to trends. You must always write the book that is bursting to get out of you. But it’s worth considering a reader’s desire to escape into a book and how you can bring this into the reading experience, no matter the novel’s genre.
So, what is escapism in fiction?
Dictionary.com defines escapism as ‘the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy.’ Distraction is the key to a good escapist novel. If you write a story that is jolly/pleasant/nice all the way through in an attempt to ride the ‘uplit’ wave, you won’t get very far, because a novel needs low lows as well as high highs in order to provide a satisfying – and distracting – read. When the publishing industry asks for escapism, it’s asking for big characters, high stakes, and ideally a happy ending. Readability is also important. If you’re pitching your novel as ‘escapist’, have fun with language, sure, but don’t write in difficult, dense long paragraphs.
“If you write a story that is jolly/pleasant/nice all the way through in an attempt to ride the ‘uplit’ wave, you won’t get very far, because a novel needs low lows as well as high highs in order to provide a satisfying – and distracting – read.”
How do you write a novel with ‘escapism’ in mind?
- Give your protagonist a clear goal. Whether it’s getting together with Miss. Right, destroying a dragon, or finding out who murdered Mr. Doe, a clear goal will give your reader something to root for (and help them to forget about their own problems).
- Make the reader wait to find something out. Any kind of mystery will keep your reader turning pages, and fast reading means complete escape.
- Let your characters be larger-than-life. Relatable is good. Flawed is important. But your characters aren’t real people – they’re fictional and can be whoever you want them to be. Readers love following a character who acts on the impulses they wouldn’t, who makes the inappropriate joke or performs the grand gesture.
- Write a satisfying ending. That doesn’t mean everything works out perfectly and every loose end is tied up. It means that the ending thrills/surprises/pleases your reader. In the words of William Goldman, ‘The key to all story endings is to give the audience what it wants, but not in the way it expects.’
“Readers love following a character who acts on the impulses they wouldn’t, who makes the inappropriate joke or performs the grand gesture.”
Not sure whether to use the word ‘escapism’ when pitching your novel? Email us at info@bluepencilagency.com to find out which of our editorial services would be suitable for your work-in-progress or submission package.
