Poverty, criminality, flashy sex, rapid romance, graphic violence, verbal abuse, and domestic violence are all common themes in urban fiction or "street lit," a popular genre that is often self-published. Novelists focusing on urban settings are typically drawn from real-life experiences to create believable characters, conversations, and locations. Spend some time reading and evaluating famous works of urban fiction and participating in literary discussion groups dedicated to this genre if you lack the necessary firsthand expertise.urban books barnes and noble
Tutorial On Putting Together An Urban Fiction Novel
Genuine Concepts, Ideas, and Aims
Think about something that has happened to you or a friend. Provide an account of something you read in the papers or something you or someone you know has overheard. You can base a story on your strong opinions about street-lit topics like hypocrisy, injustice, and racism.
Make a one-sentence statement of intent outlining your motivations for writing the novel and the point you hope to make. You might, for instance, set out to demonstrate that, despite the best efforts of black people living in the urban poor, racism and economic hardship can undermine even the most generous of goals.
Consistency of Mood, Atmosphere, and Character
While most works of urban fiction take on a movie noir vibe, authors like Ashley & JaQuavis have succeeded with urban books that keep a more upbeat tone and include people that defy preconceptions. Many main characters and notable supporting casts frequently appear in urban stories.
Female characters can take on various roles, from beautiful vixens to gangster antiheroes to villainous doting mothers. The way hustlers, prostitutes, gangsters, drug dealers, and hit men and women think and feel may be shown through succinct, crisp narration, description, and conversation.
Perspective, Synopsis, and Chapter Outline
Summarize your story in writing. Structure your narrative with an introduction, body, and conclusion. Write in hypothetical exchanges between characters. Remember that this is just a rough draft to get your creative juices flowing. Construct a plan of attack by summarizing the chapters. Scenes that are stark and obscene should be contrasted with more emotional ones, such as those set in a home or between a couple.
Choose between first-person and third-person narration by deciding on the story's point of view. While writing an urban fiction novel, it's best to utilize minimal narration and jump right into the action. Mini-scenes and beyond should prioritize action over exposition.
Time, Story, and Conflict
Novels set in urban areas should move quickly and have a solid plot. Starting in the middle of an ongoing story, or "in media's res," is one option. With such an introduction, the novel could use flashbacks to explain and contextualize later events, relationships, and twists. Demonstrate how the protagonists, antiheroes, villains, and victims of violence are all motivated by their emotional problems and external social/cultural challenges.
Use personal reflections, actions, graphic descriptions, blood, and gunfire to evoke strong feelings. Intersperse scenes of violence or sexual encounters with brief narrators' monologues that reveal the character's final thoughts.
Conversation and Detailed Description
Create a piece that engages the reader's senses through vivid language and specific imagery. Readers of urban literature should feel like they've been transported into the story through their senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell.
While describing life in the city, be sure to include commonplace words and phrases there. Be careful with your use of adjectives. Compose a direct and blunt conversation, like that heard on city streets, in bars, drug labs, or jails.
Award-Winning Piece of Urban Fiction
K'wan's The Coldest Winter
The Great American Read chose The Coldest Winter as one of the best urban fiction books ever. Life in the projects as the offspring of a notable Brooklyn drug-dealing family is vividly depicted in this story. Her neighbors are all poor and rely on government handouts, but she and her family have everything money can buy. Nevertheless, she is tested when a brisk winter wind takes her life on a different route than planned. This tale fully displays her determination to maintain her status as the top dog.
Omar Tyree’s Flyy Girl
Most people wishing to start reading urban fiction will find what they're after in this book since it represents the new, talented perspective they've been craving. The protagonist, Tracy Ellison, is a beautiful young woman with slanted hazel eyes, long blond hair, and a ton of attitude. In this story, she grows up during the heyday of hip-hop. Tracy is a hedonist who places a high value on possessions. Yet, after being exposed to sex, violence, and heartache, she questions her choices.
Zane Addicted
Addiction is a blockbuster film released by Lionsgate and was a New York Times bestseller. That is an excellent pick if you're in the mood for some urban fiction. You will appreciate this book's writing style the most; that much is guaranteed. It's a fantastic book; any urban fiction collection should have a copy.