The Best Fiction Writers of 2017: How to Write Like Them and Succeed

Fiction writing is truly something phenomenal. Even with all of the technology available, bookworms and writers love nothing more than to open a book or their e-reader and become absorbed in another world.

2017 opened the doors to so many fiction writers. These newbies (or not so newbies!) have pioneered the fiction writing world with stories of fantasy, stories that make you reconsider what you know about life, and of course some intense short story collections.

If you’re looking for a new fiction writer to follow, check out these groundbreaking authors from 2017. Learn their skills to improve your content marketing in 2018.

Elif Batuman

Elif Batuman’s The Idiot is a unique romance novel. It’s a love (or crush) story between two immigrants, with an appropriate setting at Harvard University.

What makes this love story stand out is how it’s not overly sentimental, cliché, or down-right cheesy. Batuman takes an intellectual approach to love and attraction, making this novel bookshelf-worthy for all of the big-brainers who also have a big heart.

Rachel Cusk

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Transit by Rachel Cusk follows her character, Faye, as she discovers a new path in her life. This story isn’t for those who enjoy action-packed narratives and descriptions. Rather, Cusk documents Faye interacting with loved ones, friends, acquaintances, and strangers. By doing so, the character Faye changes as the story progresses.

For aspiring writers, Cusk is someone to read if you want to improve your voice. Her choice of words truly brings beauty.

Transit is the second book in a series, the character Faye appearing in Cusk’s previous book Outline.

Mohsin Hamid

Another unique romance novel appears on this list. Mohsin Hamid depicts fantasy true love in a time of civil war in his novel Exit West. As the lovers escape the unrest, they find doors that lead them to a new world. But rather than write the typical fantasy novel of awe and intrigue, the lovers grow even more suspicious with each new world they’re casted in. This non-cliché novel will truly stand out in the genre.

Hari Kunzru

One of the most incredible aspects about writing novels in the modern world is proving a point in a setting everyone is familiar with — modern settings, modern conflicts, modern fashion and cliques, and modern technology.

This is the fact with Hari Kunzru’s White Tears. This novel depicts two white hipsters who exploit the performance from a black artist. What started out as uploading a recording on the internet turns into racial unrest as Jim Crow laws weave into this modern explanation of white privilege.

Ottessa Moshfegh

What’s the significance of conformity? Ottessa Moshfegh attempts to answer this question in Homesick for Another World. Each story in this collection is filled with humor, which is a difficult skill to achieve — especially for a new writer.

Moshfegh discusses real-life issues: alcoholism, drug addiction, disabilities, and violence. But her voice is one of witty humor; it doesn’t take away from the seriousness of her stories, but rather presents them in a unique way.

George Saunders

If there’s one satirist all writers should follow, it’s George Saunders. And his 2017 release Lincoln in the Bardo is nothing short of excellent.

The story follows Abraham Lincoln while his soul lives in a graveyard near his buried body. His soul visits his son’s tomb in this moving novel.

You would think humor doesn’t belong in this novel, but Saunders wings this more than you would expect. While this novel is sentimental, the humor will keep you amused all the way through the climax.

Alison MacLeod

This collection of short stories is unique because it blurs all lines of reality. In All the Beloved Ghosts, Allison MacLeod dives into our perception of memory while destroying the boundaries between life and death. She achieves this in a variety of different ways, such as the living’s relationship with the dead.

Allison MacLeod achieves this by intertwining fiction with memoirs. Each story blends seamlessly together. It truly makes this compilation unique.

Josh Malerman

It’s difficult to find a talented horror novelist. But if you’re looking for a modern H.P. Lovecraft, Josh Malerman is the novelist you’ve been searching for. Black Mad Wheel is only his second novel, but his use of terror with surrealism achieves a kind of Un Chien Andalou vibe.

The story depicts a rock band who are hired by the government to identify unfamiliar echoes across the desert. From here is a cluster of Satanic imagery, disappearances, ghosts, and other monsters.

While the novel is terrifying, Malerman accentuates his characterization with a strong bond between each band member. You truly feel this bond as a reader — especially when the band members start to disappear.

Jeff VanderMeer

To some, dystopian novels are an addiction. To others, they’re a bore. But Jeff VanderMeer wrote a dystopian novel in a post-apocalyptic world that no reader will be able to resist.

Borne follows the main character Rachel as she’s plunged into a world overtaken by malevolence, including a giant flying bear. But her situation becomes worse when she discovers a strange creature. When she chooses to protect it, she’s met with dire consequences.

For those who love reading about monsters, Borne is a unique story that will satisfy any reader’s lust for adventure.

Weike Wang

It’s difficult to combine science and fiction without making it “science-fiction.” But Weike Wang did just that with the novel Chemistry. Wang combines an entertaining writing style with conflicts of love, and of course including a hint of science.

Was the character right in choosing to pursue a degree in organic chemistry? Will the pressures of her parents and graduate school compare to the other pressures of love and socializing that everyone in their twenties faces? This intellectually driven novel combines a young person’s will to succeed with the conflict of, well, being young.

Fiction destroys the lines between reality and fantasy, which is why reading and writing fiction is a smart tool when writing for an online marketing world. Continue to follow our blog to improve your skills in writing for 2018.