6 Tips for Writing Experimental Fiction

Because genre conventions are sooo 2010!

I recently had the pleasure of reading the first 5,000 words of Write to Die by

Daniel Puzzo

.

It follows two English teachers, each with their own eccentricities, navigating the classroom and life’s challenges in often unexpected ways. In fact, one of them has just received a shocking diagnosis—if he finishes writing his book, he’ll die. Sound interesting? Check out

Daniel Puzzo

’s page!

While reading Daniel’s manuscript—which bobs and weaves between genres and perspectives in a mixture of satire, magical realism, 3rd, and 2nd POV—I jotted down a few notes to help other authors navigate similar obstacles.

Experimental fiction is one of the most exciting spaces to play as a writer, but it’s also one of the easiest places to lose your reader. Balancing originality with clarity, humor with depth, and structure with surprise is no small feat. But when it works, it really works. Here are some thoughts on how to keep readers engaged while breaking the rules.

Photo by Nitin Shivaprasad on Unsplash

1. Let Dialogue Take the Lead

In certain forms of experimental fiction, traditional exposition often takes a backseat—that means character voice has to pick up the slack. The way your characters speak becomes one of the most important tools for developing personality, backstory, and tone.

If each voice feels specific and textured—whether through regional dialects, unusual rhythms, or personal quirks—the reader will quickly get a sense of who’s who, even without being told. This is especially important when you're juggling multiple perspectives or shifting points of view. Think of voice as both a character cue and a world-building device.

Consider playing with accents, slang, or tonal shifts. Another underrated tip is to draw from real life. If you've ever taught, waited tables, or been on a chaotic family group chat, you’ve likely picked up some unique turns of phrase that stuck with you. Use them as inspiration. That’s the kind of authenticity that will stick with your reader, too.

2. Start With Confusion, But Don’t Stay There

Throwing readers into a fast-paced or confusing moment at the start of a story can be a compelling way to mimic a character’s inner disorientation. Done well, it generates tension, curiosity, and momentum from page one.

But there’s a fine line between immersive and overwhelming. Even if you’re intentionally delaying exposition or withholding information, it helps to anchor the reader in some small way. For example, if there’s a flurry of rapid-fire dialogue, a name, a gesture, or a tag can quickly remind us who’s speaking without slowing down the pace.

When structure is loose or nonlinear, clarity becomes even more important. You don’t need to spell everything out, but offering just enough for readers to keep their bearings can make your experimental approach feel intentional rather than inaccessible.

3. Anchor the Absurd

If your premise hinges on something surreal—an impossible diagnosis, a fantastical rule, or a world that bends reality—it still needs internal logic. Readers are usually willing to suspend disbelief if they sense that you believe in the world you're building.

A small detail—like a line from a confident authority figure or an off-kilter piece of worldbuilding—can go a long way in establishing credibility. The key is consistency. If you’re writing in a version of our world, give us a reason to trust that this weird thing is possible. If you’re writing in a made-up one, let the strangeness be layered in naturally, with moments that feel both surprising and inevitable. The earlier you signal the rules of your world, the more room you have to play within them.

4. Raise the Stakes With Emotional Clarity

When your story leans on a high-concept premise—especially one that's bizarre, abstract, or metaphorical—it’s crucial to make sure the character’s emotional stakes are clear and compelling. We need to understand what the central conflict means to them. Why does it matter? What’s really at risk beneath the surface?

Sometimes the threat isn't just physical or literal—it's about pride, identity, legacy, fear of failure, or love. Help the reader understand what your character stands to lose emotionally if they don’t succeed, and your story will resonate more deeply, no matter how unconventional the setup is. That emotional clarity keeps readers grounded, even if everything else around them is shifting.

5. Consistent Structure Helps the Reader Navigate

One of the most exciting parts of experimental fiction is that structure is up for grabs. You can bend time, switch points of view mid-paragraph, or interrupt your own narrative with commentary. But if you're going to break the rules, break them with intention. Make sure the visual or structural cues you're using—scene breaks, symbols, changes in formatting—are consistent enough to help the reader follow along.

If a line break sometimes means a POV shift and sometimes means a narrator aside, that ambiguity can become frustrating. Establish a pattern and stick to it, even if it's unconventional. Readers are generally game to follow unusual formats, as long as they feel like you're guiding them, not just leaving them to figure it out alone.

6. Consider Playing Around with 2nd POV

Narrator asides and direct commentary can be incredibly charming and effective, especially in fiction that embraces a self-aware or metafictional style. These moments let the narrative voice take on a personality of its own—sometimes snarky, sometimes philosophical, sometimes deeply emotional.

If you use this technique, think about where those interjections land and how they interact with the pace of your story. Footnotes can be a useful tool here. They help maintain the flow of the main narrative while still making room for tangents, jokes, or extra context. That said, they’re not for every story or every reader. Use them when they add texture or clarity, but be wary of over-explaining or relying on them too heavily. The best narrator asides enhance the emotional or thematic core of the story, rather than distracting from it.

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At the end of the day, experimental fiction is what you make of it. Don’t be afraid to play around, try something new, and challenge yourself! And if all else fails, seek out other authors charting new paths—you’re sure to find inspiration there.