A Writer’s Guide To Dopamine And Serotonin

Dopamine is the hormone / neurotransmitter our brain generates when something delights us, serotonin is the hormone / neurotransmitter our brain generates when something pleases us.

To grossly over simplify matters, dopamine is the brilliant spark, serotonin is the warmth from a long-lasting coal.

Genre fiction and its tropes are directly crafted to generate dopamine responses.  We want the colorful villain, the terrible peril, the stunning reversal, and feel disappointed when genre fiction fails to deliver.

We don’t want them presented to us exactly the same way every time we encounter them, but we want them nonetheless.

They’re like popcorn at the movies, all part of the fun experience.

Genre fiction as a whole may trigger serotonin, but that release is less from individual works themselves and more from the pleasant memories and nostalgia the genre evokes.  In the case of serotonin we get the same feeling from genre fiction as we do from revisiting a favorite spot or hearing an old favorite song.

Literary fiction -- and by this we mean anything that does not set out to fulfill genre expectations but rather tell its own story -- may trigger dopamine responses, but those tend to be responses to genuine surprise, not novelty.

A genuine surprise is something 100% logical for the story in question but totally unexpected by the reader, novelty is simply a variation on a theme, such as a pirate with two hooks for hands.* 

The long lasting appeal of literary fiction is that unlike genre fiction, it can provide new insights and stimulate new thoughts every time it’s reread. 

We can only extract so much wealth from Goldfinger while Moby Dick is a never ending wellspring for the imagination.

Some will claim this is pretentiousness, an artificial elevation of artsy-phartsy literature over two-fisted hard boiled writing, but nothing could be further from the truth.

While some literary fiction attempts to soar to undreamed of imaginary heights, a lot of it focuses on more grounded matters.

And literary fiction -- when it clicks -- often creates its own tropes that are imitated by other works to form a brand new genre.  This is often the case when a writer heads into new territory and -- when rewarded by enthusiasm from readers -- sees attempts to imitate that success again and again by others.

Mark Twain found popular success with Tom Sawyer and followed it with three sequels.  Two sequels were mercenary reiterations of his original work -- and justly forgotten today.

The third? 

He stepped out of his comfort zone and penned Huckleberry Finn which is arguably the quintessential American novel.

It would be unfair to claim all genre fiction is the equivalent of junk food – some of it can be quite nutritious comfort food – but the very appeal of genre fiction forces it into a groove no deeper than a dixie cup.  When it does break out it’s usually an explosion that shatters all genre boundaries imposed on it.

Genre fiction’s stated goal is not to supply a well balanced meal but rather savory morsels to get the audience begging for more.

Literary fiction wants to engage its audience but feels disinclined to do so by catering to their whims.  There is a certain arrogance among literary writers:  This is my/story, gawddammit, and I won’t jump through your hopes to tell it.

And in fairness, when literary fiction goes awry, it can be damn near unreadable.

And this isn’t counting all the so-called literary fiction that is actually just another specific but not well known sub-genre in pop fiction.**

Don’t misconstrue this as claiming literary fiction needs to be ”serious” in any sense of the word.  Alice In Wonderland, Catch-22, and One Flew Over The Cuckoo Nest are all rollicking fun and each took readers somewhere they’ve never been before.

Am I passing judgment on writers who favor one over the other? 

Well…yeah.  But only in the context of what feels right for me.

I’m fully capable of writing a thriller that punches all the boxes of the thriller enre tropes…

…but I don’t want to.***

To me it feels like squandering my time and talent, like an Olympic athlete competing in a middle school track meet.

To all the writers I know who write in that and other genres and feel enriched by it (and not just monetarily so), more power to ye, brothers and sisters.  Follow your bliss and write what your soul tells you to write.

But for those who seek that extra challenge, who want to pioneer new territory where we possess no idea anyone will want to follow, the road from Omelas is clear, even if it’s the path less taken.

© Buzz Dixon

*  How does he go to the bathroom?  That’s why he’s so mean.  No joke too old, no gag too shopworn.

** Looking at you, college professors who just wrote a novel about a college professor having an affair with a student.

*** Look at what I’ve written in the past; thrillers are clearly in my wheelhouse.