Curio Fiction: Showcasing the Fantastic in Our World

Curio fiction as a subgenre places the fantastic alongside the mundane, yet the story’s speculative elements feel subtle compared to other works classified as fantasy or science fiction. What all curio stories have in common is that they explore human relationships and daily life through the lens of an often-singular or anomalous speculative element. By coining this new fantastical subgenre, I’m hoping to discuss how these stories operate, help authors set expectations with their readers, and inspire writers to bring more curio fiction stories into the world.
Text version of this video: / curio-fiction-showcasi...
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
My curio fiction article on Tor: www.tor.com/2022/09/26/what-i...
“11 questions you're too embarrassed to ask about magical realism” by Kelsey McKinney: www.vox.com/2014/4/20/5628812...
Opening Animation by Vitor A. Dupont: www.behance.net/vitordupont
Title and End Music: “Clockwork” by Vindsvept - • Fantasy Music - Vindsv...
Background Music by Vindsvept:
+ “Through the Fog”
+ “Light the Bonfire”
+ “Chasing Shadows”
+ “Illuminate”
+ “The Journey Home”
+ “Diverging Realms”
+ “Satyr”
+ “Lake of Light”
+ “Skymning”
+ “Never to Return”
Introduction (0:00)
The Defining Features of Curio Fiction (3:35)
Tropes & Curio Fiction (9:54)
The Problem with Other Genre Labels (17:32)
Guided Writing Exercise (23:06)

[@QuotidianWriter]

Hi there, viewers! You can read a text version of this video on Medium: quotidianwriter.medium.com/curio-fiction-showcasing-the-fantastic-in-our-world-5d9c3776e88

[@TheMusicscotty]

"Holy crow, a Quotidian upload? Today will be a little better" Dumbledore said calmly.

[@QuotidianWriter]

I appreciate you!

[@alanefideler7234]

In the movie, it’s more “TODAY WILL BE A LITTLE BETTER!”

[@EDDIELANE]

Yes! I love this as a sub genre! You constructed a wonderful essay on this, and I will probably use the phrase when I query my own novel.

[@FaltaziusLalotte]

Finally a word to describe my favourite type of fiction ! I’m going to use it at every opportunity given.

[@QuotidianWriter]

YAYYY! Thank you so much!

[@12CBruce]

During the whole video i yelled at my screen "They both die at the end"! Thank you for mentioning one of my favorite books!

[@belenpazallo3946]

I'm just realizing that this is a very common genre in fanfiction. Time travel, reincarnation, soulmates, random powers, fanfic authors tend to add these little tweaks to canon just to see what happens. They even say themselves that no, they can't and won't explain why the weird thing is happening bc that's not important, it's just an excuse to force the characters to be better or face their traumas or get together with their true love. I was going to say that this is just a slightly different magical realism, but now I feel like I see the difference clearly. I can't classify these fanfics as magical realism because the flavor of the story is completely different. I wouldn't know what to call the Soulmate Goose of Enforcement, now I see clearly that it's a curio.

[@greycricketsong]

Holy crap. I've gone years being unable to put a label to the fiction I love to read and write. Now I have that label. Thank you thank you thank you! ❤

[@ghostdreamer7272]

Now that you mention it, I’m surprised there isn’t always a sub-genre title for this already. It would be popular!

[@mwhoffmn]

THANK YOU!! This video was a game-changer for me, as I have been struggling to properly position my novel for all the reasons you describe. Please, let's normalize/popularize this genre classification!! Also appreciate the great examples, as it is my favorite genre to read as well. Such a thoughtful analysis!

[@arz3nal]

This is perfect!!! I love stories in this genre but could never find other stories like it easily. I really hope this genre kicks off, cause I want to have the library of curio fiction I've wanted but could never find

[@QuotidianWriter]

Exactly my hopes!!!

[@liebesonne_]

I'm not a writer, but watching your videos makes me want to take up the hobby again. I also love all the books in your examples! It's like a big recommendation list :-)

[@QuotidianWriter]

I'm so glad to hear that! I hope you do! :)

[@DalCecilRuno]

Your videos are always a treat. Thank you for your work.

[@QuotidianWriter]

Thank you so much, Dal!!!

[@cjpreach]

I had a half dozen story ideas while listening to this lesson. Another great one, Diane!

[@syntheticvoid]

Ahh, loving this! I'd always felt my writing didn't fit neatly with other genres. Definitely Curio!

[@QuotidianWriter]

I feel that for sure, which is why I especially love your stuff!!

[@cannonfodder4376]

A Quotidian Writer upload today?! Today is a good day. A good idea of a genre/subgenre classification. Hopefully it becomes the new term to use.

[@NOMVrewq]

this is my favorite channel about writing. i love the non click bait quality video she does with in-depth examples unlike some other channels that plays into fear and cheap buzzfeed-like titles such as top 10 mistakes or biggest 5 beginners mistakes bullcrap

[@QuotidianWriter]

I'm not above clickbait, but I do appreciate your kind words, haha!

[@kodakkevin]

Thank you a million times for giving a label to something I have struggled to describe for so long. This is my literal favourite subgenre!

[@margaretsmith756]

Finally! A proper name for the sub-genre of my short stories instead of just lumping them under the huge umbrella of 'Speculative Fiction'. I will definitely start using this sub-genre to describe my work from now on. Very cool; thank you!

[@writerinafoxhole]

I started to work on script a few months ago, inspired by an old rpg character I had, I wanted it to be around the relationship between two people and because it had a fantastical element I was prompted to do an entire world building around it with rules to justify its existence which I found constraining and pushed me away from the initial idea. Now that you introduced this term and mentioned a few examples (known and unknown). I realised that I don't need to focus on why and how this element happen to be there, it just is and answers a few rules, but the story is about those two people figuring out things together and building a friendship through it. I don't know if it'll become a thing but I love the proposal, it was inspiring and help me get over the overthinking, for that I thank you!

[@kevind.miller5159]

Well, Diane, by your definition I'm delighted to learn that my latest novel, "The Timepiece Legacy" fits well under your new sub-genre 'Curio Fiction'. Thank you for sharing this insightful and thought-provoking idea. I hope it catches fire. The curio item in my story is an antique pocket watch the protagonist inherits from his eccentric grandmother on her deathbed. The main relationship takes place between a father and his 17-year-old daughter, although there is a romantic relationship later in the story. I'd love to send you a free copy in e-book, paperback, or audiobook. I enjoy your channel! Keep up the great work!

[@elizabethchen2348]

Awesome video Diane thank you for putting so much work and love into creating your videos! I would love to see a video about villains, what makes a great and memorable villain and the types of villains.

[@aliti9315]

OMG a new video. YES

[@QuotidianWriter]

❤

[@aliti9315]

❤

[@calvinjim8829]

You mentioned anime, but what about the stories of Haruki Murakami? His stories seem awfully close to Curio Fiction. Also, would some of Kazuo Ishiguro‘a books come under that classification? One of his best novels, Never Let Me Go, is about cloned teens in a future Britain who act as organ donors for their original selves. And yeah, Makoto Shinkai’s work definitely fits this bill.

[@mx.olivia]

Exit West! That’s gotta be my favorite curio fiction and I’ve always wanted more books like it, thank you for this!

[@JoeWebb-TheStoryteller]

Eyyyyye! I’m glad to see it’s out! Great video as always and really interesting ideas presented 🤩🙌

[@thinktwice-me7ie]

Dear Diane, whatever you put up on your channel is so helpful and spot on. Everything is so well researched and at the same time so beautiful visually. Thank you!

[@yourgalshal3417]

I have been listening to several folks and you, by FAR are my favorite. My knowledge and confidence grows every single day!

[@mrnnhnz]

Excellent episode, as usual. Thanks for all your hard work in preparing this Diane. Not sure if it's the kind of story I'd want to deliberately turn into a novel myself, but perhaps a short story or two... Looking at your 5 elements, I'd give examples of them like: 1. real world. Not: The shuttle back from Saturn's largest moon... Yes: the shuttle back from the Gold Coast. 2. curio. Not: ...sitting next to the window, had been amazing. She was seeing colours so much better after her surgery. Yes: ...sitting next to the window had moved her with wonder. And fear, now that she was seeing the eddies of the universe inhabiting every person, tree and rock. 3. not global. Not: ...How would everyone react to this new gift that humanity had been given? Yes: ... and, under the ability and the what-does-it-all-mean, came the worry - could she continue to conceal this gift that had so much potential, but, if discovered, could get her labeled as a freak? 4. humans. Not: ...She turned to Tony, seated over the aisle from her, and idly nibbling at one of his antennae. Yes: ...She turned to Tony, seated over the aisle from her, and idly nibbling at the hem of his woolly scarf. 5. not the mechanics, the human implications. Not: ... The scarf seethed with energetic whorls, and she speculated on how the latent energy of the clothing and the man, and indeed everything else around them, affected each. She was starting to notice the relationship between the energy eddies' size, colour and energy, and had begun to form a theory... Yes: ...He'd had the scarf since he'd been a lad, and it was obviously dear to him. That was evident in the energetic whorls moving along and between man and item. Tony noticed her interest, and streamers of green vortices appeared all along the scarf. She now understood why he... And my 4 elements based on your suggestions: 1. Someone gains the ability to see the latent emotional energy in everything and everyone, and notice how relationships between things and people change and are changed by that energy. It all comes on when the protagonist almost dies of a broken heart (she get's Takatsubo's tachycardia, but it affects her in this way, unlike with other sufferers.) 2. Limitations. Once the person comes to grips with both their own mortality and their inability to control their love flare-ups, the ability disappears. And while they have the 'gift,' they're concerned that folks will label them a freak, and they're already see a little bit like that because they're unusually tall for a fourteen year old. That concern becomes fully validated during the story... The social norms this 'gift' breaks is everyone's right to a private inner world. She can't read their thoughts, but as she gets better at using the gift, she can almost do so. 3. Where: on a long bus-ride back to school after a singing event at another school. 4. relationship: protagonist's relationship to the choir, to the guy who has a secret crush on her, and to the world in general. 5. Character flaw: although she's fairly meek in some respects, deep down she's driven by the need to prove herself, and has chosen accumulation of money as the way she wants to do it - she's careful not to appear too greedy, but she really is. She's also self-centered, (reason why her family and friends are lukewarm on her,) and continuing use of the gift exacerbates this until she's almost a psycopath. Will she learn her lesson? She gains power to hurt or help her choir and the guy who has a secret crush on her - which will it be? Can she "break the spell," when she realises the crush-guy is a much better choice for her than the guy who caused her Takatsubo's tachycardia? Ooh, I do love a happy ending, but how can she overcome all her competing desires and turn out alright in the end?

[@Iwasonceanonionwithnolayers]

This defines a story that's been in my head for a few years!

[@DalCecilRuno]

Uh, wow! Maybe this is the subgenre I’m writing? Now I’m questioning my whole writer existence. Thank you so much for helping me find this niche. Let’s see the tropes. If my book has any of these tropes, then I’m calling it curiofiction from now on. … Psychic skills as a personal hidden strength and source of isolation. Yes! Matilda! OK here I am, this thing I’m doing is curiofiction. Thank you so much, Diane.

[@QuotidianWriter]

Glad I could help instigate a writerly existential crisis! ;)

[@kairee1]

Thank you for this video! Your uploads never disappoint! I've always enjoyed this type of literature/movies/stories, and I'm glad to see people trying to give it a label, so it'd be easier for the enthusiasts like me to find more works in this genre. Keep up the amazing work, Diane!

[@NikaLunaWrites]

Omg this is one of my favorite videos I've ever watched. You helped me put a finger on what type of writer I am. Thank you for this, so fun to watch.

[@barbaras.7513]

Oh, wow. I just found out what kind of book I'm writing. Thank you! I always think it's great when someone comes up with a name for something I'm struggling with, because it means I'm not alone in this. It's so common that it needs a name. 😉

[@catmate8358]

My favorite video of yours so far. Very well written, thought out and put together. Now, it just so happens that I wrote a novel that fits the description, currently looking for a publisher. A photo reporter, disenchanted by the fact that his efforts failed to change the world for the better, meets a young painter. After a brief romance, she disappears without leaving a trace. He tries his best to find her and on that journey, he discovers that she's not what she had pretended to be. The young woman was an incarnation of an ancient deity with the power to appear as a human being. The book leans heavily towards existentialism and philosophy, exploring the meanings of life and truth, the limits of perception of reality by the human mind and some limits on morality: say, whether human morals would apply to gods? I was actually struggling to place a genre label on it and now you have helped me :) Perhaps, I would only add an "s" and call it curious fiction :) Thanks for a wonderful video and keep 'em coming :)

[@psychologymajorptsd62]

Okay this is the hi light of my day. Thank you!

[@BloodlightRadio]

I'm not sure if i missed it during the fantasy week session, but I really enjoyed the genre label discussion at 17:32; it neatly stepped around the other genres' toes and settled down into a spot that really did need a name.

[@alexklepp6479]

Nice to see another video from you. I've heard of curio fiction but I didn't know much about it. This was very informative and fascinating.

[@hldo00]

I’ve been looking all the time for the name of the type of genre of my stories. This pretty much sums it up 🎉

[@colecarmichael5724]

Btw your videos have help me become a better writer more than any I’ve seen so far thank you for what you do and Ive been looking forward to this new video ☺️

[@QuotidianWriter]

So happy to hear that! Keep writing. :)

[@colecarmichael5724]

@@QuotidianWriter trying! I’m 28 years old and pretty stupid when it comes to this stuff I feel like a kid I’m a adults world

[@jermainerucker2027]

Also glad your videos are back:) keep it up:)

[@griannaashwood6394]

I'm totally jumping on board with Curio Fiction! As luck would have it, I believe my next one already qualifies. Yup, I'm pitching it as Curio Fiction!!!

[@adrianmartin7742]

What I'm writing now is science fiction but I love your channel because you talk about things I haven't thought of before and give me something to think about

[@hldo00]

Yay so I’ve been writing curio fiction the whole time 🎉

[@SufficientSpells]

Been watching your vids! First time seeing a fresh one. Thank you so much for all the info you've put out!! Lifesaving!

[@ellakae7]

You've just described exactly what I love to read and write! Love this term and how you've defined it. I think it's a genre that works very well for short stories

[@paolomestar1176]

I believe it’s what we, in Latin America, have always called Literatura Fantástica.(No real connection with Fantasy) I highly recommend “Antología de Literatura Fantástica”.

[@manymusings]

I love this topic!

[@bobbobby475]

You got my vote man

[@Buchnerd_Souly]

Thank you, that was a wonderful video about books I now have a word for :) And tomorrow I will call my library to get new books for me. xD

[@mishmash3927]

I love this!

[@timothytraver5918]

YES. I've recently been thinking about this genre in 80's/90's family movies, but I didn't have a good name for it. Liar Liar. Big. The Last Action Hero. Twins. Kate & Leopold. And almost every body switching movie.

[@rdjazzboy1944]

One of your best. 'Nuff said.

[@Tunfonmedia]

This is exactly my type. I called it ‘Medieval Fiction’, as i had my settings in the monarchy history with a slight fantasical _curio_. It also focuses on humans more, and- you know what i mean. I hope this gets popular because finding stories like these is not easy. ❤

[@Niskits]

Everytime I watch your video, I come out a better writer. :')

[@ianmartinezcassmeyer]

I have a novel-length idea that perfectly suits this subgenre. I'll write it one day

[@hatezis]

this is really cool stuff, i hope this term will stick :)

[@RachelParker-1977]

Thank YOU for indulging us. Matilda is one of my choices. I want Telekinetic powers.

[@luismartins5184]

I love this genre, and your clever insights. it would be great if you could provide an extended list of books in this category (particularly on time travel - as a curio). Currently i'm writing my own book and it fits like a glove in this category. I support a broad adoption of your "tag" for this group of books. Best regards from Portugal 😊

[@kodakkevin]

I highly reccomend Vicious by V.E. Schwab for curio-fiction. It's the most refreshing take on "metahuman abilities" while exploring deeply intense human relationships with characters who never feel like heroes or villains, just lost in grey moral codes.

[@Vaivraza]

"What if a love potion went wrong and it made everyone BUT the intended recipient fall in love with the main charachter?" Well, THERE IS a chapter of Rick and Morty (S01 E06) almost about this, where the love potion went very, very wrong. My particular gamble would be something like "what if I had voices on my head (obssesed with murder) without being schizophrenic AND somehow that voices had its own personality, its own desires, even its own name?" Excellent work, Diane! Whatever you do, keep posting.

[@AngelaCSpears]

I can get behind curio fiction as a subgenre.

[@DejanOfRadic]

This video is incredibly timely, in a curio fiction kind of way. I have been struggling to label my novel under any of the existing sub-genres, and your description of curio as a distinct genre is bang on. I am curious how widely this term is spread? A quick google search shows it referenced and defined by others....is itva term that a literary agent or publisher would recognize?

[@QuotidianWriter]

I'm so glad to hear you're writing curio fiction! No, I don't believe the term would be recognized by a literary agent or publisher as of early 2024. The term hasn't spread beyond a niche readership, haha! However, even this past week, I was talking to a writer who described a book they were reading as being "fantasy but not really fantasy," and I brought up curio fiction (which I quickly define as "our world with one thing different"), and that resonated with them. I also just finished reading "The Measure" by Nikki Erlick, where every adult in the world receives a box with a string that indicates their life expectancy. A lot of the negative reviews contain complaints about how the origin of the strings was never explained. So, I still feel strongly that curio fiction is a needed distinction in the modern publishing world, and I hope it catches on! ;)

[@trekm.7464]

I'd imagine Stephen King's From a Buick 8 belongs here. Great book btw!

[@aykay1468]

my favorite curio fiction example has got to be Sayonara Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto!

[@the_sharma_siblings]

Finallyyyy!!!😍

[@edouardyoussef4768]

Sooo 17 again and the Truman Show are both curio fiction I love the concept

[@caelinnis]

I would love a video on names. It's easily been the hardest part of writing for me so far.

[@ib12us]

The Curio Ones.

[@jemajoy8839]

#curiofiction ❤

[@RoseBeautyandBooks]

Love this! How is it different from magical realism, which also has the real world along fantastical elements?

[@Thenoobestgirl]

I like it. Let's make it happen.

[@pscheibmeir]

Somewhere in here is the amnesia troupe. Perhaps a subtroupe? This would be distinguished from the traditional head injury mystery. Rather, a supernatural strangeness of losing time or memory forces the person to see the world differently, innocently (until his/her memory is restored). The movie Radius comes to mind. Also curious if Charles Dickens’ Scrooge might fit under Curio?

[@velocitor3792]

"Cinco De Mayo" by Mike Martinek.

[@alexduggan68]

Best book is WE APPY FEW, the story of a hundred year old man in the year 1500, having to give an account of fighting in the battle of Agincourt when he was just sixteen. The book throws out abstract ideas about God, friendship, history, the truth, and writing itself. Its also very funny.

[@jermainerucker2027]

Ok here’s my little idea after watching your video. But I want to find out how to improve it. A young adult or adult has been mute his whole life. He loves his grandma but the rest of the family always thought she was a weirdo. Some kind of modern witch. This young man falls for a girl at his school and wishes he could just talk to her. Oh his grandmas death bed. She tells him when your feelings of love become to much. Just snap your fingers and your love will be such. So he’s curious and snaps his fingers and the flow of time stops. He discovers that he can now communicate verbally with anyone and they can communicate back. But when time flows again they won’t remember the conversation at all Sooooo how do I make this work? How do I add limitations and consequences?? Please help

[@ruthweeg8286]

Every Twilight Zone Episode ever made would Probably count as this genre

[@ekurisona663]

coraline

[@paynepersons6147]

When I read the title I thought you meant something like Pawnstars but for fictional objects.

[@QuotidianWriter]

Now I want that......

[@lauravsthepage]

Is this not magical realism? Edit: I see this was addressed. However I have never heard anyone use the definition of magical realism used in this video lol at least not in regard to post-colonialism. Latin American writers might have popularized the genre but its not restricted to their works. I do see the point about the difference being that in magical realism the magical element is treated as a part of the normal and not some surprising deviation from the norm.

[@FantasyAuthorsHandbook]

I don't know… I tend to think the last thing we need is yet another dividing point, another algorithm, essentially, to limit authors, readers, etc., by forcing us into ever-smaller boxes. This has been the hobgoblin following science fiction and fantasy around, basically, forever: a bias against "genre fiction" in general so that when an SF or fantasy novel comes along that you actually like, you don't want to admit it is SF or fantasy, so better quickly make up a new name for it. For me, any story in which the impossible is made possible via some form of magic is fantasy, and any story in which the impossible is made possible via some form of technology is science fiction. Looking at science fiction as a ratio can help. Some stories tip the balance more toward the science (Greg Bear, Robert Heinlein), and some tip it more toward fiction (Ursula Le Guin, Charlie Kaufman), but it's science fiction just the same.

[@m00dyalien]

I have a story with an alien as the main character, but the story isn’t necessarily about that at all. This feels like the same ballpark.

[@soccerandtrack10]

Is black mirror 1?

[@sotecluxan4221]

!

[@MenGrowingTOWin]

Would inception fall under Curio ?

[@soccerandtrack10]

"A shit lowd of bullets did."

[@soccerandtrack10]

Does being alone when high,but its not high count and its god vs the main person?

[@urthondurdie]

I thought, this is called slip stream.

[@zvikomboreromukamba3389]

Mythology was the original curio fiction

[@chrisclark5959]

I call these "What if" stories

[@chaosofthegalaxy3094]

Is this not just Magical Realism? Edit: Ah okay, I watched ahead. I still think that this basically describes magical realism, since I see it used in the same manner you use for curio fiction as well as fiction where it’s treated as normal.

[@belenpazallo3946]

I thought the same. I always considered these stories the barest magical realism, where the fantastical element is not treated as normal, but I always felt like these stories had a different "flavor" that traditional magical realism. I don't know, I can see both sides.

[@clintcarpentier2424]

I am the chosen one! I must be. God answers my prayers. I must be the chosen one. Mind you, he usually answers with a definitive, "NO!" Though given the prayers he answers, it's probably for the best that they are refused. Perhaps he is the wrong god. Wait... Did god fuck up? Gawd, that must be galling. Oh my god! I've got a direct line to an almighty dumb ass! And I'm his chosen one.

[@kavanpuranik98]

Isn't this gerne called magical realism?

[@QuotidianWriter]

Please watch 17:41-18:46.

[@AguaWaters]

please upgrade ur mic diane

[@borednow]

this whole video is just a rant about your own opinion than actually something useful for an amateur writer

[@ravenstower]

Reporting for comment, el comandante 🫡! Well, it certainly is nice to see I‘m not the only one who‘s had that kind of feeling for years - even better that someone else could finally put it into well-structured sentences. I might have intuitively gone in that direction a few times some years ago. I should definitely try it again, especially because the Midnight Library was recommended to me by one of my students :) However, I also have a question: how would you say is Curio Fiction distinct from Literary Fiction? I‘m mostly asking this because, for one, I‘m still in the process of trying to actually grasp what Literary Fiction is supposed to be. But aside from that, I feel that the angle of „the effect matters most“ is rather key to Literary as well. Anyway, I‘ll help you push the label where I can. ¡Bien hecho!

[@andr01dm]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_realism