(1) Detail

Why do you think Realist novels are so long? Because they're chock full of detail. Realists love the little things; open up any Realist novel, and you'll probably find loads of descriptions of food, dress, social habits, nature, and physical appearance. One reason for this is that the more detail you have, the more realistic your writing seems.

(2) Omniscient Narrator

The omniscient narrator is the superhero of narrators. These narrators know everything and can be everywhere at once. They can jump from one character's mind to another's; they can move between one location and the next—they're like God, basically.

(3) Transparent language

The language of Realism tends to be fairly simple, even if the subject matter is complex. Since Realist authors write about regular people, they tend to use regular, ordinary language; Realist language echoes the language that we all use in our everyday speech.

(4) Verisimilitude

Verisimilitude is the appearance of being true or real. You won't find any unicorns or Martians in a Realist novel, because Realist authors want us to believe that what we're reading is actually happening somewhere out there in the world. If the story they're telling doesn't seem real, then none of their commentary on character or social issues will have any impact.

(5) The Novel

A novel is a prose narrative that's book length and tends to focus on character and plot. This is, hands down, the favorite genre of Realist authors, who like to stuff their novels with loads of detail about real life.

(6) The Quotidian

Here's a fancy-pants term referring to the ordinary, common events of daily life. We're talking about things like brushing your teeth, eating lunch, or taking out the trash. Realist novels are full of this kind of detail.

(7) Character

Character refers to the emotional, psychological, and moral qualities that make each of us who we are. You might be stubborn, or hotheaded, or really depressed. You might be courageous, or cowardly, or stingy. Realist writers love to explore the qualities that make up character, and they're especially interested in figuring out how these qualities motivate people's actions.

(8) Social Critique

Why are some people so poor and others so rich? Why don't the same standards apply to both men and women? What's up with the way we treat old people? Realist works often raise these types of questions; they're totally into critiquing the social and political structures that govern our lives.

(9) Class

Class refers to the way that social groups are divided up based on economic and social status. If you own three Ferraris, you're probably a member of the upper class. If you're a kindergarten teacher, you're probably a member of the middle class. Some Realist writers are especially interested in depicting members of the middle class, but Realism in general is totally into thinking about class issues like inequality and class mobility.

(10) Rising Literacy

Realism as a literary movement was directly influenced by the fact that by the mid-19th century, more and more people were going to school and learning to read. Those regular folks becoming literate loved Realist literature partly because it reflected their own lives, so Realist writers found a much broader audience than writers of previous time periods.