Women's Fiction

Nina asks what makes women's fiction hard.
Maybe because it's such an ephemeral genre that it's hard to pin down what actually makes it work. I'm currently having a discussion with several fellow writers about "quiet fiction." We'd like to write books about ordinary people doing--what is for them--extraordinary things. People who could be you and me who one day are pushed or decide to move onward and upward. But editors have no idea what to do with books that don't have a high concept hook that sells. (I'm talking about this on the wenches next Wednesday, so I won't go into more detail)


Aside from that, in women's fiction we're generally talking about doing the POV of one or more women who may or may not be directly in conflict. They may have different attitudes, different approaches, different goals, but chances are pretty good the conflict is with themselves and not each other. Trying to create tension out of internal conflict is painful, I'm here to tell ya. Of course, for me, any conflict is painful. I'm a wimp.

So if I don't want to go with some high concept external plot but write about ordinary people doing extraordinary things, my chances of creating strong pacing and tension are limited and must be carefully watched. And then we have the lack of sexual tension...

Remind me again why I'm doing this?

Onward and Upward

Mannykin has been hard at work today! He's half way to his goal. Now, if there isn't any backsliding...

I have finished the draft of one women's fiction proposal and started on the next. They're not by any means in a format I would allow anyone to read, but actually sketching out those chapters is a huge hurdle to conquer! I feel like I've climbed mountains. Or large lampposts. "G"

As Devon said to an earlier post, women's fiction can be a little intimidating if looked at from the standpoint of some of the strong mainstream books out there. So I prefer to think of what I'm doing as relationship books. I've always written about relationships, so this is no different. I'm just doing it from the viewpoints of women without need of the hero. There Will Be Men, just as there are dragons, but I want to play with the dilemmas women and society face today. Of course, given my lightweight habits, they're quite likely to face them with mud on their faces, but whatever kinks your chain...

Creating Tension

Okay, I complained far and wide yesterday about my opening chapters having insufficient tension. I am perfectly aware that I undermine myself when building the idea for a book. In romance, I finally had to teach myself to write out goals and conflict before I'd let myself apply pen to paper. Every time I slowed down, I'd go back to that list and find a new way to ratchet them tighter. (Hah, I need some of Sherrie's wing nuts!) But I'm toying with women's fiction now, and that's a whole different critter I've got to feel around. I think I'm jerking on its tail right now. Do you have a mental picture of what happens when I jerk on tails?

Anyway, after much carping and complaining and everyone's helpful comments, I finally realized I had part of the solution already built in. I'd just glossed over it in my usual attempt to sabotage myself. Conflict avoidance is a really bad habit in a writer! My heroine had this heaping wad of money in her purse...now how many ways can I play with that? Lots, she grins gleefully. Then I threw in an allusion to alcoholism and a hint of a teenage prank go awry, and we are now on the road and rolling toward a collision course with their futures. Wow. I may not have written many pages today, but I did a lot of work.

And now the sun's out, finally!

As the Turtle Turns

Getting a little bleary-eyed over this new book. Poor mannykin fell off his goal post and moved so slowly, Turtle crawled over him. I've decided my opening scenes lack sufficient tension to grab the reader by the throat and keep 'em throttled. Guess I'd better find a gorilla instead of a turtle. I can understand why editors want "high concept." Gotta keep turning those pages when you want to find out what's happening. But dang, in women's fiction, how high a concept can we go without heading into suspense territory? Or writing dark. I can see now why Secret Babies made such great books. Anybody got a gripping women's fiction high concept they want to loan me?