Things we HATE or LOVE in Chick Lit

So - you know what I'm talking about.

What do you hate in Chick Lit?

What makes you tick?

Annnndddd... go!

I really hate stupid characters. I mean, ones who do things that are sooo ridiculous that it's completely irrational... yet the author relies on it as a crutch so that things easily move along. I like flawed characters, the occasional ditzy action, but when you have a female main character who does one stupid thing after another I get completely turned off.

There really isn't much I don't love about chick lit... I have to admit that a lot of the time, I'm a big fan of most of the cliches that come along with it, such as: the bitchy sidekick, the flamboyantly gay best friend, falling in love with the boy next door, the requisite shoe addiction and martini get-togethers with the girl. I don't know, none of it really bothers me. The only thing I think that really ever makes me roll my eyes is that in 90% of the novels I've read, the FMC has either been a stay at home mom or have a job in publishing; as if those are our only options.

However, I'm also not a huge fan of big flowery prose, like when an author uses 90 words to say, "Mandy had just gotten gold highlights put in her hair." But, if the wordcount gets to be super close this year, I may have to fall back on that, so...


Sidenote: I'm really interested in seeing what the response to this thread is, because at one point, I'm really itching to write a story using only Chick-lit cliches. That was almost my

I love chick-lit that can make me laugh out loud - it's pretty much the whole reason I buy certain books (thinking Sophie Kinsella specifically). I also love flawed characters - I really don't like the whole "she looks like a model and has this fabulous personality and yet she simply can't get a man" story lines. Right, as if we actually believe you. But characters like Bridget Jones who curse, struggle with their weight/alcohol consumption/cigarettes and make a complete ass out of themselves sometimes are just wonderful if you ask me.

I hate it when they latch onto a catch-phrase and repeat it throughout the book (Meg Cabot's "Size 12 is not Fat" is a good example of this - the dorm-er-residence hall thing drove me BONKERS).

I also hate it when it's first person, and the language used has been dumbed down. We're women. Not idiots. Some of us have decent vocabularies and don't really nead to read "and he was, like, sooo hot! Oh my god!" If want that sort of thing (and why would we?) we could just as easily eavesdrop on some bimbos/teenage girls.

Sheesh.

:O We can't edit posts any more? Hmm... Clarification about the first-person thing - when they dumb it down to match the heroine's voice, which is also dumbed down. Do they think we'll identify with her more if she sounds like us? Do we sound that dumb to them?

Ok, it bothers me IMMENSELY when the love interest starts out with a girlfriend, and this girlfriend is a complete b***h and totally incompatible with the love interest. I mean, why would he be dating her if she were so awful? It's just poor characterization.

**SPOILER ALERT FOR SOPHIE KINSELLA'S "CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET"**

I absolutely ADORED it in "Can You Keep a Secret" when Emma FINALLY stood up to her awful, lying, bitchy cousin. I wanted to jump up and dance around and yell excitedly because she FINALLY stood up for herself in front of her parents and let them know she wasn't a total loser. I LOVE it when two-faced liars get what's coming for them.

I'm a complete hypocrite, because I'm planning one of these for my Nanowri mo, but I hate when everything that comes the heroine's way only happens by chance. I know you need something to set of the plot, but some chick lit heroines just seem to be endlessly pulled along by coincidences and luck!

I love when the heroines' actually working on something that sounds fun in itself. One of my favourite chick lit heroine occupations (I can't remember the writer) was working in whiskey tasting, and the whiskey subplot was delicious, I preferred it to the romance!

Well, there's the cliche of chick lit protagonists working in the fashion or media industry, which gets really boring.

I LOVE it when the ending isn't what you'd expect. Or maybe I'm just a sucker that way. There was a novel where the protagonist was going to get married soon, when an old boyfriend comes back into her life. Turns out he had broken up with her for decent unselfish reasons, and they admittedly have better chemistry than she does with her fiance, and circumstances are such that they COULD be together for good this time. I was genuinely surprised when she decided to marry her fiance anyway. And I was still mulling over that book days later.

I also LOVE it when the protagonist is in the depths of despair (over a suspected affair, ruined reputation, etc.) but picks herself up and gets on with her life. Then she is wonderfully rewarded for that strength and grace under pressure.

Very interesting posts there. I haven't read a book about a female whisky taster before! Fascinating. I suppose I get a bit tired of endless shopping and yapping on about shoes. Not being particularly interested in either of those things it does tire me a bit. However, the worst thing for me to read is if the heroine is just too perfect. I really can't bear the woman who never makes mistakes, never struggles with normal everyday issues that the rest of us have to deal with and always knows the right thing to do. I read a book once (well, half of it) and just had to give up because she was so practical and sensible and so superior to everyone else that I hated her. I agree with jjsigford on that one. Bridget Jones was a fabulous character in spite of the criticism that book received. I get that life isn't all about finding a man but in chick lit it plays a massive part let's be honest, and Bridget was a brilliant character, so likeable and fallible.

I hate when the FMC is dumb, even if she's bitchy (and skinny) and dumb. More than anything. I think that women (and it's women who write nearly all chick lit) do a huge disservice to the majority of their readers when they characterize other women as less intelligent than all those successful boys.

My ideal FMC should be funny, smart and capable of huge mistakes (but not stupid ones). She should like shopping, and I suppose she can like shoes if she really wants, but she should be more interested in her friends and her life than her closet, since I really think that's how most people are. She should also get at least one chance in the book to really screw someone over, and at least seriously consider taking that chance. She should be afraid if a lot of things, but willing to face her fears.

In my NaNo, the man question is already settled by the time we meet the FMC, because the search for the perfect man parts of chick lit bore me. He's not perfect, but then no one is. Mine is more "how did I end up with this life?" Chick lit.

Great thread!

I really love well-written chick lit: witty, original, with characters who feel real and interesting. My favorite writers are the ones who can take any story or premise (no matter how ordinary it seems, or how far outside my own interests) and make me feel like I must find out what happens next.

As for what I hate, I'm completely in agreement with the above posters re: dumb characters (especially main characters), especially when they fall into a lot of genre stereotypes (e.g. wardrobe- and man-obsessed chicks with no other interests or problems). As a reader, it feels insulting - not to mention dull. This also goes for chick lit in which the ending and/or major plot twists seem contrived to the point of being unbelievable.

My biggest pet peeve about Chick Lit is definitely the dumb characters, or the idea that every woman exists just to shop and has an endless shoe closet. It's boring, it's overdone, and it's downright demeaning; even the women I know who love shopping and love shoes have FAR more going for them than just those stereotypes. I'm trying to write a variety of characters who are three dimensional and are definitely not just stereotypes.

I love chick lit when a character is genuinely interesting, or when the story is a cliché that is subverted a bit or done in a slightly different way. I also love it when the focus of chick lit isn't just "finding a man." If a man is found, that's of course, fair enough, but there's so much more to being fulfilled than just finding a dreamy relationship!

God, I agree with you all entirely. For me, the same character repeated again and again does my head in! I've tried as much as I can to base all of them as firmly in reality as possible, borrowing bits from real life to make them seem more real....yes, my character will shop, and yes there will probably be a bit of flowery prose because thats how I write, but I want to laugh with my character, cry with her, tell her she's an idiot for making that decision etc. For me, my novel isnt about how she meets the guy, its about she gets over the guy....of course there is romance within it, because thats kinda the rules of a chick lit, but there will be plenty of red herrings, because lets face it, we dont all meet the guy of our dreams on day one, and we dont all get the guy we want either! But yeah, I think giving your characters interesting things to do is always important.

I really hate it in chick lit when there is always a tall, thin blonde chick who is a bitch. It's such a cliché. I am also tired of the gay best friend--this is also a cliché. If you're going to have the gay best friend character then please make him at least original--not a cliché. i have read way too many chick lit novels where the gay best friend is a stylist or make-up artist who turns the MC into a walking fashion plate. Nononono, don't want to read it again.

What I love? When the MC is not constantly worrying about her weight, when the MC makes her own decisions and doesn't need her friends to lead her to every milestone in her life, when the MC likes Doc Martens as much as I do. :)

Reclaim sexiness so we can sell you some underwear!

And perfume
and clothing
and diets
and 'lifestyle'
and charge you 50 bucks a morning to tell you to run around in a public park.

It annoys me how the genre is typically used as a vehicle for selling.

Hate: Obsessing about weight, one-dimensional bitches with no driving force that makes them that way, macho men with macho-men jobs who are "cool and detached and mysterious," that everyone is an editor or a fashionista, that they all have to take place in NYC (and I live here!)

Love: Specificity in the "world" of characters. I learn a lot about reading what it's like to be in jobs from Chick Lit. For example, I've read about quilting, do-it-yourself fix-ups of houses, art restoration, wedding planning, getting your colors done, being in a rock band. I don't know about or want to do any of those things, but I really appreciate the authentic details in the descriptions and the accurate accounts of the day-to-day work.

I also love when characters get themselves in trouble. Big mistakes are interesting to read about. Doubly interesting when a character figures out how to save herself instead of waiting for help/Deus ex machina

HATE: Scenes that take place in the rain. The scene where the MC stops speaking to her best friend, followed later by the scene where they make up. Stuff with pets in general, although it works for me sometimes (Jennifer Weiner). Jobs in fashion or journalism. Diets. Too much talk about weight or body type. "I choose me."

LOVE: Smart-mouthed women. Imperfection. Unplanned pregnancies (I should hate that, but when it's done well, it's just fun). Scenes that take place in coffee shops, because this makes me think of the smell of coffee while I'm reading. Anything that takes place in a large European city.

i hate it when the FMC meets the MMC for the first time on page two and it instantly becomes obvious that they are going to end up together by the end of the book. Lame.

I like strong-willed, intelligent women who make their own way in life and make their own decisions, and sometimes the choices they make are bad choices and things turn out bad for them.