Chick lit cliches

Was probably already engaged once to some high school/college boyfriend whom no one else will ever compare
Has a favorite coffee drink
Usually there is some reference to shoes

SHOPPING!!!
The good guy/bad boy drama.

England. Another chick lit clich, I have to add.

There's almost a referance to someone living in the United Kingdom, if the entire plot doesn't take place there.

Waste your money and you're only out of money,
but waste your time and you've lost a part of your life.
- Michael Leboeuf

- Knows a secret (often Italian) restaurant, not expensive, a bit scruffy, but very cool and comfy, is on friendly terms with the owner, always gets 'her' table and 'her' drink, food better than anything else in the world.

- The good guy has feelings and thoughts that are entirely female.

Has a best friend with whom to sympathise over too many glasses of house white - and a yearning for the must have bag of the year.

But as with anything, a cliche is only a cliche if you write it that way. Even the hoariest old turns of phrase can be polished and made to shine like new with a bit of thought.

Mo Fanning

www.placetheirface.com

A fantaaaabulous apartment, no matter how crummy the job.

An extremely hot guy the MC usually doesn't feel deserving of. (I'll take 'em! <<;)

An extremely hot guy who has no problem committing to the relationship, unlike our beautiful protagonists. (I'll take 'em, too!!)

You're right about the diet coke - my god, it's everywhere!

Christina
Founder of EEEW.

All we can do is keep breathing...

If she doesn't work in publishing, she works in fashion.

Has a brief liaison with a famous writer/designer/actor or stockbroker until she realizes that the good guy is really her One True Love, at which point the good guy (currently working as a waiter/barista/gofer/line cook is revealed to be heir to a vast riches - he was working that job because he wanted to Earn His Own Way in the World and not sponge off the family fortune.

Of course I have a blog!

wow that's every movie, book, show, etc I have ever seen... but honestly what's wrong with that.

One of my fave cliches is the good girl who is trying to be a bit edgier and may even help a rumor about her to make her less sweaky clean. Okay not a big one but I do like it....

Oh, another:

If it's not London, it's New York.

Christina
Founder of EEEW.

All we can do is keep breathing...

-The females are always perfectly dressed.
-Always waiting for a male to call only to have a monologue about how pathetic it is to wait by the phone and they know it.

There's a book called "A Total Waste of Makeup" that is all those cliches that we all hate. I got through about 15 pages and decided I hated it and put it down.

Well, I LIVE the Diet Coke cliche!

but my favorites:

Mom/Grandma was my best friend, 'til she died.
When the MC gets upset, a tub of ice cream is her only outlet.
Fresh out of college, our MC lands the oh-so-stressful perfect internship with the hot boss.

~Sullengal

Hey, what's wrong with shoes? My little sister and I really do bond over shoes. Constantly. Now, my older sister, on the other hand, isn't a real female. I think she only has like five pairs of shoes.

Anyway, if they're not in fashion or publishing, they own their own (unique AND successful, of course!) small business.

^^^Okay my main character is going to own her own business, but she inherits it and only inherits it because her grandma hates her sister, and has no one else to get it. And it's not terribly successful.It's a yarn store.

Don't worry, one of my MCs will own her own coffee shop - and of course, it's successful. ;-) I'm also considering having her make it into a martini bar at night - how cliche!

My first attempt at a novel is going to be a chick lit. :) It's one of my favorite genres!

Anyways..mine does have the typical cliches. My character is working at a fashion magazine and has the typical bad childhood. Yes, she loves Manolo Blahniks and Starbucks Coffee. She (and I) both can't help it!

Oh... that would be yummy and good. Our shops should be together so my patrons can get caffinated and then knit and then drink afterwards. Both would profit. B-)

Hahaha I'm definitely doing the hot barista cliche... however, he won't be an heir to vast fortunes, so hopefully that puts at least a vague spin on things... also, he's a bit of a geek, so he doesn't know he's hot (and she won't realize it for awhile too)... hey, some geeks are highly attractive, yes? ...and it might help if they're Italian... hahaha.

It was fun reading this list. But are these things we're supposed to avoid at all costs? I'm embarrassed now because my story was going to start in NYC and end up in Australia. ha! ha! But I don't read Chick Lit so I don't know all the cliches.

Oh, now I'm afraid the entire idea is cliche!!

What is everyone else writing about??

dark_phoenix,

I just read your post and I like how you've described your story. If I read that on the back of a book in a store, I'd be very tempted to buy it! :)

Yay, oh thank you!!! Distant Sea, you just made my day!

Now, let's just hope my execution is as good as the description...! Hahaha... it's my first NaNo, so I'm hopeful but not irrational. :)

...well, the way I see it... most people read the genre for the cliches, even if they don't realize it. ;)

As long as they're not super-obvious and evoke a "no way in hell that's possible!" reaction, I think you're safe! Hehehe. And really, some locations are just easier to work with than others. I'm going to bounce back between Chicago and Seattle, even though I've been noticing a lot of Seattle in Chick Lit lately (or should I say, on the back covers since I also haven't read much of anything beyond Shopaholic)... but it's a city I know so I'm going to use it, since it will be more realistic that way (and make NaNo-ing easier since it'll involve less research... haha).

I say, write your cliche anyhow! All genres have beloved cliches that work just fine with tweaking in each author's approach :D But that's just my opinion, lol.

That sounds awesome! My MC is going to be an avid crocheter (is that a word?!) — perhaps she will come visit your MC's yarn store! :)

Also, I'm sure someone else has already mentioned it, but the male lead in the novel is always someone the MC initially despises but is mysteriously attracted to . . . and, of course, they fall passionately in love.

When the MC changes her clothes, what she's wearing is always mentioned along with what everyone else is wearing and all the designers of these clothes (or knock offs of)

It DEFINITELY helps if they are Italian. I know a hot Italian geek from my old job... he's insanely dorky... but he's got really awesome super-curly hair and pretty blue eyes. But he's addicted to computer games and his PS3. It's like he's a walking contradiction.

So yeah if you ever need any twists for your hot-Italian-geeky-guy, I can give you some ideas. :-)

-Stacy. Just Stacy.

My novel this year might be a chick lit. My problem is the only Chick Lit novel I have read is "Good in Bed."

So after reading some of the posts saying I should read lots of Chick Lit if I am going to write it. I picked up a copy of "Girl's Guide to Witchcraft" by Mindy Klasky. Good read so far.

The main character has been thrown over by her jerk boyfriend, she is fantasizing about a new guy who has just showed up with a perfect girl. She drinks diet coke with her best friend. Who helps her moves into a new house. She accidentally conjures up a cat familiar, who turns into a very gay man. His first words are " Girlfriend we have got to get you some better shoes." She is currently a librarian but has worked in publishing in the past. She is slim but does obsess about her weight. The mother is dead so I don't think she could have a problem with her. But well she is now a witch and so there could be potential in the future. Oh, it is written in 1st person. All this by page 49.

Talk about cliches. Will I finish it? Hell yes, I will finish it because I want to find out what happens.

The first draft of anything is shit. ~~~~Ernest Hemingway

It is better to write a bad first draft than to write no first draft at all.
~~Will Shetterly

A chick lit cliche I happened across more than once is the successful workaholic woman trying to make it in a man's world. She isn't looking for and doesn't have the time for a man, but Mr. Perfect is determined to change her mind.

NaNo '05: Failed
NaNo '06: Won
NaNo '07: --
Cups of Coffee: 9
Cups of Tea: 13
Energy Drinks: 2

I agree with dark_phoenix. As an avid reader of chick lit I can assure you that women do, in fact, read the genre for the cliches. It's because we all really do love diet coke and starbucks, and want to live in NY, and wish for a rich Italian who's not afraid to commit. hehehe As long as you write it with your own style and don't *try* to be cliche, it'll be fine. Plus, I read the description of your book and it sounds really good. :)

Instead of fear of failure, maybe we'd do better to fear the death of dreaming.

My main character is very much a tom-boy. Is that cliche?

"It's because we all really do love diet coke and starbucks, and want to live in NY, and wish for a rich Italian who's not afraid to commit."

Hell yeah, I'll take that life any day. :P hehe.

I agree about the cliches, though. There's no need to avoid them if you can use them in your own style. No matter how similar they may be, all characters go through their own unique journey. Sure, majority may love diet coke and find herself falling in love with a gorgeous man [or several], but how she manages to get from A to B will generally be unique*.

*......Even if the only detail separating one novel from another is that novel A's protagonist has 137 pairs of shoes, and novel B's has 135. Haha. ;)

Christina
Founder of EEEW.

All we can do is keep breathing...

I don't get the Diet Coke. If I'm that health-conscious, I'd just have water. Water tastes good. =) Besides, I don't see how regular and Diet Coke even makes any difference anyway, unless like me, regular Coke makes you overly hyper at night.