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5.
FaithfulReader.com: Is there a Chick Lit formula, or certain "must haves"?
Penny Culliford: There's probably a range of ingredients rather than a formula. I suppose they would include: a single protagonist, a complicated love interest, slightly batty parents, and a circle of supportive friends, body image or weight issues, the humour, and career versus motherhood. If one or two of the ingredients change, that doesn't stop it being Chick Lit, but if you replaced them entirely with a different set of ingredients, you would have a different cake all together.
Sharon Dunn: Beyond humor and first person narrative, reference to large amounts of chocolate and espressos are always helpful. A lot of the other books seem to involve shopping, but my character, Ruby Taylor, isn't a shopper. I think showing how women support and help each other through boyfriend heartache and job disappointment is also part of the genre. My third book, COW CRIMES AND THE MUSTANG MENACE, explores how Ruby finds support through a community of women. That support cushions the blow of her relationship not working out with the love interest in the story, "Wesley." Also, I think there needs to be at least one mention of soaking in a hot tub to forget life's worries.
Laura Jensen Walker: I hate even the idea of a "formula," but I definitely think there are some basic must-haves: humor, a female lead character who readers really care about and would like as their friend, and most importantly, voice: funny, sarcastic, neurotic, real (and usually first person).
Judy Baer: I hope no one tries to boil Chick Lit down into formulaic terms. All books have a beginning, middle and end --- that's formula enough. The "must haves" are the same as for any writers --- a literary voice that suits the story the author is telling; insightful, creative ways of looking at the world; clever ideas; interesting, fully developed characters; etc. I do have a sense that people who write Chick Lit love to write them, that it feels natural for them. That's definitely a "must have."
Kristin Billerbeck: The must-have to me is voice. Of course there is the standard jounalist-in-a-bad-job-without-a-boyfriend plot, but even that works well if told in a different voice. It's all about knowing someone new. For example, BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY and others have very similar plots, but their heroines make the story their own. BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY is simply a modern retelling of Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.
Robin Jones Gunn: "Spunk" is the word that comes to mind. Spunk and credible characters, along with a brightly paced plot that rolls the story along at a jolly pace.
A romance reader expects a happy ending. Readers of suspense novels hope to raise their heart rate before the last chapter. I think that whenever a reader reaches for a Chick Lit novel, she is anticipating that she will smile and feel as if she shared an experience with like-spirited friends.
Tracey Bateman: As I stated before, Chick Lit deals with single women dealing with all the things that make her who she is --- family, friends, self-esteem, work, play, dating…
Mom Lit is about a mom --- whether married, divorced or widowed --- who is dealing with kids, family, friends, self-esteem, work, play, possibly dating (hopefully only if she's single in a Christian Mom Lit!).
I think both of these Lit genres deal with similar issues. And whether married or single, adult women as a group deal with many of the same sorrows and joys. Chicks want to be moms, and moms want five minutes in the bathroom without someone knocking on the door. The grass is always greener…that's where the fun comes in.
Allie Pleiter: Maybe once, but we're expanding those boundaries with every new book. For me, Mom Lit has the obvious "must have" of children, but I'm delighted by the new subgenres that today's authors are creating. I find it to be far more about the tone, about the way the characters look at the world, than about any one formula. However, it is my personal opinion that chocolate must appear in every book. Generally in large, indulgent quantities.
Annie Jones: You must have a good story, just like all fiction. Just a series of events or one-liners won't do.
Lori Copeland: I don't believe so; they are stories about women and women have a varying range of emotions. Chick Lit explores those feelings and makes the reader say, "Been there, done that."
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