Does this sound like women's fiction to you?

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Lalaloopsy

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Willa is a 25 year old college dropout with no clear path. Due to an intense fear of crashing, she's never learned to drive a car but her new boss forces her to face her fears when he demands she learns how to drive or else she's fired.

The book isn't sporty at all. It's just about her fear of driving and her experience in overcoming it. There isn't any romance either. Her boyfriend is a jerk but he's just a background character, he's not in the story much.

Also, does it sound interesting? Would you want to read it?
Thanks!
 

Helix

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Willa is a 25 year old college dropout with no clear path. Due to an intense fear of crashing, she's never learned to drive a car but her new boss forces her to face her fears when he demands she learns how to drive or else she's fired.

The book isn't sporty at all. It's just about her fear of driving and her experience in overcoming it. There isn't any romance either. Her boyfriend is a jerk but he's just a background character, he's not in the story much.

Also, does it sound interesting? Would you want to read it?
Thanks!


I'm not seeing high stakes or any sort of plot in this. So it doesn't sound interesting to me and, no, I wouldn't read it.
 

lianna williamson

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As you've described it, the conflict seems more like something from a short story. I'm not seeing how overcoming a fear of driving can stretch into the plot of an entire novel. However, I do think overcoming the fear of driving could make a fine story thread, woven together with many others.
 

Latina Bunny

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I agree with lianna. This sounds like a really minor subplot kind of story. (The kind that would be in a short story or short tv episode.) It's really vague, and really sparse.

Is this meant to be literary?

ETA: As to whether or not it could be women's fiction? Hm... I don't know, but it doesn't feel like much of a plot to carry an entire novel, Women's Fiction or not.

Maybe it could be better suited as literary (but in short story form)?

For Women's Fiction, I would think there would need to be more depth to the plot. (Even my Chick Lit book series I love with the shopaholic character has more going on.)
 
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Helix

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Now, if the character had been roped into being a getaway driver on a bank heist because she needs the cash for a life-saving operation for herself/her child/her significant other and had to overcome her fear, that might be the start of something.

Obvs, that'd have to be set somewhere without socialised medicine.
 

Marian Perera

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Also, does it sound interesting? Would you want to read it?

Unless her job description involves driving, why does he threaten her with firing if she can't drive?

If this were women's fiction, I would expect the heroine to get a job with a more reasonable boss, whether or not she learns how to drive along the way. Either way, though, the plot sounds inconsequential and Willa seems flat and helpless from the description (jerk boss, jerk boyfriend, college dropout with no clear path). So I wouldn't read it.
 

LJD

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Sure, it might be women's fiction. But I agree with the above comments. It doesn't sound like enough of a plot for a whole novel.
 

Latina Bunny

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Unless her job description involves driving, why does he threaten her with firing if she can't drive?

If this were women's fiction, I would expect the heroine to get a job with a more reasonable boss, whether or not she learns how to drive along the way. Either way, though, the plot sounds inconsequential and Willa seems flat and helpless from the description (jerk boss, jerk boyfriend, college dropout with no clear path). So I wouldn't read it.

I would hope that the main character, Willa, learns to leave such jerk people at some point. I mean, it would help her emotional journey, (which Women's Fiction is sort of about, last time I checked, lol), to do so.

I wonder if there could be something deeper going on with the fear of crashing. Why does she have a fear of crashing? Did she lose someone?

Did something life-altering happened to her? Like, she lived through the crash, but she got physically impaired by it, or was in a coma at one point, or something?

What does her family think about her not driving? Do they pressure her?

Is her life affected because of her non-driving in some ways?

Is she in an isolated area? Does she need to see someone urgently?

Does someone die or get deathly ill because of her fear of driving?

Is a child in danger, and there is no one nearby who can drive the child to wherever (like the hospital) or something?

Maybe she gets caught in the middle of a robbery or some crime, and she ends up being forced to drive a get away car at gunpoint? (Like Helix said earlier).

Was she a professional driver who suffered a terrible crash, and she must regain her courage if she wants to drive again, etc?

...Just throwing ideas out there to provide some more conflict and depth...or something, lol.
 
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Twick

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A book about conquering a phobia could be interesting, but there needs to be more to it. How does she go about conquering it?
 

Glass Valkyrie

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I'm not seeing high stakes or any sort of plot in this. So it doesn't sound interesting to me and, no, I wouldn't read it.

Unfortunately I would have to agree with this point. I think you would either need to make it a short story or add in something to go along with it.
 

morngnstar

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I think it would need to get in to some deeper reason for her fear, not just that she's never tried it, finally tried it, and it's not so bad.
 

Deb Kinnard

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My crit partner correctly critiques my stories all the time when the motivation isn't sufficient. I say, "She's afraid to drive."

Instant answer: "Why?"

"Because she was in a major car crash and feels as though she was the guilty party."

"Why?"

And so forth -- you get the drift. Working with my crit partner on motivation is like peeling the onion of my character's psyche. My partner won't stop until I get down to the lowest possible layer, even if this motivation-base isn't visible to my character.

One thing that helped is to "interview" my character and ask her "Why?" every time she answered me. Yeah, I know, it sounds frivolous and unproductive, but delving into deep psychological reasons for people's mindsets pays off for me every time.
 

veinglory

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Although it is entirely possible to have intense driving phobia without an instigating event, in the real world "whys" are often not so straightforward. I have a women's fiction book featuring driving phobia on my tbr pile right now. I will post the title when I get home.
 
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