Chicklit--what is it?

SheliaRudesill · Aug 31, 2005

As far as I can see Chicklit is the "in" in fiction right now. I've been looking up and sending querys to agents and most represent nonfiction or chiclkit. As far as I can see, chicklit is about the same as a TV sitcom--something humorous, light, and trivial. Lots of titles have something to do with blondes or martinis. While I think a book like this would be good for an airplane ride, I worry about serious literary fiction. I'm not trying to condem the genre--just wish I could write it!

What do you think?

veinglory · Aug 31, 2005

Serious literary fiction is still doing fine, but romance, chicklit and thrillers are always going to outsell them hands down.

Personally I read to relax more than anything else. Westerns, romance, fantasy....

sassandgroove · Sep 1, 2005

Chick-Lit is stuff like Bridget Jone's Diary by Helen Fielding (and her subsequent books), and Why Girls Are Weird by Pamela Ribon. But I wouldn't call it mindless fluff or liken it to a sitcom. Though they appeal to a wider audience than other books might, the women in the stories are not just blonde fluff chicks that have funny things happen and have it all tied up in some silly solution at the end like tv shows. They deal with matters of the heart, they deal with real world problems, and are written by very bright women. You can read my opins of them on my blog, and you can see for yourself at least how bright Pam is at pamie.com, which inspired her novel. Don't dismiss something because you don't know what it is. Just because it doesn't appeal to you doesn't mean it is without merit.

YAY It is Pamie.com I FOUND IT!!!

MadScientistMatt · Sep 1, 2005

I see no reason that being the book equivalent of a sitcom means that a genre can't produce classics. Some plays that have plots comparable to modern sitcoms have been in production for centuries. Some I've seen recently are Richard Sheridan's The School for Scandal and Molliere's Tartufe (did I spell that right?). Other types of genre fiction have produced literary masterpieces. Why not chick lit?

maestrowork · Sep 1, 2005

Chick-lit doesn't have to be comedy or fluffy in nature. It's basically contemporary stories about contemporary women with contemporary issues such as relationships, career, family, etc.

Unique · Sep 1, 2005

Don't forget 'hen-lit' for the over the hill gang. Boomer Babes are hot.

Anastacia · Sep 1, 2005

Chicklit is gum spelled badly
Chic-lit is what fashionable people read
Chick-it means shut up in Hebrew

*ducks and runs . . . *

sassandgroove · Sep 2, 2005

So I took myself a little seriosly....I like those books a lot. Thanks for lightening the mood. Sorry if I came off defensive.

Eldo · Sep 2, 2005

So..... when does ladlit start to take off?

Or do readers not like it when male protags struggle through similar chicklit problems...?

maestrowork · Sep 2, 2005

Ladlits have these odds stacked against them:

- chick-lit readers are usually females; why would they care about a lad going through similar problems... they have enough to read about in chick-lit, romance, erotica, and women's issues...

- men don't read stuff like that, whether the protagonist is male or female

- men's issues are inherently different than women's... so how do female readers (majority) identify with male issues?

fallenangelwriter · Sep 3, 2005

on the contrary, i'd say ladlit is omnipresen.t

in some genres, like sci-fi and fantasy especially, but even in other genres, male protagonists are not only common, but frequently the defualt. plenty of stories are written about men and boys coming to terms with love, life, their place in the world, and what kind of eprson they want to be.

"chick-lit" exists to differentiate it form the rest of ficiton, which would be ladlit.

jackie106 · Sep 3, 2005

fallenangelwriter said:
on the contrary, i'd say ladlit is omnipresen.t

in some genres, like sci-fi and fantasy especially, but even in other genres, male protagonists are not only common, but frequently the defualt. plenty of stories are written about men and boys coming to terms with love, life, their place in the world, and what kind of eprson they want to be.

"chick-lit" exists to differentiate it form the rest of ficiton, which would be ladlit.

Chick lit and lad lit refer to specific literary genres. Not all literature from a woman's point-of-view is "chick lit."

Chick lit usually involves a young female protagonist living in London or NYC who has problems with her lovelife, career, or weight.

Lad lit (sometimes called "d*ck lit") is the male equivalent of chick lit. It seems to be more popular in the UK than in the US.

Famous chick/lad lit writers:
Jennifer Weiner
Helen Fielding
Candace Bushnell
Lauren Weisberger
Nick Hornby

If you would like more information about chick or lad lit, check out this website.

Jackie

maestrowork · Sep 4, 2005

Right. Just because a story has a male protagonist coming in terms with life and love doesn't make it ladlit. Someone tried to stick "ladlit" on my book and I refused. There's a difference.

About a Boy is ladlit.

About Schmidt is not.

ricaykw · Sep 4, 2005

can chick lit be about younger women (for example college-aged)? or would that be considered a different genre?

SheliaRudesill · Sep 6, 2005

thanks

Don't dismiss something because you don't know what it is. Just because it doesn't appeal to you doesn't mean it is without merit.

Who's dismissing anything?

Thanks for the web links. Is "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" chick-lit?

sassandgroove · Sep 6, 2005

SheliaRudesill said:
Who's dismissing anything?

Thanks for the web links. Is "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" chick-lit?

I already pointed out I reacted too strongly...

I think Sisterhood would be young adult, along the lines of the ys novels Judy Blume and such wrote. Though the readers would be chicks, just younger.

Chicklit--what is it?

SheliaRudesill

veinglory

volitare nequeo

sassandgroove

Sassy haircut

MadScientistMatt

Empirical Storm Trooper

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

Unique

Agent of Doom

Anastacia

Milk Maker

sassandgroove

Sassy haircut

Eldo

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

fallenangelwriter

jackie106

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

ricaykw

SheliaRudesill

sassandgroove

Sassy haircut