|
||||||||||
|
Subscribe to the Absolute Write Newsletter and get the Agents! Agents! Agents! report free! Click here.
|
Win a 1-year subscription to Writer's Digest by subscribing to Absolute Markets-- all paying markets for your writing. Click here. |
|
| |||||||||||||
|
|
Inside the Cover Book Review Review by Amy Brozio-Andrews
See Jane Write: A Girl's Guide to Writing Chick Lit By Sarah Mlynowski and Farrin Jacobs Quirk Books 2006 187 pp. Writing-related
How many writers who are also chick lit fans haven't read one of those pretty pastel covered books and thought, hey, I could write that! Between could've-been-me characters, engaging plots, and smart dialogue, chick lit authors can make it seem easy to reach the best-seller lists. But for anyone who's tried to write one and still has 47,000 words to go on that manuscript, we know it's not nearly as easy as it looks.
But before you delete that unfinished manuscript in frustration, let See Jane Write: A Girl's Guide to Writing Chick Lit pull you back from the ledge. Written by multi-published novelist Sarah Mlynowski (Milkrun, Fishbowl) and former Red Dress Ink editor Farrin Jacobs, See Jane Write is a great little cheerleader of a book.
All the charm and irreverence of a typical chick lit novel is embodied by See Jane Write. With its familiar, cheeky tone and straight-shooting narrative style, Mlynowski and Jacobs take readers under their wing and tell it like it is, including some of those harsh truths you already know but need someone else to tell you again anyway (like, don’t quit your day job just yet). Reading this book is as enjoyable as any other candy-colored contribution to the chick lit genre.
Starting with the basics, the authors discuss how writers get started and the various reasons for wanting to write a book. Equating writing a chick lit novel to therapy and dating, the book gives aspiring authors many accessible starting points, plus several opportunities to really address would-be writers' expectations versus the reality of being a published author.
Mlynowski and Jacobs draw heavily on their own experiences as writer and editor, as well as those of fellow chick lit writers Emily Giffin, Melissa Senate, Marian Keys, Cara Lockwood, and more than a dozen other women who have already established publishing careers. With a comprehensive look at what characterizes chick lit, plus how-to's on plot, point of view, conflict, dialogue, grammar, style, and character development, plus market information and career advice on how to pitch an agent and what writers can really expect from writer/agent/publisher relationships, See Jane Write offers readers a solid introduction to both writing and publishing. Appendices include a bibliography of other writing how-to books and a compiled bibliography of all the chick lit books published by the authors referenced in the text.
Numerous subheadings, charts, graphs, and offset boxes of helpful hints make this a useful book to keep on hand for quick reference. You can read See Jane Write from cover to cover, or just flip it open to any page and jump right in. Detailed examples of do's and don'ts offer readers more than just a "do as I say" instruction manual; readers can actually see the authors' and experts' advice in action.
Whether you've always wanted to write a chick lit novel or feel mired somewhere in the middle of your manuscript, See Jane Write gives readers a friendly shoulder to lean on. With encouragement and advice in every chapter, this is the book to have sitting next to your computer if you dream of seeing your name in glittery letters on a pale pink paperback.
Amy Brozio-Andrews is a freelance writer and book reviewer. She brings more than five years' experience as a readers' advisory librarian to her work, which is regularly published by Library Journal, The Imperfect Parent, and Absolute Write. Her reviews have also been published by The Absinthe Literary Review, ForeWord Magazine, January Magazine, and Melt Magazine. Amy is also the managing editor and an international markets columnist for Absolute Write. Visit her online at http://www.amyba.com.
|
Sponsored links 
Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer! How to find a book publisher |
Text on this site Copyright © 1998-2007
Absolute Write, all rights reserved.
|
