Is there such a thing as "literary chick lit"?

Status
Not open for further replies.

mollieplayer

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 4, 2011
Messages
51
Reaction score
6
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Website
www.mollieplayer.com
If there is, I'm writing it!

My book, Sometimes Very, deals with very serious topics (depression) but is delivered in a relatively lighthearted tone, and is directed towards women.

What do you think? Literary chick lit possible or should I just choose one?
 

tanglewoodtracey

Loves a good trainwreck
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 8, 2009
Messages
261
Reaction score
40
Location
Suburb of Des Moines, IA
Website
www.traceygarvisgraves.com
I believe serious/literary "chick lit" tends to be categorized as women's fiction.

I agree. Chick lit with a more serious tone would probably be classified as women's fiction although some will still refer to it as chick lit.

And to answer your other question, I do think literary works tend to be a little quieter, maybe more serious. But that doesn't mean literary fiction can't have uplifting and lighter content as well.

A book can be classified so many different ways.

Tracey
 

Chiquita Banana

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 14, 2009
Messages
425
Reaction score
35
Website
libby-mercer.blogspot.com
I think Marian Keyes is the prime example of a literary chick lit writer. I'm not in love with all her books (although I've found them all to be enjoyable) but there are a couple of them that absolutely blew me away with their depth and inventiveness - Anybody Out There and The Brightest Star in the Sky. :)
 

Ruriworm

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 7, 2011
Messages
57
Reaction score
2
Prep by Curtis Sittenfield is one book that has a YA topic, but has the depth and subtleness of literary fiction.
Personally I think genres depend on how people interpret them, so perhaps it isn't that relevant while you're still in the writing process.
 

lwallace

Writing Is a Habit of Mind
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 18, 2012
Messages
161
Reaction score
7
Location
Panama City, Florida
If there is, I'm writing it!

My book, Sometimes Very, deals with very serious topics (depression) but is delivered in a relatively lighthearted tone, and is directed towards women.

What do you think? Literary chick lit possible or should I just choose one?

Yes, quite clearly literary chick lit is possible, just as literary science fiction is possible and literary historical fiction, and so on. Unfortunately, the sub-genres tend to preclude many people from seeing deeper and broader literary merit. I'm curious why your fiction is directed toward women. Have men nothing to learn from it? Do you assume no man would be interested? Unless chick lit envisions an unbridgable chasm between the genders, then I would consider directing your fiction to women and men . . . both. That's just a suggestion, of course.
 
Last edited:

mccardey

Self-Ban
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 10, 2010
Messages
19,212
Reaction score
15,812
Location
Australia.
Yes, I believe that "literary" and "serious" cover the same ground.

Yes, of course they do, but I was wondering if literary is limited to serious. In the same way that the OP was asking if chick-lit and literary are a legitimate combination. I haven't read chick-lit, but I would think it would be legit - I can't see why not. But I can't think of any literary-type comedy except, you know, Shakespeare and the dramatists - which isn't quite what I meant..
 
Last edited:

Alison_Kale

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 21, 2012
Messages
64
Reaction score
9
Location
Brooklyn. Almost.
I find most literary books tend to be serious, but not all. I think the art of the story and of the written word is just so important, and that since literary writers tend towards less happy endings, they often come across as serious. But I've read light hearted books where the prose is just so beautiful I tend to think of the writer as a master of the craft.

As for lit chick-lit, I think there's definitely such a thing as a very well-written, thought provoking novel featuring female characters and centering around love, but I also think it would be marketing more as as woman's lit than as literary. Like the whole Polly Courtney shindig. She did say she was writing commercial, not literary, but she also felt so shunted aside into women's fiction that she dropped her Big Six publisher and went the self-publishing route.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/sep/15/novelist-ditches-publisher-book-launch

Ahh, marketing.
 

jcmoto

New Fish; Only New to Board
Registered
Joined
Nov 14, 2011
Messages
17
Reaction score
0
Location
SLo MO
Yes, quite clearly literary chick lit is possible, just as literary science fiction is possible and literary historical fiction, and so on. Unfortunately, the sub-genres tend to preclude many people from seeing deeper and broader literary merit. I'm curious why your fiction is directed toward women. Have men nothing to learn from it? Do you assume no man would be interested? Unless chick lit envisions an unbridgable chasm between the genders, then I would consider directing your fiction to women and men . . . both. That's just a suggestion, of course.

What would you call it if it might possibly appeal to both men and women? Contemporary fiction?
 

squeaky pram

oldie turned newbie
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 22, 2011
Messages
255
Reaction score
25
Location
UK
Personally, I hate the term "chick-lit". I know, I know, it's just a label used to identify a certain kind of writing (usually sassy) and story. But it's such a demeaning term, as is "women's fiction". After all, why don't we talk about "Dick-lit" or "men's fiction"?

Anyway, I say write it and forget the label. Or defy it. Or whatever. Just write the book you want to write.
 

Miss Plum

Sockpuppet
Banned
Joined
Mar 2, 2009
Messages
1,570
Reaction score
187
why don't we talk about "Dick-lit"

We do. http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/dick-lit

Also dick-flicks. Going out on a limb, I'm guessing the reason you don't hear as much about dick-lit is that women are bigger fiction readers than men, hence more entries in the chick-lit genre.

I find chick-lit shallow and dumb. It's the content, not the label, that demeans. Bring on the flames if you must.
 

veinglory

volitare nequeo
Self-Ban
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
28,750
Reaction score
2,933
Location
right here
Website
www.veinglory.com
In my opinion, no. This label would be a marketing disaster 9 times out of 10 because it could alienate your core readership.

You seem to be suggesting that chick lit never has serious underlying themes thus making any such book genre-literary. But actually it does.

E.g. Fat Chance (body image), Little Coffee Shop in Kabul (acceptance of Muslim culture), Rachel's Holiday (drug abuse).

People who assert chick lit is dumb and shallow have perhaps not ever taken the time to read chick lit that wasn't. They also may not appreciate that dumb and shallow lit is one reason I manage to get through the day during those times when the rest of my life is demanding and essentially incomprehensible.
 

tanyadavies

Registered
Joined
Sep 12, 2012
Messages
41
Reaction score
5
Personally, I hate the term "chick-lit". I know, I know, it's just a label used to identify a certain kind of writing (usually sassy) and story. But it's such a demeaning term, as is "women's fiction". After all, why don't we talk about "Dick-lit" or "men's fiction"?

Anyway, I say write it and forget the label. Or defy it. Or whatever. Just write the book you want to write.
This is not untrue - but doesn't work once you begin approaching publishers, does it? The attitude there seems to be that if you cant categorise your novel you don't know it well enough, if you can't compare it to similar titles and authors then you don't know it well enough. As if it HAS to be the same as someone else's. Sheesh, marketing.
 

Eliza azilE

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 25, 2012
Messages
80
Reaction score
10
Has anyone read any Kate Christensen?

Me either, but from what I understand she was considered a chick-lit writer.

Then she won the PEN/Faulkner award!
 

RemiJ

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 11, 2012
Messages
61
Reaction score
1
Location
Los Angeles
I popped in here to say the same thing. Marian Keyes is amazing. I'm always impressed on how she balances the seriousness of issues with the humor.

My personal favorite of her's is Rachel's Holiday. I would say what I particularly admired about her narrative but I don't want to ruin it for anyone inspired to read the book.

Newbie question. I use the reply button on the posts that I want to reply to, does this show up to the post I am replying to? Does my question make any sense?
 

RemiJ

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 11, 2012
Messages
61
Reaction score
1
Location
Los Angeles
Although I am not a huge fan of Jennifer Weiner, I would definitely say that her writing has "literary" merit. She just has the audacity to write above heavyset women falling in love. So she is written off as chick-lit.
 

Laer Carroll

Aerospace engineer turned writer
Super Member
Registered
Temp Ban
Joined
Sep 13, 2012
Messages
2,478
Reaction score
267
Location
Los Angeles
Website
LaerCarroll.com
I find chick-lit shallow and dumb.

Some is. Some isn't. But if you had written "chick-lit" is shallow and dumb, I'd agree. The LABEL is demeaning.

Besides, the label has pretty much been abandoned by the publishing world. I'd just in a query to an agent say I'd written a novel about a woman fighting depression and expand on that with a short paragraph.

Then let your three chapters (or whatever) sample speak for itself. A smart agent (and yeah, not all are!) will decide what publishers would be open to accepting your book.
 

Tedium

Le sigh.
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
222
Reaction score
21
Location
Searching for Willoughby
Yes, of course they do, but I was wondering if literary is limited to serious. In the same way that the OP was asking if chick-lit and literary are a legitimate combination. I haven't read chick-lit, but I would think it would be legit - I can't see why not. But I can't think of any literary-type comedy except, you know, Shakespeare and the dramatists - which isn't quite what I meant..

I would consider Catch-22 to be a literary comedy. I think Mark Twain added a lot of humor while tackling serious subjects, as well. Someone might disagree about classifying his work as literary, but that's how I always thought of it.

I think that most literary fiction, in my experience, tends to have a darker, almost sarcastic sense of humor. Lydia Millet and Miranda July come to mind.

Then you have the people who write more genre-esque literary pieces like Kelly Link and George Saunders. They often have plenty of humor in their stories. Both know how to craft some amazing sentences, but I think most people would lump them into the speculative fiction category.

So, no, I don't think that serious and literary have to mean the same thing.

As for the OP, I would just call it chick lit. I think most publishers and the general reading public would be more inclined to give it a shot. The only thing adding literary would do is possibly alienate potential readers.

I don't think that a chick lit reader would mind some heavy topics, but I do think that a literary reader might mind a chick lit style, if that makes sense.

ETA: Geez, I just realized how old this thread was. I just saw October and assumed. Boy, don't I feel dumb. Oh, well.:Shrug:
 
Last edited:

sarahcypher

Editor, writer, moving target
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 28, 2006
Messages
65
Reaction score
3
Location
A new state every few years
Website
www.sarahcypher.com
If you're looking for an answer to what you should pitch your novel as, you probably don't want to say chick-lit anymore. The newer buzzword, which I think gets at your manuscript's literary angle, is "upmarket women's fiction."
 

FCameron

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 1, 2012
Messages
187
Reaction score
12
Location
North Carolina
Website
definingyourhome.blogspot.com
After feedback from an agent, I'm calling my novel women's fiction, but it definitely includes romance and mystery.

One of the best definitions that I've seen to describe women's fiction is (and, I wish I could remember the website source after I copied it to a stickie note):

The woman is the star of the story and her changes and emotional developments are the subject. Relationships are at the core of the plot. Could involve relationships with siblings, parents, friends and not necessarily just a lover. Doesn’t have to have the standard “happy ending” but there is a life-affirming resolution to the story.
 

lolchemist

Shooting stars.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 14, 2012
Messages
1,334
Reaction score
183
Location
California
Prep by Curtis Sittenfield is one book that has a YA topic, but has the depth and subtleness of literary fiction.
Personally I think genres depend on how people interpret them, so perhaps it isn't that relevant while you're still in the writing process.

This is the exact same book that popped into my head when I read OP's post!
 

Kevin Brennan

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 6, 2013
Messages
63
Reaction score
1
Location
Cool, CA
Website
www.amazon.com
Like some others here, I've written a "literary" chick-lit book that I hope to publish one day. It could be called women's fiction, I guess, but it's also a comedy. I wish there were just a category called "good book"!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.