FaithfulReader.com - CHRISTIAN CHICK LIT ROUNDTABLE

14. FaithfulReader.com: What is the greatest challenge for you in writing Chick Lit? Is this challenge unique to the genre or something you've faced in writing other genres as well?

Annie Jones: The greatest challenge to me is the perception that this is a market-driven choice. Most writers I know writing this have been waiting a while for the market to come to them, not chasing the market trying to shape their voice and style to what they hope will be the next big thing. I think that's true of a lot of genre writing --- as writers we feel a tad defensive because people assume we've followed a trend or were told by our editors or agents "write this way" and just did as we're told. Writers rarely do as they are told!

Tracey Bateman: Probably making it seem effortless. I heard someone the other day say that she is going to start writing Chick Lit because she wants something easy to write for a change. I had to shake my head. Writing in this style is extremely difficult because you must be believable. You have to be well-read, up on the issues, up on the latest trends in fashion and music. Making your reader feel as if she's experiencing the book through your character's senses is no piece of cake. As far as other genres, I guess in a way I face it there as well. You always want to make the readers lose themselves in the story. But I think Lit books are more of a challenge to write well. But it's a challenge I love, and I hope to be writing them for a really long time.

Robin Jones Gunn: Several years ago, when I told a humorist writer friend of mine what I was working on, she took me aside and said, "Are you sure you want to write humor?" I assured her that the first book had been so refreshing and fun to write that I couldn't wait to start writing the next one, even though I hadn't yet signed a contract for the first one. She said, "Yes, but if the first one sells lots of copies, they'll want more. Many more. And they'll want them written fast." I asked what would be so horrible about that and she said, "You'll see." She compared writing humor to being asked to say something funny every time you enter a room.

Now that I'm finishing the fourth "Sisterchicks" novel, I see what she meant. Readers might come to a humorous Chick Lit novel the way they would return to a comedy club. Life is hard. They pay for something that will make them laugh hard and feel better about themselves and their life. Each book needs to deliver such an experience. After writing 38 novels during the past 16 years, I feel like a humble apprentice learning the craft from scratch. This is why I said earlier that the story has to be authentic and I would now add, especially the humorous parts.

Sharon Dunn: Every time I start another "Ruby Taylor" book, I have this fear that I won't be able to find her voice --- that the quirky, poignant sarcasm will be gone. The voice always comes back, but I have to live through that anxiety for the first three or four pages. With this genre, voice is everything, and because it is first person you always have to find that balance between being authentic and having a character who comes across as a big whiner.

Lori Copeland: With any book, my greatest challenge is communicating with the reader. On paper it sometimes is difficult to express what's in my heart. When (and this doesn't happen that often) a story that I actually started to write turns out to be the exact story, then I thank God with all of my heart. Around our house we have a saying: is that odd or is that God? I believe when one of my stories hits with a reader, that's God.

Kristin Billerbeck: For me, it's keeping current on what is important to young women. I'm not a young woman anymore, and I don't remember what it's like to pine over a date, or have the right clothes. So I need to keep up with what's important to that age group to be relevant.

Laura Jensen Walker: For me, it's more the challenge of making the transition from nonfiction to fiction since DREAMING IN BLACK & WHITE is my debut novel. Thankfully, humor was the bridge I used to make the leap and I always told stories in my nonfiction, so dialogue and characters came pretty easily. Like my main character, however, I've never been all that great with math and logic, so some of the fiction mechanics --- for instance, keeping a timeline straight, doing research for age-appropriate background factors for my heroine, etc. --- was an interesting exercise. Happily, I have excellent editors.

Neta Jackson: Okay, confession. I've never tried writing a "genre." I just write the best story I can and let the chips fall where they may. In "Yada Yada," that story involves twelve ordinary yet very unique women thrown together into a prayer group --- and their lives are forever changed. So it's definitely a "women's story" that also pulls in the men in their lives.

Judy Baer: This is some of the most pleasurable writing I've done. For me the greatest challenge of all is physical! My wrists, my shoulders, my back, my neck and my fingers rebel against the amount of time I spend writing. Some days they've started to win the battle. If I could somehow "think" my stories on to paper, it would be so much easier.

Allie Pleiter: The greatest challenge of writing is simply the greatest challenge in writing --- filling the page with real life, real characters, and real faith in the real world. That, and simply filling the page. Those are the challenges for every writer, no matter what genre.

Penny Culliford: So far, I've only written in the Chick Lit genre.

Previous Question

Next Question