What makes good "chick lit"?

[MushroomTree]

I know it's considered a very low brow genre but let's face it, plenty of people read it and we can't all be churning out the high brow stuff.

But what makes a good chick lit novel? There are definitely some awful ones out there, but equally there are good ones too.

I wrote something in my writing group a few weeks ago that's sparked something in my brain and I want to see where it goes.

Thanks

If you want to write chick lit then the first step is to get rid of the belief that it's somehow a lesser form of writing. Nobody can write well for a genre they look down on.

For me, good chick lit is Marian Keyes, Jane Green, Adele Parks, Cecilia Aherne - writing about domestic and relationship-centred themes, with female characters as their main focus. Nothing about that makes it crappy or lowbrow. Good luck and enjoy your writing process.

I’d say heart, humour and relatability.

The best chick lit for me has characters which you can see yourself in - just look at Bridget Jones. She was the first character I remember reading who seemed real, and it was such a refreshing change from all the unflappable, beautiful women I used to read about as an impressionable teenager.

Nail your characters, make them funny and flawed and real, then send them on a fulfilling journey and you’ll have something people want to read.

So what if people think it’s low-brow?

Best if it's an original idea and not following an obvious formula. Also good if some trouble is taken with the writing.

capturing the Zeitgeist. And humour.

Definitely humour, a few tears and characters that you love and care about and are routing for throughout. I agree with a PP about not perceiving ‘chick lit’ as inferior. Develop your characters and storyline and make them loveable.

The best 'chick-lit' is witty and warm, with characters you really care about. That's incredibly hard to pull off. Yes some have dire cover art (usually the worst bit) and predictable plots, but then you also have authors like Marian Keyes, who can make her characters come to life in just a couple of sentences. Oh, I'd love to be able to write like that!

I can tell you what I hate: a woman moving somewhere to start anew and of course the guy who lives next door/does the garden/runs the local bakery is young and gorgeous and mysteriously unattached and instantly falls in love with the woman...

I mean I don’t want a story where the end game is the woman finding her true love.