A Writer’s Papyrus

A few years ago, if you had asked me about Chic Lit, I honestly wouldn’t have been able to tell you anything about it. Then I read about this genre when my boss forwarded a book review written by her daughter for her school newspaper. At the time, I didn’t really think much about it, nor was I even interested to pick up a Chic Lit novel to read.

Ironically, the target market for Chic Lit are young working women in their 20s and 30s, who are usually single. Here I am, married, a housewife with no career, with a kid and planning for number two. About the only thing I have in common with the target market is that I’m in my 30s. I probably had more in common with the target market back when I was still single and working for Colgate-Palmolive. Then again, I never had the time to read books back then because life revolved between work and rock climbing.

The first Chic Lit novel I ever read was “The Undomestic Goddess” by Sophie Kinsella. I happened to read it when I was holidaying in Melbourne at my parents house. Since the internet was dial up and I really didn’t have much to do when Gavin went to sleep, reading was one of the few options available to me, so I read it. Perhaps the book resonated with me because I was very much like Samantha Sweeting before I met my hubby - I was ambitious and career driven. I pulled a lot of OT and I basically didn’t have a life - what little I did have was spent rock climbing.

My life took a complete turn-around when I got married. I became a house wife and had a baby - something I never thought I would ever do in a million years but I did. Although I was never as bad as Samantha Sweeting as far as housework and cooking went, I think I came pretty darn close. Perhaps that was why I enjoyed “The Undomestic Goddess” so much.

However, due credit should also go to Sophie Kinsella because she has a very light-hearted and engaging manner of writing. Oh wait a minute - that’s what Chic Lit’s all about, isn’t it? Being light-hearted and humourous? Since Sophie Kinsella is the only Chic Lit author I’ve ever read, I’m really going to have to come back to you on that one.

After “The Undomestic Goddess”, I read “Remember Me”. I was pretty interested in that book because the storyline was pretty similar to that movie “13 Going on 30″ starring Jennifer Garner. I hesitated from buying it because it was going to cost me RM80 (being a new release) which seemed a bit steep for a novel I would probably only read once. Only when the price dropped to RM35 did I buy it from Times Bookshop with 10% off on my Times loyalty card.

After that, there was no going back. I bought “Can You Keep a Secret?” followed by the Shoppaholic series. Although I enjoyed reading “Confessions of a Shoppaholic” enough to have gone out and bought the rest of the series, the heroine is probably the only character that I can’t really identify with. As much as the hubby claims I love to shop, I don’t think I could ever spend until I was in the red and then some. Neither am I in the habit of paying off the minimum amount on my credit card (back when I was working and responsible for my own credit card bills).

So yeah, I think the only reason I even bought “Confessions of a Shoppaholic” and the rest of the series is because there are no other Sophie Kinsella books left to read. I’ve even done a quick check on Amazon to see what other people have bought after buying books by Sophie Kinsella. Jennifer Weiner, Madeleine Wickham and Emily Giffin are names that crop up the most often so I guess those are the authors I’ll be checking out once I’m through the Shoppaholic series.

Although I enjoy the books written by Sophie Kinsella, I think the main thing that draws me to her novels is the easy reading. I can pick up a book and read it from start to finish without it being a struggle. You know how there are some books that are great reads but you just need to get past the start and get into the meat of the story before it becomes a “can’t put it down” story? The difference with Sophie Kinsella is that it engages the reader from the first page.

Perhaps that is the manner of Chic Lit novels and I’ll find all Chic Lit novels engaging because of the writing style. Regardless, my aim is to write a novel that captures the very essence of that. Even if I don’t intend to write a story in the Chic Lit genre, my hope is that I can produce a novel that captures a readers attention from page one of the book.

Most Fantasy novels I have read are generally slow going to start with but eventually pick up in pace. They only become addictive because you want to know what happens next. The rest of the authors books in the series are then carried by the first book and become addictive only by virtue of the fact that we are now familiar with all the characters and their lives and we simply want to know more.

To me a great author is one who can write a story that captures the reader from the first paragraph of ther novel. That is what I aspire to achieve - as far from it though I may be…

Popularity: 5% [?]

What is RSS? How do I subscribe via RSS?

Other blog posts you might enjoy reading:

• From the Undomestic Goddess
• Chic Lit Tale
• Heartbreaking News
• The New Style of Network Marketing