See Jane Write
See Jane Write: A Girl’s Guide to writing Chick Lit. Sounded like a good idea. And maybe it was, actually.
I sat down to read this book - and I love this kind of book because it’s very hands-on, the kind of book you can read in one hand and have a pen and paper in the other, taking notes and scrawling brilliant ideas.
The problem was, none of the ideas coming out of my head were very brilliant. They basically break down Chick Lit into what it usually is, which, without much more imagination, is extremely boring.
”Girl wants something. Girl pursues what she wants, only to find out it’s the last thing she needs. In the end, girl finds what she needs.”
So I started scrawling down some ideas. I can do this, I thought. I love to tell stories. I love to hear stories. I am a girl. I have seen girls in myriad situations and I think I have a handle on the whole creativity thing. But the more I brainstorm, the more my ideas all look the same. Basically, she’s me. Except just a little bit different. Like, maybe her boyfriend broke up with her (which nauseated me, because even though I thought giving chick lit a try would be sort of fun, I really didn’t want to write a book about how men complete your life.)
I’m not saying that men can’t complete your life. But you have to have your own free-standing life first, your own identity, and only then can you bring a man into the situation.
So I have about 40 pieces of legal paper scattered all around my apartment now, with these trite ideas scrawled on them. You’re supposed to write about a world you know, and could recreate, so I have a list that reads: Journalism. College newspaper. Private school. Theater. Camp.
I think the main problem is that when I want to write fiction, I usually end up coming up with an idea that is a very, very thinly veiled version of me, going through a problem I went through oh, about 5 minutes ago. And I don’t want my own life to read like a chick lit novel.
The book, however, is great. It offers a lot of solid writing advice that can be a reminder to anyone who writes for a living or a solid basis for future projects for the beginning writer. Besides, it’s pretty and it’s printed on thick paper. All in all, I’m glad I bought it.
So I’ll be over here in the corner, trying to think up an original idea.