NOTES By : Bri Articolo

Q1: What are the different aspects that consider a book to be referenced as Chic Lit? Authors express the personal, professional, as well as, romantic lives of young, single women who are working, typically living in a city scenario. (“Elements of Chick Lit:”) The protagonists make out an outlook on their job experience and love life. (“Elements of Chick Lit:”) The protagonists age can vary, but is normally found in their early to mid twenties because they are just getting started on their lives. (“Elements of Chick Lit:”) They’re written to “confide” in the reader through different formats consisting of: first person, and a diary in their personal voice. ("Chick Lit Characteristics.“) Chic lit discusses life issues consisting of love, work and friendships. ("Chick Lit Characteristics.“) The protagonist is usually into fashion and the city life. ("Chick Lit Characteristics.“) It is told from a first person point of view. ("Chick Lit Characteristics.“) They’re not typically housewives, but career aspiring women. ("Chick Lit Characteristics.“) Romance is not a necessity in chic lit, but is usually an element of the novel. ("Chick Lit Characteristics.“) There is always a “Mr. Right” found at the end of the chapter. ("Life | Chick lit for the Soul.“) Mr. Right always shows up an can be an unexpected “springer” and then there is the ‘perfect’ man who typically turns out to be the bad guy. ("Life | Chick lit for the Soul.“) Women in their mid 20’s to 30’s in the mist of juggling their aspiring careers, mixing with their love life and their friends. Chick lit novels are using an common lifestyle among women to turn experimental techniques into a novelistic form. ("Life | Chick lit for the Soul.“)

Q2: How do Chic Lit authors hook and hold readers? The books are easy to relate to because they’re close to the conflicts that happen in your life; they’re intimate, funny and sarcastic. (“Chick Lit Characteristics.”) They are an “open window” on the issues and topics that run through the minds of everyday women. (“Chick Lit Characteristics.”) 85% of women buy and read Chic Lit books because they are relatable enough during the first few pages that they want to see how the protagonist handles the conflict that they are encountering. (“Chick Lit Characteristics.”) While all authors use specific elements in their writing to categorize a book into a certain genre, chic lit authors focus on the protagonists every day conflicts, as in love and friendship. (“Chick Lit Characteristics.”) Authors write about things that “woman encounters on a day-to-day basis, probably anywhere in the world.” ("Life | Chick lit for the Soul.”) Kavita Daswani states, “Today’s woman anywhere in the world is probably looking for a boyfriend/husband, satisfaction in her career, good friends, enjoyment, she has money issues, she gets involved with the wrong men and she might have conflicts with her family.” – Relating to woman’s lives. ("Life | Chick lit for the Soul.”) Personal experiences are used by the authors to make the novel more relatable to the everyday persons life. Writing about events that are current, relevant and inspirational. ("Life | Chick lit for the Soul.”) Most of the books are an easy read, have a simplistic theme with characters who are bright and humorous. ("Life | Chick lit for the Soul.”)

Q3: How are Chic Lit novels written compared to different genre books Not often considered a literary genre by the average person, focusing on the common problems that are encountered by women. (“How to Categorize Your Novel”,2) Light and airy writing style with a humorous perspective on it. (“How to Categorize Your Novel”,2) Several subplots are used apart from romance novels and it differs from women’s fiction because chic lit doesn’t get into the deep, horrifying details of the protagonists life. (“How to Categorize Your Novel”,2) “…Romance is a contemporary and stark, with a humor that stands the test of modern roles and expectations..” ("Life | Chick lit for the Soul.”) Chick lit is different from women’s literature because it often remains “fluffy”, women’s literature often remains “more serious and developed.” ("Life | Chick lit for the Soul.”) Chick lit is not purely based on a fantasy romance that is growing or breaking, but is a small aspect in the woman’s life according to the novel. (“AgentQuery”)

Q4: How does an author view the genre? “.. Writers are willing to pen the trials of the real woman in a real world where Mr. Right may not exist…” – Sitanshi Talati-Parikh ("Life | Chick lit for the Soul.”) “You just don’t think, I’m going to write a novel now – you have to have something to say!” – Preethi Nair ("Life | Chick lit for the Soul.”) Profesor Dr. Shefali Balsari Shah: “Chick lit is running out of steam and into repetitive and self-plagiarising mode. Where the wit and humor works, she wonders if the writing will be able to sustain itself.” ("Life | Chick lit for the Soul.”) “Identification with the real-life heroines brings empathy through the pages, the wit and humor serves to remind us to take life not so seriously..” ("Life | Chick lit for the Soul.”) Many authors resent the term Chick lit because they find it degrading to the novel. (“Top Ten Chick Lit Authors”) Curtiss Sittenfeld stated to NY Times that classifying a literary novel as chick lit feels catty and that it is only specified for one group of people rather than a variety. She believes chick lit is given a bad reputation, which is degrading and insulting for the author. (“Top Ten Chick Lit Authors”)

WORKS CITED "Top Ten Chick Lit Authors - Top 10 - Slice." My Vice is Slice - Women's TV site for games, gossip, quizzes, shows, video, and horoscopes. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar "AgentQuery :: Find the Agent Who Will Find You a Publisher." AgentQuery :: Find the Agent Who Will Find You a Publisher. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar "Chick Lit Characteristics." The University of West Georgia. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar "Elements of Chick Lit: The History and the Elements of the Books Women Just Love." Suite101.com: Online Magazine and Writers' Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar "How to Categorize Your Novel: Fiction Literary Genres, Page 2 of 3 - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com." Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar WORD. "Life | Chick lit for the Soul." VerveOnline.com | Verve Magazine India | Issue 94. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar