WRITING WOMEN'S FICTION
Words from the Wise
Women's fiction is a broad category - too broad, since women's interests are as varied as women themselves. But at the heart of women's fiction is relationship in all its guises - romantic mostly, but also historical or contemporary, raunchy or prim, comic or serious, commercial or literary
We've asked a number of experts in women's fiction to have their say on what works, what doesn't and what the market is after.
And by the way, you don't need to be a woman to write or to enjoy this kind of fiction. Good fiction is for all.
Julia Hamilton
Author of Forbidden Fruits and 5 other acclaimed women's novels
What exactly is ‘women’s’ fiction? And what differentiates it from ‘romance’?
The genres are linked but they are also distinctly different. Statistics tell us that women read more than men and they buy more books than men, thus the concerns of women’s lives are very important to today’s market. Women’s fiction includes romance – a big, serious market producing big serious revenues, but women’s fiction - just like the women who read it – has evolved to include subjects and themes that range far beyond the constraints of romance.
Women’s fiction is a growing market that includes many facets of other genres: it can be literary, it can be commercial, it can be contemporary or it can be a multi-generational saga, witness the success of Rosamund Pilcher.
In all cases, however, the woman is the star of the story and her changes and emotional development are the subject.
The heart of the story may include romance but it is invariably a novel driven by a relationship at the very core of the plot.
Women’s fiction tends to be longer, about 100,000 words or more, but it can be as short as 50,000 words plus. Longer women’s fiction allows the development of multi-layered, multi-charactered subplots with deeper characterization. There’s more introspection and description and buckets of backstory.
A man may be waiting for the heroine of these novels but he’s not the centre of events. Stories of sisters (Anna Quindlen’s brilliant Rise & Shine) or women’s friendships are currently in vogue. Every major publisher and most of the new e-publishers has women’s fiction titles in their list. Relationships are all and there is almost always a life-affirming resolution even if the story is a sad one.
If you’re interested in writing women’s fiction then you must read it in all its glorious diversity. If you’re not reading it you probably won’t be writing it. Don’t worry about where the story will take you – just do it!
