How to write fabulously for a specific audience
- Do you love chick lit?
- Do you want to create characters that can single-handedly make a reader laugh and cry out loud, even while they’re on crowded public transport?
- Are you a Sagittarius? (OK, that one’s optional.)
- Would you like to learn the fundamentals of novel writing?
- Like to discover what it means to harness your ‘unique voice’?
- And master the tightrope that is dialogue and point of view?
- Above all, do you want to learn how to tell a story that will make your readers come back for more!
“Chick lit” is one of the most popular styles of writing on the planet. Authors like Sophie Kinsella, Marian Keyes and Helen Fieldings are best-sellers. But why?
That’s because contemporary women’s fiction is the literary equivalent of a nice hot soak in a bath. It’s comfortable, sometimes exciting and you always finish feeling like you could go back for another one. The appeal is actually quite simple: chick-lit is a genre that’s comforting, confrontational or even comical, but above all, it’s compelling.
And that’s where you come in. If this sounds like a book you’d like to write, Australian Writers’ Centre presents … How to Write a Chick Lit Novel.
Step right up…
Know your audience and learn how to speak to them
This course will teach you how to speak to your readers. Because although your finished product may be words on a page, the process is all about that ‘conversation’ you share with the reader. It’s an intimate relationship: you want your reader to connect with your main character, cheer her on, and be sympathetic (even when she chooses the wrong bloke).
Australian author Lisa Heidke knows all about this. She’s written four best-selling chick lit novels including Stella Makes Good, and Claudia’s Big Break. That’s handy, because she’s your presenter. Lisa will share her experiences, help you identify your voice, and show you how to bring your unique set of characters to life.
You see, that’s the thing here: everyone has a story to tell – it’s simply about making your story worth reading. I you already love reading this genre, you’re halfway there!
Here's what you'll learn
- The chick lit market, why it’s so popular, what successful writers have in common
- Bringing a believable voice and character to your story
- Crafting your characters so that your reader will actually care about what happens to them
- Perfecting the ‘page-turner’ effect – how to use dialogue, point of view and conflict
- Maintaining structure and pacing from ‘once upon a time’ all the way through to ‘happily ever after’
- Editing and refining and rewriting and editing and did we mention refining?
- Taking the next step towards publishing and beyond!
- and MUCH more.
At the conclusion of this course, your skin will look more youthful and – oops, sorry, wrong course! What you WILL gain is the confidence to craft your own manuscript into the sort of conversation that readers want to be a part of. (And who knows, maybe your skin will glow from that!)
And the real goal?
Ultimately, you’re learning how to deprive your reader of as much sleep as you can. They’ll be so engrossed in your story they’ll go without trivialities like sleeping, eating or (dare we say it) shoe shopping. You want them hanging on like Bridget Jones on a fireman’s pole. Phones ringing off the hook, night turning to day, that sort of thing. Jump aboard, we’ll show you how…
