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book review of sarah mlynowski
and farrin jacobs’ see jane write
by Susan Johnston
For anyone’s who ever written chick lit, tried to write chick, or even thought about writing chick lit, See Jane Write: A Girl’s Guide to Writing Chick Lit is a must read. It may sound pretty easy: start with a single twentysomething gal in the city, throw in a few pop culture references, a bitchy boss, and a hunky love interest, then slap on a pretty pink cover. But as chick lit veteran Sarah Mlynowski and former Red Dress Ink editor Farrin Jacobs show, there is a lot more to this genre than shoes, sass, and sex. Who knew there were so many sub-categories like teen lit, gossip lit, Brit lit, and mom lit? Or that Sophie Kinsella is actually the pen name for dark comedy writer Madelaine Wickham?
These ladies know their stuff and understand all the pitfalls and potential excuses (“I’m too busy” or “I’ll rework page 3 until it’s perfect”). Like a pair of been-there, done-that older sisters, they’re not stingy about giving practical advice on everything from creating believable characters to staying motivated to submitting the finished manuscript to editors and agents. They compare writing chick lit to dating (be yourself and don’t be afraid of commitment) and to therapy (for obvious reasons such as writing your own happy ending) in two of the funniest chapters.
Humorous mad libs (fill in the blank to create a “useless query letter” and a “bad first page”) sprinkled throughout prove how easy it is to be seduced by the chick lit cliches, but the pair also include ideas for finding an original premise and drawing from personal experience without making it obvious that you’re writing about a bad roommate or rude ex-boyfriend. Clever writing exercises guide wannabe writers through the process of setting a schedule, writing a character sketch, and finding the unique voice of each character (you didn’t think they could all sound like Joey on Dawson’s Creek, did you?).
Best of all, See Jane Write draws from the experiences of other chick lit writers like Meg Cabot, Marian Keyes, Sophie Kinsella, and Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez. It’s like a virtual book club where all your favorite female writers are swapping stories and revealing their writing secrets. And once you read about some of the lesser known writers and how they found an original idea for their book, you’ll have a reading list a mile long. You know, for research purposes, of course.
 About the Author: Susan Johnston
Susan Johnston is a two time National Scholastic Writing Award winner and a recent graduate of Boston University. Her writing has appeared in Young Money magazine and Brookline magazine, and at DigsMagazine.com, SavvyInsider.com, and RentalDecorating.com. Read more at http://theUrbanMuse.blogspot.com.
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