Before Bridget Jones’ Diary, Pride and Prejudice has often been credited as being the original chick lit novel. But perhaps like me, you’ve only seen the movies. There’s the 1940 version of Pride and Prejudice with Greer Garson as Elizabeth Bennett and the more recent 2003 version of Pride and Prejudice with Kam Heskin in that role.
Feeling stuck between genres – not quite chick lit and not quite women’s fiction, I’ve come to the point where I must choose a genre in order to be published by a mainstream publisher.
Some critics say chick lit is vapid, self-centered ramblings of young women today, but I disagree. While there may be all of that – as there is in any genre – chick lit has several things going for it: strong characterization, written in first person in a confidential tone, expresses the sentiments of a contemporary woman, and sometimes with multiple points of view.
Chick lit is really no different than a romantic comedy – a term fully acceptable in Hollywood. Even wikipedia describes Pride and Prejudice as being “one of the first “romantic comedies in the history of the novel.” And that genre is here to stay. In fact, it’s more popular than ever in Hollywood.
Curious how Pride and Prejudice compares to what I know as chick lit, I started to read it and to study it. While some who are more scholarly than I insist it’s not chick lit, what I discovered is that the opening chapter is quite similar to a chick lit novel. It’s written in a confidential tone, has strong characterization, and is expressing the sentiments of a contemporary woman.
Comparing that to my own writing in an attempt to learn from Pride and Prejudice, I notice some real similarities – the women in both are expressing their feelings about where they happen to be at a stage in their life. So perhaps I have found my genre after all and I just need to persevere.
Posted in Yo Ho Yo Ho A Writer's Life for Me | Tags: Chick Lit, Pride and Prejudice, Romantic Comedy
