Customer Reviews

Will Write for Shoes: How to Write a Chick Lit Novel

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ok, I'll admit it. This guy had to take off the pink cover to read this book but I love the title and the design of the cover. Cathy Yardley has written an excellent book which covers a broad range of topics for anyone interested in writing Chick Lit. She defines the genre, then guides the reader through the details of writing the manuscript.

Finally Yardley provides seasoned and professional answers about navigating the business aspects of publishing covering topics such as query letters, synopsis, agents, networking and how to form a critique group. Her FAQ is valuable to answer common questions and even speculates about the future of the genre. The seven Appendixes contain valuable material such as a sample query letter to an agent, a sample query letter to an editor, a sample synopsis, a scene outline, current agent listings (and some of the authors these agents represent), publisher listings and even great websites to help the reader.

This well-written book is highly recommended to every writer--whether you plan to write a Chick Lit Novel or not.

If you're even wondering if you should spend some of your hard-earned cash on this book, rest assured that the answer is yes, yes, yes!!

Will Write For Shoes is a valuable addition to your library, and thoroughly covers the details of the chick lit genre. Cathy Yardley defines it, gives a history of it and fills readers in on the new trends. Just when you are ready to get to working on your own manuscript, she fills you in on premise (what is "high concept," anyway?), characters, structure, outline and much more.

Of course, there are many books out there that give the basics of how to create fiction, but Will Write For Shoes is the perfect tool if you long to create the chick lit that you adore. It's not a simple concept, but if you follow this author's advice you'll be well on your way to creating a finished manuscript that avoids the cliches, yet gives publishers the idea that they have a solid winner that will strike a chord with readers.

Don't pass up the opportunity to read and own this book. I promise you will refer to Will Write for Shoes over and over again during your writing career!

Thank you, Cathy Yardley for an entertaining, educational keeper of a book!

Will Write for Shoes is a no-nonsense guide to writing, revising, and selling a chick lit novel. Many of the approaches listed in this book aren't specific to chick lit and can be helpful for any genre. Yardley gives a good description of the chick lit genre as it stands (or stood, since the book was published in 2006), the plot devices that are used and overused, what is generally expected of a novel that plans to call itself "chick lit," and a number of hints and suggestions to make your writing better, more fluid, and more publishable. In general, I liked it. But as someone about 35,000 words into my first novel, I have to say that Will Write for Shoes isn't really the book you want to buy when you've already started writing. This book is an excellent work for the planning stages. Yardley's description and suggestions for plotting, outlining, and writing synopses, agent letters, etc, is all excellent advice, but can only really be implemented at the very early stages or once you've finished your book. For someone who's already 1/3 of the way in, it's sort of "store this information for next time." And in fact, a lot of the comments she has on plotting, characterization, etc, come from other books that I did use as a resource before picking this one up, first and foremost the Weekend Novelist by Robert Ray. I enjoyed this book. I think it's a great resource for writers who want to know where to begin (in terms of outlining and structure) and those who are finished and want suggestions on where to sell their book, how to find an agent, and which publishers to approach. If you're between those two stages, I think you'd find more help elsewhere.

You can't go wrong with this book. So, much information and the appendix is priceless. Tells you list of publshers, agents, and much much more! A must!

I am a writer who has been reviewed only by my friends and professors... not published yet. I was surprised by the quality of the insights and guidance included in this quick-to-read book (-no offense to the author, and I apologize for my preconceived assumptions.) Her advice seems right on. My opinion is this book is worth reading for those who want to improve their own material.

The book's extensive information on the Chick Lit genre itself read like a Master's thesis, but its advice on organizing & writing your novel and getting it published was interesting, detailed, and helpful.

Tips for structuring plot were very thoroughly explained. The author's extremely organized approach to writing may work for some but not others. I'm pretty "Type A" myself, so it made sense to me - and employing some of her suggested techniques has kept my writing focused and prevented a lot of wasted time in rewrites.

Bottom line: Skim the first half (on Chick Lit genre), and slow down to focus on the second half (writing and publishing tips).

A lot of really great tips for structuring and outlining your novel. Even though chick lit is unfortunately on its deathbed, I will be referencing this book for years to come on my mainstream fiction and even on a fantasy book that I now realize can be revitalized with some basic structural elements.

All this, and yet it's still written in such a pleasant lighthearted style that you don't feel like you're reading a boring instructional manual, or, on the other end of the spectrum, an over the top book that treats writing as some sublime spiritual act. "Will Write for Shoes" actually makes you want to write!

I was pulled in by the title, but the load of information kept me reading. A great resource for anyone considering writing Chick Lit.

I found this book to be incredibly helpful as a writer. Many creative people struggle with structure, and Will Write For Shoes provides it in a clear, concise way. Even though it is targeted towards chick lit, this book actually applies to other genres of fiction as well. Loved it. Kudos!

I zipped through this book in less than two days. It includes a description and history of the chick lit genre, advice on getting published, a list of publishers and agents that accept Chick Lit (although I would recommend checking their Web sites to make sure the information is still current), and samples including a query letter, a synopsis, and a chapter outline.

I think the most useful information is in the section on how to write a chick lit novel. It covers character, plot, setting, voice, point of view, structure, outlining vs free-form writing, and revisions.

Yardley gives a lot of good advice, and she refers to published novels to back up her points. SEE JANE WRITE is another popular book for how to write chick lit, but after reading it, I recommend this book instead.

The reason I gave this book four stars instead of five is because I haven't yet used Yardley's advice so I can't vouch for its information from my own experience.