Contemplating the Blog

Okay, okay. I should've done this back when I had my long haitus, but I didn't. Unfortunately.

"This" is contemplating this genre theme. I shouldn't have started it. It's a what, and I really should be focusing on why—and, in the case of grammar and style, how.

So I'm contemplating a better way to organize my posts. Instead of a coherent, structured theme for a month—because I can't pull it off, right now—I'll probably write on different things that occur to me, but still use the "theme" tags so similar posts can be easily found together.

Clear as mud?

Now, I need to go. My doctor wants me in bed early.

Does "Girly" = Lovey-Dovey?

Unless you happen to read either or both genres, you're likely apt to think that "women's fiction" is a euphemism for "romance". Not so, say the hard-core readers—because genre romance is a type of women's fiction.

Notice that the main similarities between women's fiction and genre romance can be summed up in three things:

1. appeal to positive emotions
2. life-affirming if not happy endings
3. usually read by women

Any type of book that is written to appeal to women falls under the umbrella of "women's fiction", just as anything written primarily for young adults is "YA", or for preteens is "middle grade". (Is there a "men's fiction" genre? I'll have to look into that.)

Women's fiction is primarily about the empowerment of women. What can woman do? The genre affirms life as we know it.

In genre romance, the spotlight is a romantic relationship. In chick lit, that light is focused on something else in the young working woman's life.

But notice that it is mostly light, fluffy, and happy, a la Shanna Swendson's Enchanted, Inc. series. The seriousness of what's happening can be hard to remember between the enchanted frogs and the villain's ADD. Everyday ordinary life is good, says women's fiction.

So, to answer the question in this post's title:

No, "girly" fiction is not necessarily romance.

And I Should Care about Genre X Because...?

Sitting here, gritting my teeth against the pain from my slowly-recovering calf muscle, a question has occurred to me that I probably should have addressed already. Unfortunately, I hadn't thought of it, before.

Why should you care about common characteristics of genres other than the defining factors?

If you don't know what's standard in a genre, you don't know what's usually done. You also don't know about what rules of thumb you might want to think about tweaking.

Researching other types of genres can also help spawn ideas. For example, pure romance novels make me go ick, but go ahead and put a dash of romance in that fantasy. Watch those sparks fly! (Though I'd prefer less steam, myself.)

You've heard the saying that rules are meant to be broken. That's true only to a point, because the rules exist for good reasons.

It's only after you know the rules, and the reasons behind them, that you can actually succeed at "breaking" them, at tweaking things so the reasons behind them don't hold up.

And knowing those definitions can help you do that. Shanna Swendson's Enchanted, Inc. books are chick lit and contemporary fantasy. It confuses all heck out of bookstores wondering where to place them, but boy, is it fun to read!

Sorry if I've posted on this before; I can't remember at the moment.

And my leg HURTS.

Sorry. Not Up to Writing, Today.

Fighting a cold wouldn't be so bad. I slept in this morning, so that helped.

Fighting the pain from a severely strained calf muscle and the ensuing nausea isn't so fun. I was in an accident last Wednesday, and hadn't thought anything of my knee's ache being followed by a stiff ankle. It would work itself out.

When, a day after those were both fine, my ankle started aching, I'd figured I'd done it to myself when I was popping the stiff ankle. My fault, so I reported "no injury" to insurance.

My chiropractor says otherwise.

Lovely.

So I'm sorry, but I'm not up to thoughtful writing today. I've been trying, but all that's coming out is one of my novels-in-progress. Or a bit of story that'll happen a year or two after the end of the book, anyway.

[sighs]

Distracted by a Program

Where was I Saturday?

Uh... distracted. [looks sheepish]

I first mentioned Scrivener in October 2007. I had really, really wanted to try it then, but I didn't have the correct system.

I was poking around on Cuppa Caff recently, and realized my recent system upgrade meant I now did meet the system requirements. So I downloaded it, and...

Forgot to post on Saturday...

I don't want to do a full review until I've played with it some more--I think I may have found a minor bug--but so far, I'm drooling and eager to use it for all my future writing. I probably will be paying the $40 for the software, and I rarely pay for software. (As in, I find freeware and open source stuff, not pirating!)

One of things I like best about the developer website is his kindly posting of links to other writing software, some of it free. I confess I haven't tried every one of them, but I doubt any of them compare to the nice index card/lined paper shuffling ability and the inherent notes ability of Scrivener. I even imported a picture into one document's notes that reminds me of how I picture my main character when she's an adult.

But what really has me astonished is the compatibility. The program's files are saved so, if your version of the application is corrupted (or your 30-day trial runs out), you can STILL right click and open the package to access all the files in a file format that's universally compatible. (Usually.) Granted, the formatting likely won't be quite the same if you use the annotations and such in Scrivener, but the bulk of the work will still be accessible.

And with my knack for somehow making programs do things they were never supposed to do (in a bad way), I like that accessibility.