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How To Write Women’s Fiction

By on September 28, 2017
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Finding a genre to write in can be an enjoyable experience for any writer. However, it is important that we do consider which genre our writing will fit into, learn about the rules of that genre, and consider what the readers of that genre want.

Women’s fiction is a massive market, and there is plenty of room for new writers to explore the genre and write interesting and exciting stories that appeal to a female audience.

Of course, the first thing to think about when writing women’s fiction is what is means to do so. First and foremost women’s fiction is a genre that is written for women. That’s to say that the stories will feature a female protagonist and the plot will centre around the experiences of that female characters life. Most authors of women’s fiction are women themselves. However, that’s not to say that this is exclusively the case and women’s fiction should be distinguished from women’s writing which refers to fiction written by women only.

So how do you write great women’s fiction?

Create a fantastic protagonist

A strong female protagonist is crucial. Women want to read about other women who are inspiring, adventurous and determined and who never give up even when the odds are against them. Characters in women’s fiction should be bold, exciting and charismatic.

Pay attention to the world you create

Remember, when writing women’s fiction you need to create a world from a female perspective. Paying attention to the setting is incredibly important. Typically women are the homemakers - where do they live? How do they view the world? What do they see and take notice of?

Explore relationships from a female perspective

Women’s fiction often focuses on the key relationships that the female protagonist has. All sorts of different relationships should be explored from romantic relationships to friendships, to children and work colleagues. Many women enjoy women's fiction for the feeling of inclusivity and understanding it gives them, so getting these key relationships right and helping your reader to empathise with the female lead is important.

Focus on women’s issues

What is important to women? What challenges do they face? How do the overcome them? Good women’s fiction will focus on women’s issues and the obstacles she has to navigate to succeed - or even just to survive.

Explore emotion cleverly

Women are typically more in touch with their emotions than their male counterparts, but how they choose to express or conceal their emotion is very different. Explore how your female protagonist communicates the way that she feels to others and whether she is truly understood or actually very misunderstood.

Read women’s fiction

Lastly, if you want to become an expert at writing women's fiction that you should read as much of it as you can. The quickest way to learn about the genre is to read it after all!

Understand what is not women’s fiction

Many writers can get confused between romance or ‘chick-lit’ novels and women’s fiction. However, if you do want to write women’s fiction, it is important to understand the differences. Women’s fiction focuses on a female journey, there may be romance but this isn’t necessarily the primary focus of the plot, nor does everything necessarily work out perfectly in the end.

Using the above tips you can begin to get to grips with writing wonderful women’s fiction - so what are you waiting for?!

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

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