What is women’s fiction?
If my WIP, had already been published and found its way into my local bookshop, you’d find it in the section called General Fiction. It would share shelves with names such as Liane Moriarty, Jojo Moyes, Kate Morton, Colleen Hoover, Sally Hepworth, Elin Hildebrand, Nikolas Sparks, Marian Keyes and the list goes on. Different styles of writing but in the same genre.
The genre is also called women’s fiction. I have realised that this term is not embraced by everyone. Many are opposed. I have no such aversion. I’m with Women’s Fiction Writers Association’s on this. So what is women’s fiction. It’s broad that’s for sure. This is how WFWA (Women’s Fiction Writers Association) define it.
Our stories may include romance, or they may not. They can be contemporary or historical and have magical, mystery, thriller, or other elements. Whereas the driving force of a romance novel is a love story, a mystery’s is the exposure of an event, a thriller’s is a fear-inducing chase or escape, etc. The driving force of women’s fiction is the protagonist’s journey toward a more fulfilled self.