Progress (cough) Report

So after two weeks of trying the new plotting method, let’s see how far I’ve gotten, shall we?

Premise: Check
Theme: Check
Title: Check
Heroine: Check
Heroine’s Goal: Check
Heroine’s Motivation: Check
Heroine’s Conflict: Check
Heroine’s Story Question: Check
Heroine’s error in thinking: Check
Setting: Check

Hmmm....what are we missing here?

Where’s the fricking hero?

Oh, I’ve got one. He just doesn’t figure into her story. Or the premise. Or anything.

Can you see the bald spots where I’ve been tearing my hair out?

Thus today’s epiphany: I think I’ve been forcing a chick-lit story into a romance mold. Ha! How’s that for insightful analysis?

Here I’ve been trying to construct a plot in which the hero and heroine are in direct conflict (if she gets what she wants, he doesn’t—or vice versa) and it just ain’t playing.

Argh.

Not that I have anything against writing chick-lit—agents and editors are clamoring for it. And on the plus side, I happen to enjoy reading them. Oh, the genre has gotten a lot of flack because of the early stuff—the books about narcissistic youngsters obsessed with Manalos and Cosmos—but, like anything new, chick-lit has evolved. Hell, most of the ones I’ve read even end with a happy-ever-after marriage.

So the question is: after writing 2-1/2 (don’t ask) contemporary romantic comedies, do I switch gears and go chick-lit?

Well, since I discovered that’s what the editor I have an appointment with at the conference is buying (contrary to what was listed on the sign-up grid), maybe it’s worth a shot.

Yeah, right. Like I could write enough between now and late July to feel good about making decent pitch...or, could I?