This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Caroline Hogg has worked in publishing for almost ten years. She is Senior Commissioning Editor for Commercial Women's Fiction at Pan Macmillan.
This week a Novelicious reader asks:
What are your pet peeves in women's fiction?
Caroline says: For me, it’s cartoon characters. Not of the Disney kind, but
of the predictable, 2D kind you sometimes find in commercial fiction. I want to
read about a character who feels real, who I could imagine going to the pub
with (this applies to romantic heroes too, of course!) or who reminds me of
someone I know. I don’t want a character who feels like a string of clichés or
well-worn traits; I don’t necessarily want gritty realism in every book I read
but I certainly don’t want a patronisingly cartoonish character in my pursuit
of a great, fun read. Entertaining does not equal shallow.
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