Some Research is Bonkers...

The research a writer does is never bonkers. It's often quite inspirational, in fact it can be downright distracting.

No, the research I'm talking about is the rubbish I read about today Chick-lit 'lowers women's self-esteem' in the Telegraph online - and in the Women's section too.

"The study, published by Virginia Tech (Virginia’s Polytechnic Institute and State University), found that chick-lit books, in which the main character worries about her weight, made female readers more uneasy about their own body image." (Telegraph)

Well when you read on and discover how the test was carried out- they used two books where the central characters were healthy body weights but had low self-esteem (don't we all at some time, especially in winter?) and passages "were selected and nine different versions of the respective texts were produced in which the protagonists’ perception of their body was distorted."

In other words they mucked around with the written words to prove their theories. I won't go on, you can read about it at the above link, but we all get the idea...

I think the researchers should be more worried about the effect of highly paid female celebrities and singers in gaudy barely there clinging outfits in music videos and at high profile events, rather than a book of fiction- the last word does give it away...

And I'm very glad to say that there is a insightful and amusing response from Katy Brand, who echoes the odd thought or two I'd agree with-except the badly written bit... :-)

"The idea that any ‘scholar’ or ‘health official’ should trouble themselves for more than a nanosecond about what some woman thinks about the size of her bottom as a result of reading some badly written piece of fiction they got free with a magazine is a joke. Read and let read, that’s what I say – no book can truly make you feel bad about yourself, and if it does, stop reading it." (Katy Brand )

Of course there are women and young girls who have issues with their bodies, there always have been; I had a school friend who developed anorexia and had to be hospitalised- that was nearly forty years ago- and there was no chick-lit around then.

So researchers, don't claim chick-lit, or women's fiction supports your theories, it doesn't...

One of Those Weeks...

All my plans for progressing with the novella are slipping back this week.

I've got a handful of urgent issues to get resolved or organised. It's not that I mind, but they always happen when it's a week short on free time due to appointments.

Any other week when it's quiet and there's time to deal with additional issues, nothing happens.

I will be writing, but it will be non-fiction, some short fillers needed urgently. But it will add to my weekly writing total...

In the novella I'm about to write a scene with lots of conflict going on, and as what happens in this scene has consequences later on in the story, I need to get it clear in my head first before my fingers touch the keyboard.

I think chapter six is going to be slightly longer than the others...

I haven't even had time to read about the latest happenings in the writing world this week. Hopefully I'll have found something interesting for the weekend blog post.

Well I better get on, I have a long to do list, and words to add.