Timewaster's Guide Archive
Local Authors => Writing Group => Topic started by: fuzzyoctopus on February 10, 2005, 12:06:30 AM
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So here's my current beef. I like romances. Most romances, however, bore the crap out of me. Do I actually like romances then? Well I like some things about them. And there are a few I like totally - 5 or 6 total that I've read in my life, perhaps. But there are so many thousands of millions of them out there that are complete and total garbage. And as I throw another book across the room in disgust (used paperback, gimme a break), I say to myself that I could write a better book than that in my SLEEP.
And I really want to try. But ok - say I do it, I write a really good, gripping, well-written romance - would anyone buy it? Or does the market for that sort of thing LIKE tha badly-written trash that they publish? And do they publish it because they know it will sell - because that's what the market likes, or just because there is no one out there writing GOOD romances.
Would you all think I sold out if I tried writing romances instead of fantasy (ok, it would probably be a fantasy based romance because that's what I like to read...)
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Didn't EUOL say that the romance market is the largest? So I'd think that you'd stand out with a well-written book, and that if it was really good, it'd have a better likelihood of being picked up. However, I bet the slush piles at romance publishers are huge.
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Fuzzy, if you could write a well-written romance, I'd buy it. (Well, assuming it wasn't smutty... :P)
Seriously though. I think it would sell. I say go for it.
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It wouldn't be very smutty. I'm too ashamed of the smut I like to actually try writing any. Besides, the fastest way to make yourself look like an idiot in the romance genre is a poorly-written sex scene.
Now the tricky part - how to come up with a set up for a romance plot that isn't lame. What set ups do you find really stupid?
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Don't they all have some sex in them?
Anyway, I say go for it. Where did I hear about that article about romance novel writer conventions? Here on the board? Or did Karen tell me about it? Anyway they are NICE to new writers, and when you go to pitch the novels they have experienced writers volunteering there while you're waiting in line, to help you with your anxiety attacks...
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Don't they all have some sex in them?
Yes, but it doesn't have to be on-screen.
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Luna books is Harlequin's fantasy/romance hybrid. They launched several new authors recently, so they're actively seeking new talent.
And, from what I hear, there ARE good romances that stand out, and get the attention they deserve.
Ookla's comment about romance conferences amuses me, because I think about a genre--and business--completely run by women, and I think of women I've played games with. Sometimes, they can be incredibly competitive, but it seems to me that a lot of the time they're all trying really hard to root for each other. (Even going so far as to give each other lots of hints in trivia games and the like.)
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Hmmm. Probably because you've hung out with nice women. For the most part, as soon as you get into a competitive situation, girls are viscious and conniving. This isn't true of everyone, but as a general rule, it is.
Fuzzy--don't have them fall in love at first sight and know they are meant to be together. I hate that.
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when I game with my wife and another couple, I always lose. No matter what game it is. Women always, ALWAYS treat each other with deference, if not outright alliance. The other woman will always be nice to her husband. My wife is completely ruthless. Which means I have three enemies, no allies, and everyone else has at least one other player who will not actively seek his destruction.
anyway, romance. If you want to try it, fuzzy, you should. I mean, it'd make life more enjoyable for you, I think.
There are some conventions that I've heard of that have to be observed. Many people call SF/F escapist literature, but romance is the ULTIMATE escapist, from what I understand. The readers what to be able to fantasize about being in the protagonist's point of view. This means now trailer park managers for female leads and stuff like that. It's a respectable job, but no one dreams of being one.
One of the three I've read did this pretty well, in terms of capturing what the target audience needed. The main character was slightly overweight and pushing 40. Then, she's in an accident, and her guardian angel tranfers her to a body in the American Revolution period. The body is, of course, 18, fit, and very shapely. The end of the story has her and the guy whe's in love with come back to her own time and inhabit bodies here again. There's a target audience who can think "This can happen to me" but they still get the ultimate fantasy of the perfect people.
I think if you make characters with multiple dimensions, not ones simply designed to be the coolest thing ever, you can make an impression. Oh, yes, the character still has to be enviable, but giving her hobbies or habits that aren't there just to be cool, that would make it more interesting.
I don't know that the plot has to be THAT original, either. Many plots of very good books are not that original when you look at them. Ok, it has to be something that doesn't look like a carbon copy, but it doesn't have to be completely new and different. I don't think enough about romance as a plot, myself though. I think of it as something that happens while other somethings are happening. Either that or someone decides they are in love, chases after their victim, and then either wins him/her or realizes the person she/he should have liked was someone else all along. Very "Some Kind of Wonderful" but also the experience of my own life.
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Would you all think I sold out if I tried writing romances instead of fantasy (ok, it would probably be a fantasy based romance because that's what I like to read...)
Not at all. Have you ever read Patricia Briggs? I see that she is billed as Fantasy Romance, but I liked her stuff anyway. It's all about the story.
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Women are evil. Really evil. Give 'em a chance, and they'll tear you a new one.
Plots need to be original, but they don't need to be novel. Note the difference.
That is all.