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Any Advice from Romance Writers?

SimonDoom said:
I actually think that's a great simile -- the idea of playing a person's body, like an instrument. It's a cliche, but a good one. And yep, that's high praise.
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In A Spot of Music she uses his freckled body to write music scores. Played his body like a composer. All based on an actual quote from Scott Beach:
"Next time you hear Chopin's 'Mazurka in G-Major (Op.67, #1), listen carefully to the main theme. It's a bunch of freckles. Chopin had a long and torrid love affair with George Sand (pseudonym of Baronne Dudevant). She had freckles. All over. During an afternoon of dalliance, Chopin became fascinated with all those dots, blots, and splotches. He drew a five-line staff and a treble clef on one of Sand's dunes. (I'll bet it tickled.) Letting the freckles fall where they may, he copied the resulting notes and used them for the main theme of his mazurka. George Sand's freckles are thus forever enshrined in Chopin's Opus 67, #1."​
A mere fiddle? Feh. Play their body like an orchestra.
 
SimonDoom said:
I figured that your reference was somewhat more sophisticated than a reference to band camp, but I thought I'd ask.

I actually think that's a great simile -- the idea of playing a person's body, like an instrument. It's a cliche, but a good one. And yep, that's high praise.
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I read that line about a violin in ElectricBlue's story and have been flirting with him ever since. But alas. All I get in reply is extremely well written and extraordinarily clever prose. I can hope that some day all these musical ideas will be distilled into another of his symphonic stories.

On the positive side, I'm rediscovering culture by having to research his allusions. Have spent an enjoyable day re-reading T.S. Eliot thanks to the literate folks of Literotica.
 
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(S)he played him/her like a:

* fiddle
* poker hand
* Pong grandmaster
* mentalist
* tuba

ObTopic: I don't know how romantic any of that is.
 
For musical romance there's alway Phantom Of The Opera. Their love grows fitfully but inexorably in the endless cellars and catacombs beneath the Paris Opera House. Or the San Francisco Opera House. Or the Armagosa Opera House, though it's a bit drier there.
 
Kantarii said:
The main thing I look for when I read romance stories is a slow build up with a focus on the emotional exchanges and bonds between the characters: tenderness, touching, hugging, kissing, eye contact, etc. I want to see the romance build and unfold more than I what to see the sex scene if that makes sense - to understand and relate to why the characters are having sex beyond the “I’m horny, let’s fuck.”
🌹Kant👠👠👠

If you write the romance story, let me know. I want to read itđź’‹
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That's what made me a fan.......
 
Hi again, everyone. I've finally got the first page of my story written, about 3,700 words.

Would anyone who is familiar with the Romance category be willing to beta-read my beginning and let me know if I've got something worth pursuing? I'd be happy to reciprocate and beta-read something for you in exchange.

Thanks for considering it.
 
Kantarii said:
The main thing I look for when I read romance stories is a slow build up with a focus on the emotional exchanges and bonds between the characters: tenderness, touching, hugging, kissing, eye contact, etc. I want to see the romance build and unfold more than I what to see the sex scene if that makes sense - to understand and relate to why the characters are having sex beyond the “I’m horny, let’s fuck.”
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That's what distinguishes romances from strokers. Any fetish or perversion can be romantic if the path is long, slow, and tender. It took years for his and the tentacle monster's affection to strengthen and solidify. :cool:

How about flash romances? A few of my episodes have a couple meet and immediately click. Eyes lock. Time stops. Goosebumps restart them. They do not think, "We gotta fuck!" but "You are The One." Their romance blooms over a meal, or a day hike, or a study session. Maybe they fuck fairly soon. Maybe not soon. Maybe not at all. Maybe it's a cliffhanger. They know they will, but not quite yet, and offstage.

But time compresses. That long, slow, tender path is foreshortened. Take ten pages to describe an hour's conversation, gestures, touches, thoughts.

That's the critical factor in romantic writing: time.
 
LoquiSordidaAdMe said:
Hi again, everyone. I've finally got the first page of my story written, about 3,700 words.

Would anyone who is familiar with the Romance category be willing to beta-read my beginning and let me know if I've got something worth pursuing? I'd be happy to reciprocate and beta-read something for you in exchange.

Thanks for considering it.
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I don't know how big I am in the Romance category but I have a couple in the hall of fame. I am happy to give it a beta read if you would like my take on it. I like the premise you are starting with.

I agree with a lot that was said except maybe about the bugs and tentacles. I think the really good romances have a riot of emotions and generally, an evil antagonist like a fairy tale, and of course an HEA.

I also agree with the writing in third person comments for Romance but you have to go with your strengths. I read your GPD story and I have no doubt you can write a brilliant romance full of emotion.
 
Hypoxia said:
That's the critical factor in romantic writing: time.
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Thanks for that, Hypoxia. It's something I hadn't considered, but will now. My story is going to span about a six month period, but I had planned to set a pretty brisk pace. I'll pay attention and try to strike the right balance.

Off on a tangent, I just realized that I put you in my last story! You're the villian!
 
LoquiSordidaAdMe said:
Thanks for that, Hypoxia. It's something I hadn't considered, but will now. My story is going to span about a six month period, but I had planned to set a pretty brisk pace. I'll pay attention and try to strike the right balance.
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In my well-received real-life middle-aged romance The Botanists the Click! is immediate but the romance takes awhile because 19th century propriety and busy lives.

Off on a tangent, I just realized that I put you in my last story! You're the villian!
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Made me look. :eek:
 
I'm back in this thread every couple of weeks, reviewing the tips and suggestions from everyone. (Thanks again!) This story is starting to get out of hand. It's at 13k words already, and I'm probably only about half way done. That might not seem long for some of you, but 10k is typical for me.

It seemed like such a quick, breezy idea when it was just in my head, but as the words leach out on to the screen, it just keeps getting longer.
 
Smartypants writing?

Why are a lot of people writing stories using four part sentences? Are they called quadphrase sentences? Is it really one sentence or is it four divided by commas and not full stops. There has to be a technical term for it. I find it develops a rhythm that becomes very irritating in its blandness. Is it a form of poetry and not prose? I guess it demonstrates some skill in writing but the story becomes dominated by it and loses its sense of immediacy. It's like a technical text book style. Does that look of officialness allow the writer more leeway in outrageousness in ascribing to charactors traits that are in real life very rare? To support it a lot of clumsy, unnecessary and often highly sanctimonious verbiage is used. I notice it associated mostly with romance.
 
weftandwarp said:
Why are a lot of people writing stories using four part sentences? Are they called quadphrase sentences? Is it really one sentence or is it four divided by commas and not full stops. There has to be a technical term for it. I find it develops a rhythm that becomes very irritating in its blandness. Is it a form of poetry and not prose? I guess it demonstrates some skill in writing but the story becomes dominated by it and loses its sense of immediacy. It's like a technical text book style. Does that look of officialness allow the writer more leeway in outrageousness in ascribing to charactors traits that are in real life very rare? To support it a lot of clumsy, unnecessary and often highly sanctimonious verbiage is used. I notice it associated mostly with romance.
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Examples, please.
 
NotWise said:
Examples, please.
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There was one yesterday in erotic couplings, still in the latest issue which will be displaced in about an hour.. I don't want to name it but it was 7 pages. I liked the story but the language wasn't easy for me.
 
weftandwarp said:
There was one yesterday in erotic couplings, still in the latest issue which will be displaced in about an hour.. I don't want to name it but it was 7 pages. I liked the story but the language wasn't easy for me.
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I'm really not clear on what you mean. If you don't want to single out the author of the story, could you write a short example of your own?
 
LoquiSordidaAdMe said:
I'm really not clear on what you mean. If you don't want to single out the author of the story, could you write a short example of your own?
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I'm sorry. I've tried twice to put a comment on the story and failed. So many of my comments fall off before they attach. I'm not sure if the comment facility was turned off. I don't think it would be appreciated if I did my commenting about the story here. Generally the sentences have two commas and one and. There were other long constructions too but that was the one I noticed most. As I read a rhythm developed in the language. I thought it strange and I wondered about it. I wondered if some people write poetry and the language they use there extends to their prose. I kind of thought it might be appropriate to romance. I found it difficult to read though.
 
weftandwarp said:
...As I read a rhythm developed in the language. I thought it strange and I wondered about it. I wondered if some people write poetry and the language they use there extends to their prose. I kind of thought it might be appropriate to romance. I found it difficult to read though.
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Well, you've piqued my curiosity. I have trouble imagining and entire story written in that kind of compound sentence. I'll use compound sentences to keep the rythm of my writing from becoming too repetitive. The idea of using them to create a repetitive rythm intentionally is very odd.
 
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