Romance genre. Wow.

[dasgoodshit]

So. I just discovered the Romance genre. Sort of. I guess you could say that I just truly discovered it. Years ago, I read a very highly rated story in Romance (4.85+), and it was garbage. There was no spark, no connection, no love interest, nothing but plot. Then at the end the guy asked a woman to marry him. I thought, "Her? That's not even what the description suggested!" The story was actually non-erotic, but it was in Romance for some reason. It really left a sour taste in my mouth for the genre, being the first I read in that category.

Anyway, I've recently been concerned about a story I'm writing that I had planned to go to EC, and wondered if it should go to Romance because of lack of "the good stuff." I ended up checking out a few of the top Romance authors and their stories, and... holy shit. I love the style. In other categories, I expect explanations of character motivation before they act because, I suppose, the suspension of disbelief required is higher than Romance due to the action, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

For example, I read a story by @Frankenstein1962 that featured the reverse of... I guess you could call it a sub-sub-genre... entirely contained within it's own sub-plot, and the guy flipped my world upside down by *not* describing character motivations, and simply just doing it, and in probably under 50 words. And it was in the first 2,000 words of the story, and it was believable! I'm still having a hard time processing it.

Do you know what this means?!

I can get away with anything I want over there!* I just have to follow the other "rules" for the genre. It's a good day, people.

*I realized recently that my goal when writing is to see what I can get away with.

 

[MelissaBaby]

As someone with several submissions in Romance, I’d be happy to have a discussion, but I really don’t understand what you’re saying here.

 

[djrip]

I don't fully understand what you're saying about the romance category. It's more accepting of having characters just do it without spending time developing their motivation? What's 'it', you mean jump right to sex? I would have thought the opposite, that romance would typically involve more character development, not less, but I think I'm misunderstanding your point here?

All that said, you can get away with whatever you want in every category! What's the worst anyone can do, give you a 1 bomb? Who cares? Always write what you want!

 

[Mastered_again]

I haven't submitted stories in the romance category. However, I like to think of my work as kinky romance, using the category most appropriate to the action.
I have no idea what you think you're getting away with.

 

[dasgoodshit]

I really don’t understand what you’re saying here.

I don't fully understand what you're saying about the romance category.

(I'm not talking about character development, I'm talking about character motivation, prior to acting.)

I'm just saying that believability is easier when there's no expectations of how the plot is to develop.

In other categories (except for perhaps novels), readers have an expectation to be tantalized, and they want to know how and why the action occurs (I do, anyway).

In Romance, it appears that readers want to be surprised.

But I dunno. Maybe my tastes are vastly different than others. I've found that I don't normally enjoy non-Romance stories rated 4.85+, and my usual fare seems to range from 4.6-4.8. In Romance, however, I'm finding that I do enjoy the highly rated stories.

 

[dasgoodshit]

I have no idea what you think you're getting away with.

Writing a story that would be hard to believe if you didn't know what the characters were thinking and feeling.

 

[djrip]

Can you link the story you felt illustrated this, with those 50 words? I'd like to see what you mean...

 

[NotWise]

I'm not sure you're getting the right message.

I read the beginning of the story you're talking about. The early sex is part of the protagonist's backstory. It's a hook for erotica readers. I didn't read on, but I expect that his partners in sex are not the romantic focus of the story.

The high rating and overflowing reader response would be reactions to the rest of the story, which is nearly 26K words, not the opening. Really, just read some of the 156 comments.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I'll just point out that my latest story is a romance that published this morning in Novels/Novellas. I chose that category due to the length of the story (24 Lit pages).

So far, it has over 3.1K views, 11 favorites (I think this count is lagging as people are reading the story), 44 votes (4.82) and 1 comment (positive). I have also received 5 e-mails from readers with feedback today already.

I mention this only to illustrate that you might have other options for a story than the first category that comes to mind.

 

[dasgoodshit]

I read the beginning of the story you're talking about. The early sex is part of the protagonist's backstory. It's a hook for erotica readers. I didn't read on, but I expect that his partners in sex are not the romantic focus of the story.

The high rating and overflowing reader response would be reactions to the rest of the story, which is nearly 26K words, not the opening. Really, just read some of the 156 comments.

The story I'm talking about doesn't have 156 comments.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

Well don't be afraid to say what it is.

 

[NotWise]

The story I'm talking about doesn't have 156 comments.

Then you'll need to link the story you're talking about. The one I'm citing (Full Count... by Frankenstei1962), fits your description, but I see the author has more stories high on the Romance top list.

 

[dasgoodshit]

Well don't be afraid to say what it is.

Then you'll need to link the story you're talking about. The one I'm citing (Full Count... by Frankenstei1962), fits your description, but I see the author has more stories high on the Romance top list.

Found the spoiler feature... here it is: The Treehouse.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

There's no rules about linking stories, it doesn't hafta be covert.

 

[dasgoodshit]

There's no rules about linking stories, it doesn't hafta be covert.

I just don't like spoilers

 

[Euphony]

Can you link the story you felt illustrated this, with those 50 words? I'd like to see what you mean...

Perhaps you can spot "efficiency" better than I but my take was there's a lot more reader projection/coloring in than bare bones storytelling mastery.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

I just don't like spoilers

I wouldn't call your description of how it was written, a spoiler.

 

[dasgoodshit]

I wouldn't call your description of how it was written, a spoiler.

Fair enough. It was early on in the story, sure, but I'm rather conservative with spoilers. If it is surprising, I consider it a spoiler.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I can get away with anything I want over there!* I just have to follow the other "rules" for the genre. It's a good day, people.

*I realized recently that my goal when writing is to see what I can get away with.

I have no idea what you're trying to say here. What's the relevance of the Romance category, compared to any other category?

 

[MillieDynamite]

Romance, what the fuck! Where's the death, the danger, the vampire, the werewolf (there wolf), the horror, the madman with the gun, the vengeful asshole, the guy with a sword. Give me action, give me murder, mayhem, and sneak that romance into it.

 

[dasgoodshit]

I have no idea what you're trying to say here. What's the relevance of the Romance category, compared to any other category?

So... I've been on this site for almost 10 years, but I've never read by category. I just go by tags and "similar stories" at the end of a story. That's it.

Until I started writing a few months ago, I never gave a second thought to the differences between each category and what avid readers of the genres like and dislike. Sometimes there's bleedover into other genres; sometimes not. Sometimes the category is hard to dissect, like LW. I still don't know what that one is supposed to be.

Anyway, because a common question around here seems to be, "What category should I post this story in?," the quote unquote rules for genre selection don't seem to be clear-cut (or maybe they are, and I just don't know it yet). I'm in the process of discovering the nuances among the various categories. That's the relevance.

 

[dasgoodshit]

Romance, what the fuck! Where's the death, the danger, the vampire, the werewolf (there wolf), the horror, the madman with the gun, the vengeful asshole, the guy with a sword. Give me action, give me murder, mayhem, and sneak that romance into it.

Don't get me wrong, I like all that stuff, too, at times. Just because I like watching sitcoms doesn't mean that I don't also like watching documentaries.

the werewolf (there wolf)

guessing this is an inside joke?

 

[MillieDynamite]

Loving Wives is supposed to be about wives who share their bodies with people who aren't their significant others.

So... I've been on this site for almost 10 years, but I've never read by category. I just go by tags and "similar stories" at the end of a story. That's it.

Until I started writing a few months ago, I never gave a second thought to the differences between each category and what avid readers of the genres like and dislike. Sometimes there's bleedover into other genres; sometimes not. Sometimes the category is hard to dissect, like LW. I still don't know what that one is supposed to be.

Anyway, because a common question around here seems to be, "What category should I post this story in?," the quote unquote rules for genre selection don't seem to be clear-cut (or maybe they are, and I just don't know it yet). I'm in the process of discovering the nuances among the various categories. That's the relevance.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Don't get me wrong, I like all that stuff, too, at times. Just because I like watching sitcoms doesn't mean that I don't also like watching documentaries.

guessing this is an inside joke?

You don't know who Mel Brooks is, do you?

 

[NotWise]

Found the spoiler feature... here it is: The Treehouse.

I skimmed the story. I don't think it's all that unusual for Romance. The sex was part of the back story (as in the first story I reacted to), but it was more than just a hook for erotica readers. I thought there was enough setup to understand the young couple's motivation.

More than anything else, it was a well-told story.

Romance isn't a non-erotic category, and most of the readers don't insist on an achingly-long setup before sex. In the last story I posted there, the female protagonist waited all the way to the second scene then told the male protagonist, "I like sex," and that precipitated events.