Can We Talk Romance?

[Bebop3]

I've been trying to familiarize myself with the best Romance stories on Literotica.

It seems that the majority of them are fairly lengthy and are self contained (no multiple chapters). They are also often first person narrative from a woman's point of view.

The sex scenes aren't as graphic as in other categories and there are fewer of them.

Does that seem to be a reasonable assessment of their commonalities?

I'm working on two different stories and I'm not sure what category they would fall into. I'm thinking Romance for one, but the active voice is a mans.

 

[lovecraft68]

Unless you have some other 'kink' involved then a romance should be fine in romance.

What I mean is I have three stories that are technically love story/Romance.

But one the woman is much older so I went with mature. You can write romance in mature and the age difference hits their sweet spot.

I have another that's a much older man, again Mature.

The third is between two teens(of age) and its his first time, so it went in first time.

If your story is basically a pure romance with no other fetish/kinks/niches involved you're good there.

 

[oggbashan]

I have written a number of stories for the Romance category, most from a man's point of view.

The response has been mixed. Some people like no sex; some complain because there is sex, and the number of views/votes is lower than stories in some other categories.

This one is a sample:

https://www.literotica.com/s/genie-1

 

[CoffeeWithMonkeys]

I always tell people I set out to write dirty nasty erotica, but I end up with cheesy romantic drivel.

Can there be dirty sex scenes in romance stories? I always thought maybe that is what set the two apart? My sex scenes aren't too graphic and there aren't many even though my story is 4 chapters.
But the story takes place over a little less than a week and like I always tell people, you can only describe sex so many ways, basically the dick goes in and there's thrusting and then release(hopefully) and sometimes the woman gets something too.
Add in a couple variances, and really in one story how many sex scenes can you write, adding in differences, before it becomes monotonous?

I put my stuff in Erotic Couplings. Seems to be the catch all when most other categories fail. Or for me when I'm being wishy washy and don't know where else to put them.

 

[PuckIt]

"Romance" is in the eye of the beholder.

From your post, I think you are being steered more than a little by voting scores to define what you term "best." Which is fine if that was what was intended. Or may need some clarification if it wasn't.

With that proviso, yeah, your assessment is probably fair.

Back a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far - *cough* -sorry. Anyway, back sometime in the seventies or eighties, I can (dimly) recall words of wisdom something to the effect that a female needed a male sounding nom de plume to be taken seriously in sci-fi and vice versa for a male in the romance genre.

I think this probably plays a part in the narrative POV being female since stereotypically men aren't perceived as being as overtly romantic as the female of the species.

Stereotypically a well received romance will focus rather more on the feelings engendered than the actual mechanics of the sex act. Which is not to say sex (or "passion" if you prefer) doesn't have a role to play. The language tends to get a little more flowery and less graphically concrete for pieces in the mainstream (Danielle Steel for example), but even on Lit you don't tend to find the same balls-slapped-against-her-clit-as-he-pounded-her-pulsating-puss-with-his-eighteen-inches-of-pulchitrude-in-doggy-style if the piece is intended to stir emotions beyond arousal.

On the other hand, what the hell do I know? I'm still learning that romantical stuff myself. (*adjusts crotch and spits off to one side*).

 

[RejectReality]

Scores can be fickle, but the commentary you see on stories in the category points to the same trends. Readers aren't overly interested in the sexual content. The relationship is what they're there for. If there is sex, they expect it to be much more about the emotional impact of it than the physical. They want the language toned down and more euphemistic than the standard Lit story.

Ending the story with sex also doesn't seem to go over well. There needs to be at least an epilogue with a far stronger happily ever after.

 

[ElectricBlue]

My highest rated story is in Romance - it's a second chapter of a three part series (the first part was EC).

The third part, also Romance, is my third highest rated story, and curiously has nearly three times the views of the second. I can only conclude that readers of the series re-read the third part on average twice - why else would a third chapter have such an anomaly?

Written about a strong woman from her male partner's point of view, I obliviously nailed the genre's conventions while stepping outside them dramatically (she is paraplegic and goes surfing). The sex scenes, because she has no feeling below the waist, are unconventional (but not toned back, so I disagree with RR to some extent on that 'rule'); the third part is mostly a celebration of pregnant beauty, and babies are born.

Writing this summary suggests I probably broke every conventional rule for the genre, but was rewarded for doing so. This was also the first time I fell in love with my leading lady (my beloved Amelia) as I wrote her, and I suspect that added another layer to the writing, that readers picked up on.

I'm leaving this little family be for the moment, but at some stage I plan to come back and write a real tear-jerker of an ending (not quite ready, myself, for that).

https://www.literotica.com/s/rope-and-veil-pt-02

 

[HisArpy]

Romance is primarily a territory occupied almost exclusively by women. So, whatever you write has to appeal to women. Not men. Not "gender neutral". WOMEN! If you're not writing for that audience, skip it and stuff some Cucky / LW / GM sex in there and call it finished.

From there, it isn't about sex. You can (and should) put some sex in there (heat level per the author's tastes), but the story should be more about the emotional involvement between the Heroine and the man. Note; not the Heroine and the hero - the Heroine (<-- note the capitalization) and the man. The story needs to be all about HER, from HER POV, and HER emotional roller coaster ride to HER full satiation and satisfaction. Also, if you insert another female in there as the co-protagonist, you went full LBGT/Lesbian and that's not "Romance" because it's a sub-niche rather than the genre. Yes, LBGT can be "romantic" but it's not "romance".

Romance readers like formula. They don't like a big wind up or backstory. They want to get right to the "Heart" of the matter. And the ending BETTER BE happy ever after. Happy for now doesn't work for most.

Here's a decent blog about it:
http://romanceuniversity.org/2014/0...ng-a-great-first-chapter-with-tessa-shapcott/

 

[CoffeeWithMonkeys]

Scores can be fickle, but the commentary you see on stories in the category points to the same trends. Readers aren't overly interested in the sexual content. The relationship is what they're there for. If there is sex, they expect it to be much more about the emotional impact of it than the physical. They want the language toned down and more euphemistic than the standard Lit story.

Ending the story with sex also doesn't seem to go over well. There needs to be at least an epilogue with a far stronger happily ever after.

I wanted to put my Serendipity story in Romance but there isn't a happy ending so I put it in EC. But it is way more romance and not much sex so it would have fit, except for the ending.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Having already covered drug abuse, crime, murder and prison,I wanted my new work to dig into the sort of everyday drama that turns up in the lives of "ordinary" people. I am working on a multi chapter narrative that will chronicle the relationship between one couple from the time they met until...whenever.

It seemed only natural to put it in Romance. I suppose that, other than length, it's much as you describe. Most chapters will contain sex scenes, but the emphasis is on the relationship between the characters. Their sexual lives are a big part of that, and are portrayed such, but are not the be all and end all of the story.

I have had a very positive response so far.

 

[NotWise]

I've been trying to familiarize myself with the best Romance stories on Literotica.

It seems that the majority of them are fairly lengthy and are self contained (no multiple chapters). They are also often first person narrative from a woman's point of view.

The sex scenes aren't as graphic as in other categories and there are fewer of them.

Does that seem to be a reasonable assessment of their commonalities?

I'm working on two different stories and I'm not sure what category they would fall into. I'm thinking Romance for one, but the active voice is a mans.

That's probably not a sufficient assessment of commonalities.

I have a successful story up in Romance. It was my Valentine's Day contest entry from last year. It (for now) is on the first page of the all-time top list. It was my third post to Romance. Laurel moved the first one to a more appropriate category. She left the second one there and it was a painful disaster until I asked her to move it elsewhere.

The stories usually need to be fairly long to get the readers involved, but chapters may break up the flow. The winning story in last year's VDay contest was a novel published in Romance. That is not a hard and fast rule. I've seen short vignettes published in a series rake in lots of views and scores of 4.8+.

Romance stories are commonly from a woman's point of view, but they don't have to be. Mine was third person limited, from a man's point of view. If you're interested in publishing for money then the story probably has to be from a woman's point of view.

I think it's correct that the sex scenes aren't as graphic. Normally emotions are the story, and sex comes along for the ride. In my successful story I described the MC's having sex five times (I counted this after Anon said it had no sex in it and 1-bombed it), but only the first time is very graphic. It just isn't really about sex.

After my disastrous second story I went to the "Story Feedback" forum and asked what the problem was. I got answers from some of the most successful authors and editors in the category and they all said basically the same thing.

The Romance "formula" starts with a man and woman who aren't in a relationship at the outset. They find a mutual interest and struggle through obstacles to build a relationship. The ending is Happily Ever After.

I don't think the formula is absolutely necessary, but the ending is. Even if it is just "Happy for Now," it should leave the reader feeling warm and fuzzy.

If your stories don't give the Romance readers what they want then their ratings can be brutal. My disaster got a mix of mostly 5* and 1* votes with little in between (this story was actually why I started tracking votes). It slipped off the front page of the New list while it was still up in the Romance hub, and then it got almost all 1* votes.

 

[Weird Harold]

I've been trying to familiarize myself with the best Romance stories on Literotica.

It seems that the majority of them are fairly lengthy and are self contained (no multiple chapters). They are also often first person narrative from a woman's point of view.

https://www.literotica.com/s/how-i-met-my-wife == "Editors Choice" and "Hot." The Romance is framed as a "Bar Tale" told in flashback, first person, Male protagonist.

Put your story where you feel it fits best. Don't rely on statistical "best" computations, write a good romantic story from whatever POV works for you; if you write a good story it will do well wherever you put it.

 

[YDB95]

My two biggest hits, "Grand Island" and "Chemistry of Love" (both linked in my sig-line) were romances, both in third person. One was primarily from the man's point of view, the other shifted back and forth between the two throughout the story. They do both stick to the formula of a couple who aren't together at the beginning and live happily ever after at the end, but other than that I just went with where the story took me. One has quite a bit of sex, the other has only one real sex scene. Neither is among my most graphic scenes, but then I'm not big into getting too graphic anyway.

At the risk of tooting my own horn, both stories are contest winners. So if I do say so myself, they're good examples of what you might want to aim for.

 

[CoffeeWithMonkeys]

Having already covered rug abuse, crime, murder and prison,I wanted my new work to dig into the sort of everyday drama thatches up in the lives of "ordinary" people. I am working on a multi chapter narrative that will chronicle the relationship between one couple from the time they met until...whenever.

It seemed only natural to put it in Romance. I suppose that, other than length, it's much as you describe. Most chapters will contain sex scenes, but the emphasis is on the relationship between the characters. Their sexual lives are a big part of that, and are portrayed such, but are not the be all and end all of the story.

I have had a very positive response so far.

That is about 90% of what I write. Like a journal of a couple's lives. I have a few that span 30+ years. I figure to anyone else they are utterly boring so they will never see the light of day.

 

[_Lynn_]

Romance is primarily a territory occupied almost exclusively by women. So, whatever you write has to appeal to women. Not men. Not "gender neutral". WOMEN! If you're not writing for that audience, skip it and stuff some Cucky / LW / GM sex in there and call it finished.

I'm not sure if you're serious or not, but the majority of the e-mails I receive about my romance (and non-erotic) stories come from men.

 

[NotWise]

I'm not sure if you're serious or not, but the majority of the e-mails I receive about my romance (and non-erotic) stories come from men.

At least half of the comments on my story were from men. I don't think there's a shortage of male readers (or writers) in the Romance category on Lit.

 

[ElectricBlue]

At least half of the comments on my story were from men. I don't think there's a shortage of male readers (or writers) in the Romance category on Lit.

Copy that. Men can be sensitive too .

 

[SamScribble]

I have written a bit of Romance and it has, generally, been well received. However, one reader did write to me telling me that she would have given me five stars, but she deducted one because I used the work 'cunt'. Apparently cunt is a no-no in Romance stories.

I suggested that this might be a North American thing. We Brits quite like a bit of cunt. But I also checked it out with a Canadian friend. 'Pfft!, she said. 'What's Romance without a bit of cunt?'

 

[NotWise]

I have written a bit of Romance and it has, generally, been well received. However, one reader did write to me telling me that she would have given me five stars, but she deducted one because I used the work 'cunt'. Apparently cunt is a no-no in Romance stories.

I suggested that this might be a North American thing. We Brits quite like a bit of cunt. But I also checked it out with a Canadian friend. 'Pfft!, she said. 'What's Romance without a bit of cunt?'

A while ago we had a short thread about the use of "cunt."

I think it's an obscenity for most women (not all) in the US--and not all the time. You need to use the word judiciously. I use it.

 

[RejectReality]

A while ago we had a short thread about the use of "cunt."

I think it's an obscenity for most women (not all) in the US--and not all the time. You need to use the word judiciously. I use it.

Yeah, it's almost on par with the N-word in the U.S. for the majority of women.

The only time I use it is when it's uttered by a female character, repeated by the male after the female has used it, or when the male character saying it is supposed to be utterly reprehensible. All sparingly. Those seem to be acceptable to the majority of readers.

Can't recall ever using it in narrative. I'm not overly fond of it myself. It's just not sexy to me. When it makes sense in dialogue, I don't shy away from it, but it never occurs to me in narrative. Holly Jolley was the first time I've typed it in years, and then only once. Once was enough to cement Jemma's sexually dominant role in the story.

And when I say "majority of readers" I'm not talking about Romance readers. You have to remember that the lion's share of readership on the site comes from the U.S., and that's not exactly a romance word here.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I'm not sure if you're serious or not, but the majority of the e-mails I receive about my romance (and non-erotic) stories come from men.

I don't post in the Romance category per se, but I've posted F/F romances to Lesbian and SF/F, and a sizeable proportion of the fans who send me feedback are men. Probably not as high as 50%, but at a very rough guess I'd say about 30%.

 

[Kojak01]

I've been trying to familiarize myself with the best Romance stories on Literotica.

It seems that the majority of them are fairly lengthy and are self contained (no multiple chapters). They are also often first person narrative from a woman's point of view.

The sex scenes aren't as graphic as in other categories and there are fewer of them.

Does that seem to be a reasonable assessment of their commonalities?

I'm working on two different stories and I'm not sure what category they would fall into. I'm thinking Romance for one, but the active voice is a mans.

Length: I've seen good ratings on anything, from 3k words to 80k words. There are many multi-chapter stories, I've published two myself. The one with long chapters was very well received (a new 10k-15k word chapter every two or three days) while the one with short chapters (3k-4k) got rather heavy criticism for the short chapters (but not the story itself).

Sex scenes: Comment written by 'AnAncient' in 'The Expat': "I enjoy your stories; as they have a lot of depth, and you don't insert excessive sexual content."
Your assessment that romantics are less concerned about long and graphic sex scenes seems right. Story, depth, emotions and a HEA seem to be more important. But that doesn't mean that a well-placed graphic sex scene isn't welcome by some/many. I can only speak for myself and what I've experienced, though.
Also, sometimes couples that are in love make love and sometimes they just fuck. It's a question of how you build up to the scene. Having a romantic build-up with a candlelight dinner and a walk in the moonshine and deep conversations and then suddenly they are screaming obscenities (Fuck that cunt hard, Megacock!) at each other during sex might (what do I know about what a reader really wants?) not go down well.

Gender view: So far, all my stories have been from male first person view. I got no negative feedback for that. Personally, I don't like reading romances from the female POV, I prefer the male view (I am male).

Language: I agree with many commenters that proper language and grammar is maybe more important to the readers of romances.

Last but not least: I disagree with literally every word that 'HisArpy' wrote.

 

[MelissaBaby]

That is about 90% of what I write. Like a journal of a couple's lives. I have a few that span 30+ years. I figure to anyone else they are utterly boring so they will never see the light of day.

Mine might be boring too, but I'm putting it up there, anyway.

 

[MelissaBaby]

At least half of the comments on my story were from men. I don't think there's a shortage of male readers (or writers) in the Romance category on Lit.

I think there are a large number of readers who read whatever catches their eye, and don't care about category.

 

[RetroFan]

The more serious stories where sex is secondary to the plot are generally good for the Romance category.

For example, my Christmas story this year was about a young man and woman who meet in Darwin at Christmas 1974, when the city was destroyed by Cyclone Tracy. The romantic elements in the plot, and the serious themes in the story made Romance the obvious category.