Romance

[A_Little_Show]

I've read that women are, and men do. A woman is desirable because she exists. A man is desirable for his utility and is expected to slink away and die if he isn't adequately useful. Young men without unusual distinction are suited only for cannon fodder.

I am pathologically unable to write "romance" a.k.a. "chick-lit." The cliche's are ice picks in my eyes: "She wants him, but something keeps them apart, and he must prove his worth before he's acceptable anyway..." The trope is sexist. Maybe it's human nature, but I don't understand it.

Where is the "romance" about the following: "She feels a tingle in her loins when they meet, but he digs ditches for a living and doesn't belong in her country club milieu. Then, she discovers he invented the medical device that saved her life and only digs ditches for fun and charity? He fucks her once and loses interest because she's a useless socialite snob, and he prefers the company of useful people." It's the same story from "his" point of view.

Then there is the "romance" about a woman who is noticed but snubbed by the dashing wealthy powerful fit genius because she isn't suitable, yet she doesn't somehow prove her worth - rather, he has to change his standards, and they live happily ever after? Oh, right, that's every Molly Ringwald movie.

Don't even start on "someday my prince will come."

 

[oggbashan]

...

I am pathologically unable to write "romance" a.k.a. "chick-lit."

...

But romance isn't synoynmous with chick-lit.

I have written for the Romance category with apparent success without making it chick-lit. My current contest entry Genie is 'Romance'.

 

[PennLady]

You're being pretty harsh on the romance category. Romance covers a pretty wide range of things, from the stuff you describe to other things. All stories have a conflict, and so yes, a romance will probably have something that keeps the protagonists apart. But it doesn't render them all "chick-lit." I'm not big on some chick-lit myself, but I do enjoy a lot of romances -- and I didn't think I would for the longest time. There are various romances that I'm not crazy over, but well-written characters and interesting situations are what I'm after, and there are a number of romances with those.

And also if you don't like the type of romances that are out there, then you should write the kind you want. That's what I do, or try to.

 

[emap]

Somebody has never read a western romance.

Here I will describe basically all of them. Gal is left a widow because her husband was killed, then she is forced to rely on her big strong caring foreman to keep the ranch, or farm usually ranch though, running. Then dastardly sorts come along and want to take the farm, also killed her husband so then the foreman has to suddenly show that he is a master of the pistol after which she falls in his arms and is ravished.

Sometimes she is ravished before the climactic ending and then you get the shoot out followed by falling in bed for more ravishment. Oddly ravished is used in every single one of them as well.

On the odd occassion you find a pirate version, besides having a ship and being on the high seas it is exactly the same story.

Yes silly and totally falling into our dirty little 'rape' fantasy. Still though they can be pretty darn good reads, especially when you are twelve or thirteen and just discovering that boys are good for something besides frogs and cooties. Sadly, some gals never get past that stage on their reading wants. Not to say all romance follow what you said or what I said anymore. Sometimes you find one where the guy has suffered a great loss and she is helping him recover and they fall madly in love and she is ravished.

Yes there is plenty of ravishing in romance. Unless you get the erotic romance which tend to be shorter and not a whole lot besides the ravishment in better detail.

That said, there is plenty of romance that is actually rather romantic. Shakespeare is not that great at romance, mostly he did variations on Taming of the Shrew, though Romeo and Juliet is pretty damn good. Good romance you gotta go older, if you can find it look at Viking tales, holy shit. Greeks had some good ones as well, tale of Persephone, I think, is pretty good for unrequited love.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

The soul of romance is when each person discovers the others fatal flaw and inserts the key that disarms it. It must be a mutual transaction. And couples often sense it immediately.

 

[lovecraft68]

You make good points, but missed one.

You missed my pet peeve: the "dangerous bad boy"

The woman is from a good family, good job, upper class, etc...

he is from a broken home, troubled past, bad temper, maybe some tats and just a general bad ass.

She knows she should stay away from him, but he;s like that cheeseburger when you're on a diet! he looks so good, but you shouldn't have him!

But wait! He can change! he is sensitive beneath all that! She can change him! She is the one!

Blechh!

But all joking aside Romance is no more or less filled with cliches than any other genre.

If you don;t like to write in it, or do not feel you can, why try? There's nothing to prove here.

If however you don't like it because of the cliches then like Pennlady said, try it in whatever way you perceive it should be. That's what I did in the incest genre with my SWB series.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Those tropes are common in romance but they're not mandatory. I wrote a novel-length story; though posted in Lesbian Sex, it's primarily a romance. It avoided most of those tropes and was received quite well... at least, among those who made it to the vote/comments buttons.

 

[MagicaPractica]

I've read that women are, and men do. A woman is desirable because she exists. A man is desirable for his utility and is expected to slink away and die if he isn't adequately useful.

Tell that to my mother who is taking care of my father as she prays that the chemo eases his pain and she gets to keep him for a little longer.

 

[desertslave]

Tell that to my mother who is taking care of my father as she prays that the chemo eases his pain and she gets to keep him for a little longer.

Hugs!

What's wrong with a story about two people who meet, click a little (or a lot), get to know each other and like each other, might have a little trouble making their individual lives fit together, but make the adjustments together and move forward? Is that too boring?

 

[sr71plt]

Hugs!

What's wrong with a story about two people who meet, click a little (or a lot), get to know each other and like each other, might have a little trouble making their individual lives fit together, but make the adjustments together and move forward? Is that too boring?

For me it would be, yes. Depending on what "a little trouble" entailed.

 

[PayDay]

I've read that women are, and men do.

Since when?

Where is the "romance" about the following: "She feels a tingle in her loins when they meet, but he digs ditches for a living and doesn't belong in her country club milieu. Then, she discovers he invented the medical device that saved her life and only digs ditches for fun and charity?

It was pure romance in this part...

...and then it went all lemon curry because someone tried to predict the ending.

 

[sunandshadow]

There are definitely romances where the lower-class woman struggles to prove her worth to the male nobleman and his family. In particular, native american folktales have many romances where the woman is tested by a relative of the man she has a crush on, and she has to make a quilled shirt, moccasins, different types of food, etc. It's like a home ec test.

 

[slyc_willie]

For me it would be, yes. Depending on what "a little trouble" entailed.

Ditto. Someone has to die.

 

[SecondCircle]

Really I think tropes and cliches are pretty much everywhere you turn. That's why its so special when something original comes along. Things become too saturated and we crave the new and fresh. But sometimes, you just gotta go with a few of them. Why? Because a lot of them are commonplace because they work.

Yeah that stuff's in Romance stories. But that's like saying that there's a lot of gangbangs in group sex. In GM there's a good portion of "oh I can't believe I'm attracted to him! I'm straight!" That's certainly not all there is but it's a common trope. In EH there's a lot of succubi and vamps, but a lotta people like to read that.

Each category has em. Here's the thing. It absolutely doesn't matter if you want to fly original or follow one of these inevitable paths, as long as it is written well. I would read the same BS romance trope over and over if I found a writer that I thought wrote it well enough to hook me. Why not?

While it does get tiring to see "typical" story lines and all, they're there so much because they've worked so much... with most. Like chocolate. Lots of candy has chocolate in it. Probably cuz... it tastes good? If you don't think so, then never fear. There's always hard candies and suckers and what not.

 

[sr71plt]

In GM there's a good portion of "oh I can't believe I'm attracted to him! I'm straight!"

Oh, really? I've never used that one--or remember having read it in a story.

 

[SecondCircle]

Oh, really? I've never used that one--or remember having read it in a story.

And I have. Didn't say you had to, sorry for stepping on your turf.

 

[emap]

But I'm straight comes up now and then in GM. Also happens in the lesbian stories, professional romance along with on here.

Course they appear because that does happen, usually the people who speak the loudest against homo sex, really want to do homo sex.

I am thinking of a rather cute movie, But I'm a Cheerleader. If you have never seen it find pronto. It is a comedy mostly but it's really good, have to admit the comedy is a little lacking but the movie works.

 

[ishtat]

Chick lit has been around for more than 200 years - they used to call it "Gothic Novels" - regularly fainting heroine saved by knight in shining armour etc, etc.

Jane Austen's first book, the first she wrote, not the first published, was a mickey take of the genre - "Northanger Abbey"

For an old fashioned Gothic Novel, try "The Mysteries of Udolpho" by Ann Radcliff published 1794. absolute classic of its type.

 

[Handley_Page]

The books by Raphael Sabbatini were described as "romances, as were John Buchan and Walter Scott.
Damned good writing, though.

 

[LadyVer]

Hugs!

What's wrong with a story about two people who meet, click a little (or a lot), get to know each other and like each other, might have a little trouble making their individual lives fit together, but make the adjustments together and move forward? Is that too boring?

The older I get, the more this makes sense and the less boring it is. Forget all the tropes and romantic delusions.

 

[Bramblethorn]

But I'm straight comes up now and then in GM. Also happens in the lesbian stories, professional romance along with on here.

Yeah, my romance story fits that description, as do a good portion of the top-25 stories in Lesbian Sex.

I can't speak for the other authors, but in my case that element was based on RL experience. Being in a cross-orientation relationship creates some interesting tensions and sets up some interesting questions about identity vs attraction vs orientation.

For an old fashioned Gothic Novel, try "The Mysteries of Udolpho" by Ann Radcliff published 1794. absolute classic of its type.

Indeed. Worth reading that one before "Northanger Abbey" to get some context for what JA was mocking.

 

[SecondCircle]

Originality should be something we all strive for, I think. I just wouldn't always worry about "oh my story is starting to follow this trope or pattern." Write them something great and no one will mind.

Romance is a strange beast to me. I like some of it every now and then. It's true a lot of tropes or whatever are present there. But that's not all there is there. Or if said scenario is in a story, its buried so deep in the emotion or drama that again, no one minds.

It's all just subjectivity and taste.

 

[MSTarot]

"There are no new stories simply retelling of old ones." famous quote claimed by many in a 'Irony' that's funny.

With any category of stories you're going to have reoccurring themes. Certainly romance has it's common 'tropes' (Not sure I like that word) where the same type of plot line and story line are followed.

It's when you can take those worn to a woof stories 'tropes' and turn the into a successful story that you show true skills as a writer and storyteller.

Captured princess falls for the handsome 'scoundrel'- Star Wars.

Who watching the first movie didn't guess that those two would end up together? We knew. We knew but we were so caught up in the story that it still came as almost a surprise.

I mean we knew Han wanted her but With comments like "I don't know where you get your delusions laser brain." Leia's true feelings really only come out when the bad guy had them all captured.

Again a classic story 'trope'.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

There are no new stories just new resolutions.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

You make good points, but missed one.

You missed my pet peeve: the "dangerous bad boy"

The woman is from a good family, good job, upper class, etc...

he is from a broken home, troubled past, bad temper, maybe some tats and just a general bad ass.

She knows she should stay away from him, but he;s like that cheeseburger when you're on a diet! he looks so good, but you shouldn't have him!

But wait! He can change! he is sensitive beneath all that! She can change him! She is the one!

Blechh!

But all joking aside Romance is no more or less filled with cliches than any other genre.

If you don;t like to write in it, or do not feel you can, why try? There's nothing to prove here.

If however you don't like it because of the cliches then like Pennlady said, try it in whatever way you perceive it should be. That's what I did in the incest genre with my SWB series.

Good thing your wife didn't reject that trope.