Sunday, July 18, 2010

Open Yours Eyes to Love

Good evening readers! Today I'm here to bring you the lovely topic of romantic-fiction (no pun intended, if you can find it).

Today's word of the day is venerate, meaning to idolize, honor with devotion, or worship something or someone. Sometimes people venerate the ones they love, which can show the depth of either their affection or their stalker tendencies. Anyway, onto the topic.

My inner hopeless romantic would simply enjoy reading a sappy love story with passionate kisses and a happy ending, but my inner writing would find that a terrible, terrible book. Despite the fact that many people read romance for, well, the romance, a romantic fiction novel needs to have all of the juicy goodies any other novel has: complex characters, a well-developed plot line, a setting for all of the interaction, and more. Romances aren't always about "boy meets girl" and there doesn't have to be a "happily ever after." Many novels also include romance a subplot, not wanting the entire novel to revolve around a romance, but also wanting to include it as a large part of their story. Let's face it: only the die-hard romance fans can stand reading a novel with a terrible plot and bad characterization, even if it is an overall romance.

Some people like reading "fluff"-like novels, ones that are sappy romances, but only if they are written well and have some substance to them. However, it's very hard to write a romance novel well without making it sound cliched. From the meet-up to the kiss scene, it's hard not to make everything sound completely stereotyped and incredibly corny. Even romance fans will groan at the appearance of yet another overused plot line or a typical character. No one wants to read a repeat of a book, even if it was good. Some writers will make a relationship progress way too quickly, just to get to the "good part," which I suppose varies for each person.

But don't get me wrong, there are some romance novels with a great use of language. There have been a few romance books that made me laugh out loud, brought me to tears, or both! The caliber of a romance novel depends not only on the writer but on the reader's taste, as does any novel. Don't think of a romance novel as a different concept entirely. It's just a different genre, like how every other type of novel falls into a genre. They're all in the same category; they're just different species. Take care when writing your romance, keep an eye out for overused plots/characters/phrases and avoid cliches, but overall, try to include some unique, creative spice into your romance. As long as you do that and follow any other techniques for writing a well-written novel, you'll be more than ready.

That's all for tonight, writers! I'm exhausted, but I hope you enjoyed today's post. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at penelopepaige@rocketmail.com. Time to go sharpen that pencil...

Question: Do you like to read/write romance? Why or why not?

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