I don't write Romance
Listening to: Ultimate Dirty Dancing (singing... Don't you feel like cryin'... Don't you feel like Cryyyyyyyin'...). Hehe. Sorry.NaNoWriMo Update: Umm. Well. I am working on another project at the moment, though.
Mood: Fractrated.
Q How many mainstream publishers does it take to change a light bulb?
A Two. One to change the bulb and one to issue a rejection slip to the old bulb.
It's true. Contrary to some ribbing I get from some people, I don't write romance.
Before I say anything else, i want to state unequivocably that there is nothing whatsoever wrong with writing romance, or reading it, or whatever. I read it. I crit it. I think Romance writers have a LOT to teach other writers about characterisation and close third person personal VP.
I do have relationships in my books. However, my argument has always been that what I mean by "I don't write romance" is that what I do write doesn't follow the normal romantic conventions (I won't say "formula" because that's misleading. The word has negative conntations and I ahve a great deal of respect for romance novelists). My statement comes more from the viewpoint of trying to explain why a particular market wouldn't be suitable to submit my novels to, as in wasting both the editors' time and mine.
By "conventions" I mean:
In any number of sub settings (paranormal, medical, flame, etc), Girl meets Boy. Girl realises she loves (or lusts after, growing to love, depending on the subgenre) Boy. Girl may (or may not) fairly quickly end up in bed with Boy. Heat ensues. Circumstances keep Birl and Boy apart for a bit. Girl & Boy come to their collective senses. Girl gets Boy. Boy and Girl happy. Reader happy. Author happy. Woohoo. :-)
The relationship I'm currently writing in the BethDane Epic Fantasy goes something like this (and bear in mind it's only an important subgenre of one of the two main characters that ties in with a Political Theme and a Quest, she says in a "justifying ones-self" fashion):
Girl loves BoyA. Girl gets betrayed by BoyA. BoyA a bit of a bastard, (but it's not, strictly speaking, BoyA's fault: he's on a different side and is The Big Bad, after all. I made him that way. BoyA hates me. BoyA should, considering what I'm going to do to him). BoyA disappears for a bit. Girl has BoyA's baby and swears off boys altogether for a bit. Baby grows up, gets taken (probably by BoyA, but who knows?).
During The Big Search, Girl meets BoyB and BoyB's adult son (who we shall call Bloke). Bloke falls for Girl. Girl falls for BoyB. Bloke and BoyB important to political storyline, in Massive Covert Rebellion against the Evil Overlord Intentions of BoyA. Girl unintentionally causes rift between BoyB and Bloke. For varying Questual reasons, Bloke and Girl must leave BoyB behind, just as BoyB declares his intentions towards Girl. On Quest, Bloke and Girl sleep together (in the, uh, biblical sense). Bloke thinks he and Girl made for each other. Girl not so sure. Girl guilty: still loves BoyB. Girl screwed in head. Bloke hurt. Bloke takes off. Girl carries on Dangerous Quest alone. Bloke follows in protective fashion. Bloke a decent bloke.
Meanwhile, BoyA and BoyB (who are, of course, Big and Intimate Enemies) have confrontation, and BoyA takes BoyB prisoner. Girl arrives at BoyB's Place Where He Does Evil Stuff with Bloke in tow just in time to see BoyB killed by BoyA. Bloke and Girl taken Prisoner by BoyA. BoyB's mind ends up in Girl's head (along with half the rest of the Cast of Players, it seems. Hmm. Don't ask how it happens, that's sort of a giveaway thing). Book One ends. Author Clueless that most of the Bloke stuff was going to happen when she started writing. Characters suck.
See, though, that's not Romance. That's bloody Days of Our Lives.
Yikeys. I hope the book reads better than the summary. :-|
Currently, I'm working on the first draft of a book that had its inception at EnVision last year. It's a more standard book, stand-alone, that deals with Time Theorem Paradigms, Multiverse Theory and past life stuff. It's fun, I'm getting to use everything I love, and I get to research my butt off. Research is my life, I may have mentioned. Actually, unfortunately, it doesn't help my butt off at all, but that's another story.
However, it is a love story (but not, in fact a romance. Not even a paranormal one), as in the romantic element is vital to the plot. Actually, it is the plot. Thing is, it don't necessarily have an 'appy ending. It may. I haven't decided yet. I guess I'll see where the Lovebirds take me. Characters suck.
The book is written from her VP in first person. I was happy with this until I started to write her kissy scene with the "modern" version of him. I had no trouble with the historical versions, but now I'm finding the contemporary scenes hard to write. A bit confronting. I suspect that I'll have to switch to thrid person, then just do a "find and replace" for the "she's" to "I's".
It's a bit silly, really, but I guess all writers get to this point over something.
Actually, I'm realising that I'm writing a lot of stories with romantic themes lately. I'm not exactly sure why.
Who knows, maybe I will be writing a Romance novel next. :-D
posted by Heather @ 1:15 pm
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