Fic Talk > General Discussion

The romantic debate

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Mellz Bellz:
How many of you read romance and or write romance on a regular basis? And do you feel like it tends to get a bad rep? If so what do you feel are some of the misconceptions out there?

Lurking around and felt this is a topic I could really respond to. In the past I've kind of been on both sides of the fence here. I've been writing since I was 15 and naturally where did I start? Really bad Nick romances LOL. I'll be the first to admit that I've done the cliches... I've followed the trends. I really do feel though that the strictly romance/drama genre gets a bad rep, especially the Nick romance genre. I personally like to write for a few reasons. It's a great creative outlet for me. I have a great imagination that I definitely am losing the older I get, so a creative hobby like this is good for me. I've met some awesome friends through writing fan fics and I love the community that we have as writers for each other. I also see writing as a bit of a therapeutic outlet for me. Someone commented on basing female characters off of themselves and how annoying it is, but I think we all to some degree do it. We may not name our characters after ourselves anymore, but consciuously or subconsciously we may make them look like us or be in the same profession as us, or have the same family as us. It's what we know and in some instances it's so much easier to make my female lead a teacher versus a magazine editor because I know nothing about that world. I feel it makes me more credible as a writer. I know many fan fic purists who say "It's BSB fan fiction so I want to read about BSB, not some random chick." I disagree with that. I try in my writing to where appropriate cameo the other guys in, but predominantly I guess my writing is very "female centric." I feel like I've made a lot of progress even in writing more in Nick's POV, but I still sometimes find myself neglecting his thoughts and have to stop myself and go back. Let's face it... It's easier for me to write as a female becasuse I am one.

As for romance being a stand alone genre I think that too many people just assume that romance is all about sex scenes and dumb drama. We've all read the cliched "Nick meets ordinary girl. They fall in love. Have lots of amazing sex. Girl gets pregnant. Nick cheats on her. Girl forgives him after a few chapters. They get married and live happily ever after. The end." A lot of those stories DO exsist. Maybe it is a bit pretentious of me, but I always felt like I tried to write about romance in a realistic way that was still entertaining. The fact is that in real life, romance is not at all that exciting or romantic. I mean in the beginning yes it can be, but romance can be awkward and it's not like in the movies. So, I try to straddle that line. Problem is that it's so easy to get sucked down that path of craziness and overblown sex scenes becasuse no one wants to read about the realities of a relationship where things are less than perfect. The few times I've tried to take a more realistic route with a character readers can mistake them for being "whiny or unconfident." It's tricky and something that I am trying to work on as I rewrite some of my older stuff.

Ha I could go on and on, but I'll just leave it at that for now.

How many of you have ever read at least one romance and what was it about it, that made you go back or stop?

I've read multiple romances over the years. Some great, some not so great. Certain stories that I read years ago that disgusted me the first time I read it, I found really enjoyable reading again at an older age. Again I think for me what really gets me into a good romance is strong, believable characters that I can identify with. If they are too perfect or too unbelievable they don't seem real to me and I could care less what happens to them.

Do you tend to leave reviews for what you read?

I try to. I used to be A LOT better about it when I first joined AC. Lately I haven't read much because I've been out of the loop for so long I'm not sure where to start lol. I may not review every chapter, but I'll try to send a review every now and then to let others know that I am checking out their story.

For those of you that write strictly romance, what is it that makes you stay away from the other genres? Which of the other genres do you find you want to skip and why?

This is a REALLY good question and I'm not sure why I love my romances so much. I used to be such a hopeless romantic in my teens, but now I'm actually pretty cynical. I think that still somewhere deep down I want to believe in romance and falling in love with someone. As Julilly said love and sex are a part of life. People do it. It's a big part of life. I don't stay away from other genres purposely it's just I like to deal with more reality based situations. I don't mind reading other genres and I am much more likely to read anything if there's a romantic subplot, but as far as writing goes it just doersn't appeal to me. There's a lot of loopholes you need to cover in other genres to pull them off well. I'm also a perfectionist when it comes to details, so if I don't know about a topic and can't really research it very well I'd rather not write it than write a story that is not accurate.

I hope that helped to get a different perspective on the romance debate.

mare:
Yes, thank you. I was hoping someone who mainly wrote romance weighed in on this.

mare:
Just felt like it belonged here instead and i'd love for more people to weigh in on this. Feel free to make similar topics about other genres as well.

Sapphire:
How many of you read romance and or write romance on a regular basis? And do you feel like it tends to get a bad rep? If so what do you feel are some of the misconceptions out there?
I love reading romance and that’s the only thing I write. I think it gets a bad rep because of misconceptions like Steph said. I think a lot of people just think it’s boy meets girl fall in love and get married. I will admit though I’m guilty of doing that in a few of my stories. As far as the comment made about sequels, I'm guilty of that. In fact I'm wrting one to Joyful Heart right now. I think for me perosnally, I have more to say about the couple and what they are going through so I make a second story. For example the sequel to JH is set four years later so it's kind of how is their relationship now.

How many of you have ever read at least one romance and what was it about it, that made you go back or stop?

Absolutely read romance. If the story of how they met and fell in love is interesting, if there conflicts in the relationship and them getting together, that’s what keeps me coming back. Sometimes I stop reading if the writer takes it in a direction I wouldn’t envision for the couple. But that’s just a personal thing for me.

Do you tend to leave reviews for what you read?
I try to but a lot of times I don’t. I really need to get better at that.

If you are someone who doesn't enjoy romance, why?
Does not apply.


For those of you that write strictly romance, what is it that makes you stay away from the other genres? Which of the other genres do you find you want to skip and why?
I think I stay away from other genres because I don’t know how to write anything else. I think I do okay at romance because it’s my fantasy coming to life. How I wish things could be for me. That’s why I’m always the main female lead. I’m writing about how I want a man to want me and to fall instantly in love with me. I hope that doesn’t come off as selfish of me but that’s just me putting my fantasy out there. Some days my fantasy world is what keeps me sane! I definitely couldn’t do horror and I don’t know if I could be good at describing a thriller or mystery.

Sakabelle:
How many of you read romance and or write romance on a regular basis? And do you feel like it tends to get a bad rep? If so what do you feel are some of the misconceptions out there?
I don't as much anymore, but I used to a lot. For a while, it was the genre I was reading and writing the most! I don't feel like it gets a bad rep; people are going to like what they're going to like. There are a lot of people reading and writing romance, so while it may not be for everyone there are a lot of romance fans out there.

If there are any misconceptions, I'd say it's that all romances are bland and just endless relationship drama that goes nowhere. While this is probably true for some, it's definitely not true for all. But I think it's just because there are so many romances, there are naturally going to be more poorly written ones than well written ones. It's like with Nick fans! He's the most popular so he has more crazies lol

How many of you have ever read at least one romance and what was it about it, that made you go back or stop?
I've read lots of romances. The ones I kept reading had interesting characters that drove the story and kept things fresh. I feel like you need to spend time developing characters in romance because romance is so hugely based on interpersonal relationships. I don't think endless amounts of couple drama is entertaining without having the characters established beforehand, and that's what'll have me clicking the back button.

I also can't buy Nick as this overly sweet nice guy. There are lots of stories I've read (especially back in the day...1999-2001) where Nick shows up and sweeps this girl off her feet. I can't deal with OOC Nick and I know that I don't know him personally or anything, but super perfect prince charming Nick just rubs me the wrong way.

Do you tend to leave reviews for what you read?
Yes, I like to let people know that I'm reading and I enjoy the dialogue that can come from the author responding to my review.

If you are someone who doesn't enjoy romance, why?
n/a

For those of you that write strictly romance, what is it that makes you stay away from the other genres? Which of the other genres do you find you want to skip and why?
I do like other genres, but I started out writing romance because I found it the easiest. I've always been into romance type movies so that's probably part of the reason. Also, I'm not gonna lie, 13 year old me really loved reading about Nick and his endless amounts of relationships and drama. That guy gets around! :P but I was never strictly a romance writer.

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