Fic Talk > General Discussion

The romantic debate

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Mellz Bellz:

--- Quote from: Karah on July 07, 2011, 11:29:54 AM ---That is a big misconception that everything is happily ever after with "romance" stories. I try my best to stay away from that cliche and boy does it piss readers off LMFAO

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Yea learned that one the hard way LOL

As someone mentioned about the sequels and endless spin offs... It's a tough call for me because I am guilty of not letting go of characters and writing story after story about the same relationship. It's easy to get suckered into that especially when there is a demmand from your readers. I feel like with me personally as much as I go back and reread Under My Skin and cringe at some parts, it was very popular and because of the way it ended and my reader's reactions I needed to go back and rectify it with a sequel.  A Little Taste of Sin was definitely better written overall, but I feel like I definitely went for the shock value and over the top drama just to compete with other Nick romance series at the time. When it came to the next story and actusally had to deal with the fall out of all the drama I realized that I'd really backed myself into a corner which is why I stopped writing for a while.


Of course now what do I do? I go right back to Alyssa and Nick because it's comfortable for me and I am doing some rewriting, a prequel story, and basically just changing a lot of the things that make me cringe. I've come to turns with the fact that I'm going to write what I want to write and not worry so much about catering to readers. Whether that be writing an entire series of stories about one couple or leaving iff one story on a sad note it's what I like writing about.

Carter-Orange:
That's the best way Mel, write it how you want it to be.

I don't mind sequels as long as there is a story to tell.

Rose:

--- Quote from: Mellz Bellz on July 07, 2011, 12:38:18 PM ---Yea learned that one the hard way LOL

As someone mentioned about the sequels and endless spin offs... It's a tough call for me because I am guilty of not letting go of characters and writing story after story about the same relationship. It's easy to get suckered into that especially when there is a demmand from your readers. I feel like with me personally as much as I go back and reread Under My Skin and cringe at some parts, it was very popular and because of the way it ended and my reader's reactions I needed to go back and rectify it with a sequel.  A Little Taste of Sin was definitely better written overall, but I feel like I definitely went for the shock value and over the top drama just to compete with other Nick romance series at the time. When it came to the next story and actusally had to deal with the fall out of all the drama I realized that I'd really backed myself into a corner which is why I stopped writing for a while.


Of course now what do I do? I go right back to Alyssa and Nick because it's comfortable for me and I am doing some rewriting, a prequel story, and basically just changing a lot of the things that make me cringe. I've come to turns with the fact that I'm going to write what I want to write and not worry so much about catering to readers. Whether that be writing an entire series of stories about one couple or leaving iff one story on a sad note it's what I like writing about.

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Honestly Mel, I read the first story of that (as you know) and at the time liked it. But all the sequels made me just go WTF and I ended up being fed up with the entire thing. To each writer their own, but I just cannot get how a pure romance can go for so many novels and not get stale. Sequels can be good things, but they can also destroy a story.


--- Quote from: Karah on July 07, 2011, 11:29:54 AM ---That is a big misconception that everything is happily ever after with "romance" stories. I try my best to stay away from that cliche and boy does it piss readers off LMFAO

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98% of it is, which is partly why it has the reputation it has. *shrugs*.


--- Quote ---But just because a characters name is reminiscent of the author (like Tara in IWBB), doesn't mean the character is based on the author.
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Then I gotta ask, why do it? I mean me, I'd go out of my way to not have it be similar to my own name, in that case. I mean, Tara...Karah, it's easy, very easy, to assume it's a Mary Sue. Why not just dismiss that easy misconception by switching up the name?

Rose:

--- Quote from: cabybakes on July 04, 2011, 08:52:35 PM ---This is kind of what Casual is about...

I'll be back to weigh in on this debate, too hard to do from my phone!

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I should check it out, I've heard a lot of good things about it, and how it differs from the standard romance. Like I've said, there's exceptions to everything, but it tends to be the norm.


--- Quote from: Mellz Bellz on July 05, 2011, 03:48:13 PM ---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.

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Honestly though, my whole reason to read BSB fanfic is to be the Boys. And that's a huge issue in romance, it tends to become more about the female. Which, if that's the case, it may as well be Original Fiction and be done with it you know? There's nothing wrong with original characters. They add a lot to the story at times. But the Boys shouldn't be cameos, they should be right up there in the center of it.

Now putting a piece of yourself in a character is one thing. Oddly enough, my version of "Nick" these days, is scarily close to the way my own random mind works. Random lyrics, musings, whatever. I usually give them to Nick's character. I don't think it's the same as a female insert who is based heavily off yourself. I can see how a female perspective is easier to write, but that doesn't mean she should be based so much on you. Why not make her different? For me, the challenge makes writing more interesting.

mare:
You know what's weird for me, when it comes to novels, I love reading through a girl's POV more so than a guys because I can relate to the girl so much better, but for some reason when writing, I can write through a guy's POV easier. Even if i'm writing OF, I struggle when it comes to female characters but have no trouble with the guys.

For me when BSB fanfic is told through a girl's POV as the main character, i'm already bored because I want to read about the boys. I don't know how else to explain it, without sounding like a broken record. Since i'm such a couch potatoe, i'll use TV as an analogy, even though i'm sure i've done that as well lol

It's like taking your favorite show (like Supernatural) and suddenly shifting focus from the main characters to the girl one of them is dating. For one episode (one chapter) it would be okay but if they kept doing it i'd lose interest in the show because I started watching it for the boys and their dynamics and interactions. Is it nice to have a good, strong female character in a story? Yes! Of course. But do I want that person to dominate a story about the Backstreet Boys? Not so much. I have tried many many times to get into these types of stories and I just can't do it unless in my head I make it not about BSB in which case I generally lose interest because why read this when I can read a book instead?

In that vein I have another question for you guys.

Have you read your stuff and thought you could easily make it an OF? Because if you only use one of the guys why not just make it a random pop star? What is it about the guys or guy that has you keep them as the main character? Is it because you feel very comfortable writing as one of the BSB? I'm just curious because I honestly tried to write a story where it was just Nick as a main character and having the guys barely in it and there was actually a female as a lead and I got about a chapter in and thought, this isn't a BSB fanfic. I'm making this a random pop star and changing it to an OF.

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