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[mare]

^ that can be questionable with some lol

[Carter-Orange]

^ that can be questionable with some lol

LOL yes, so true!

[Mellz Bellz]

I think another reason romance is so popular compared to sci-fi for example, is that we've all been romantically involved with someone and can therefore relate to it and use personal experiences within our stories, whereas none of us have ever been beamed up by aliens, lol.

Exactly the point I was trying to make in the other thread! I can relate to having romantic feelings for someone and all the angst and emotion stemming from that. I can't relate to aliens and space ships and paranormal universes. Some people prefer that though and really enjoy that complete escape from reality.

LOl at Mare trying to write a romance. I see what you mean though. I mean I've gotten ideas for other genres, but for some reason I just don't have the heart to follow them through and give them all justice. I'm very detail oriented so if I was say trying to write a suspense story trying to cover every single plot hole and create the "perfect crime" sounds exhausting to me! Kudos who those who can do it well!

[mare]

Yeah, I give you guys credit because I just can't do it without making the girl some kind of psychopath! lmao I have issues.

[julilly]

WOW! I can't remember the last time I came on the forum and had to catch up on PAGES of discussion! This is amazing, I'm enjoying seeing your thoughts!

[mare]

I know! It's exciting, right? lol

[FrickingKaos]

Since I write mostly romance....I do my story in the third person. Yes Nick is the main character...he is a musician..but I mostly follow his life seperate from that. The fact he is a singer isn't the whole point of the story. I personally hate the teenybopper Romance where girl goes on tour with bsb and one boy falls in love with her...you Kind of get tired of those after a while. I like romance but there is not much originality these days in the genre.

[cabybakes]

I'm late to the party, but I am finally signing in on an actual computer so here are my thoughts:

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 haven't read much FF lately, but I do read a lot of romance in general (books, etc.).  I haven't been writing regularly lately either, but when I do, it is romance.  I like to think of it as angstier romance

I think romance does get a bad rap...for good reason.  I agree with what a lot of you have said on here.  The problem with romance as a genre is that there is a A LOT of really BAD romance out there...with the writer as the character, bad grammar, etc., etc., etc.  I believe the misconception is that all romance is bad, which stinks for people who actually write quality romance.  I think that is why romance is the most over rated and under rated genre.

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 am going to quote SakaSteph here...totally agree!!!  "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."

Also - I know sex is controversial in romance - and again, my stance is that sex is a part of adult relationships, so if you are writing about adult relationships, sex sometimes is a part of what is going on!

Do you tend to leave reviews for what you read?
Yes!

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?

In FF, I'm not really interested in some of the other genres...I don't read them just like I don't write them.  

[cabybakes]

Regarding sequels...I think sometimes people can ruin their characters by doing them.  I really really contemplated doing a sequel for Casual, but in the end, I changed the ending and opted not to do one. 

For me, I get really exhausted by my characters, as a writer, it's fun to create someone new and tell their story.

Like Mel has said many times, if a sequel can stand on it's own, then I am down with it...there has to be enough there!

[mare]

Sequels in general are interesting because I think most of us have a hard time letting go of our characters which is why we write them in the first place. I notice the trend more in romance though. Maybe it's because as the couple progresses so does their story? Like having babies etc... but again unless it's written in an interesting way, it should end. A sequel debate would be another interesting one since we've all written them and have mixed thoughts about them. 

[RokofAges75]

You both bring up great points about sequels.  Like Mare said, I think it's easy to get attached to characters, especially in a romance where, like SakaSteph said, it's all about that interpersonal relationship.  You really come to know and care about the characters, both as people and as a couple, and it's tempting to want to continue writing about them and their life beyond the original story.

I think what writers sometimes forget is that stories are meant to be more exciting than real life.  It's one thing to have a story and its characters be realistic... but that doesn't mean the story plays out exactly like real life.  Most people's day to day lives are not that interesting, whereas a good story is interesting because it stems from conflict.

I feel like when you take a story past its natural conclusion, where the main conflict is resolved, either by drawing the story out longer or by writing a sequel, it starts to get boring, and the "solution" is to throw a bunch of new problems at the characters to create drama.  Then it switches from boring/too much like real life to over-the-top melodramatic/too much like a soap opera.  I think that's what happens with some (SOME, certainly not all) sequels, especially in romance.

And like Darby said, sometimes it ends up ruining the characters.  Speaking from my own experience, when you have to really reach to invent some kind of conflict to build a sequel around, you end up with your beloved characters acting in ways that totally go against the way you originally developed them.  Better to leave them with their self-respect and let the story end when the real conflict ends.

[myconfession]

Oh and yay for actually debating this!! Like you said Mel, if you like it read it, if not don't. The only reason we're talking about it is because most of us said we thought it was over-rated. I thought this would be a fun one to discuss. I think in general romance is a popular genre. As a writer trying to get published, if you write romance there are soo many more options for you than if you write anything else. I have been so tempted to write a romance but I can't do it. I'm not the romance type lmao

Like I said in that other thread that Julie made, I think it's easy to be over critical of romance because it's all over the place. Just like people tend to over analyze everything Nick does but Howie can kill someone and it would go unnoticed...Un less he kills Nick, which might happen one day LOL

Would it be bad if you have Nick kill himself in two of your stories? Granted, they are 10 years apart but LMFAO!

People were fucking PISSED at that. LMFAO!

[mare]

Nick killing himself or being killed by someone else is something that also makes a lot of people happy lol See, you mention that to suspense/angst people and they might be tempted to read.

[RokofAges75]

^ Yep!  If you recommend a romance to me with the promise that someone's going to die at the end, I'm automatically more interested in reading it, because at least that means it has the promise of drama and angst and something interesting happening.

I'm the reader that used to click on random chapters near the end of stories to see if there was any sign of tragedy before I decided whether or not to read them all the way through LOL.  I don't do that anymore, but I sure did back then, especially with romance.  Usually I'd read the first few chapters, but if nothing interesting had happened by that point, I'd click ahead to see if anything interesting ever did.  If not... eh, not worth my time. LOL

[Carter-Orange]

I'm quite happy to read stories where characters are killed off or something else tragic.  I've written a couple of short romance stories where I've either killed the girl off or killed them both off at the end (they're Take That stories though).