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[mare]

Yay a question I can answer lol although I have no idea what that answer is going to be.

[colorguard_diva]

Romance is not just about get the couple in bed and slam, bam, thank you ma'am. Romance is about relationships. When writing a sequel, I visualize the couple in a different phase in their relationship. Say they got married and now have kids, their relationship is not the same as when they first met. They have different obstacles they face, whether it's less time together or someone focusing on their career instead of the relationship. Personally, I view it as real life situations, no relationship is going to be focused just on beginning love. The couple needs to evolve and change, if not the relationship is stagnant.

I think whether a sequel is romance or suspense you still need to change up the dynamics and situations the characters are involved in.

[RokofAges75]

I don't think I worded my question very well.  I'm not so much wondering how people can write sequel after sequel about the same characters - I get that because I've been there, done that.  I'm wondering how people who write predominantly romance go about creating different couples in each story/series, using the same guy (Nick or whichever boy).  Is it a challenge to create the right chemistry with a new (and presumably different) female character and the same boy you've already used for a power couple in a different story/series?

[colorguard_diva]

Personally whether you write romance, suspense, adventure, etc. over and over the goal is to create an exciting, dynamic story. Just because you may write Nick as a lead doesn't mean the story is a carbon copy every time. That's where an engaging plot comes in. That sets the tone of your characters.

Julie, you have written more than one cancer story about Nick. Both are extremely different due to your plot line. Your plot line helped drive your characters by making them do what they do in a given situation.

I see no difference just because the genre is romance. Basically I have a million ideas and the plots and characters are different because of the storyline.

[FrickingKaos]

My favorite Villain....I would have to say Valerie from Figured You Out. She was twisted.and psychotic, just a really fun character to play with and see how far I could push the crazy level. I loved writing her so much.

As for the romance question, I myself write a series and it is somewhat of a challenge to make it and keep it interesting, luckily AU gives you so much roo to play around and see what you can throw into the story.

[mare]

I have two favorite villains and they both have no names lol The guy from It Stays and The Beautiful Girl. Both were a trip to write. Particularly the bad guy in It Stays. I loved writing his short story and getting into his head about why he turned out the way he did.

[Rose]

Romance is not just about get the couple in bed and slam, bam, thank you ma'am. Romance is about relationships. When writing a sequel, I visualize the couple in a different phase in their relationship. Say they got married and now have kids, their relationship is not the same as when they first met. They have different obstacles they face, whether it's less time together or someone focusing on their career instead of the relationship. Personally, I view it as real life situations, no relationship is going to be focused just on beginning love. The couple needs to evolve and change, if not the relationship is stagnant.

I think whether a sequel is romance or suspense you still need to change up the dynamics and situations the characters are involved in.

I don't think Julie was saying that was what romance was at all. I think sometimes in romance series the authors end up throwing more out there situations so that it does change up the dynamics. But that's just my opinion. That's why I usually believe they can't go past a sequel. Because there's only so much that can happen before it becomes repetitive.

[Rose]

On another note - leave it to a romance question to spark up discussion lol.

[colorguard_diva]

I think a sequel in any genre can be overplayed and repetitive. Why is the issue always romance?

[mare]

^ I agree with that one. Sequels are tricky in any genre I think. There is that fine line between seeing characters through to the end of their story or just being afraid or not wanting (or in some cases not knowing how) to let the your characters go.

[RokofAges75]

Julie, you have written more than one cancer story about Nick. Both are extremely different due to your plot line. Your plot line helped drive your characters by making them do what they do in a given situation.

I see no difference just because the genre is romance. Basically I have a million ideas and the plots and characters are different because of the storyline.

I have, and what I found was that when I attempted to include some romance in the second one (Curtain Call), it just didn't feel "right" like it did in Broken/BMS, and that was because the characters just didn't have the right kind of chemistry to be a power couple.  I was just thinking that I can't see myself ever writing another epic Nick romance series because I'm not sure I could ever top Nick & Claire.  So I was just wondering if people who write romance all the time ever face that dilemma.  Despite different storylines and different characterizati ons, do all your couples have that same magic in your mind, or does it vary from story to story?

I'm not knocking romance at all - hats off to people who write it often and write it well.  It's not easy because, even when it has a plot driving the action, it's very character-based.  I didn't mean to start a debate or put anyone on the defensive, though I'm glad to see an actual discussion going on in here!

[RokofAges75]

^ I agree with that one. Sequels are tricky in any genre I think. There is that fine line between seeing characters through to the end of their story or just being afraid or not wanting (or in some cases not knowing how) to let the your characters go.

Personally, I think sequels to action/suspense stories get even more repetitive and/or boring than romance sequels, because either the characters fall into increasingly unrealistic, dangerous situations (exactly how many times can the same characters get kidnapped, for example?), or the sequel is just about the characters dealing with the aftermath of what happened in the first story, which is just not as exciting for people who want action and suspense.  At least romance tends to be more about two people just living their lives, not caught up in some dramatic, life-or-death situation, and so a sequel that continues the story of their lives together shares the same tone and makes more sense.

Obviously, there have been excellent sequels to suspense and action stories, and terrible sequels to romances, so I'm not lumping them all into one category.  I've seen both kinds work, and I've seen both drag on way too long.  Like Mare said, it all comes down to the author knowing when the best part of the story has been told and deciding to let go.

[colorguard_diva]

Julie, I know you weren't starting a debate. I thought it was a nice conversation about a topic.

Yes, romance is definitely more character driven which is why I love writing it. I love dealing with feelings and how people deal with situations. I love the complexity of people and how they deal with each other.

There have been times I have wondered if I could top a set of characters or a story. I think it's because I grew so close to my characters. Plus, if I don't have a new idea to write about I can feel that way until inspiration hits.

[Rose]

I think a sequel in any genre can be overplayed and repetitive. Why is the issue always romance?

I'm not insulting romance at all. You're right, sequels CAN be that way. However they are the most common beast in romance I've noticed. Most other genres  in fanfic  just have single stories. Because the danger of having sequels to suspense fics or action stories is higher in terms of repetitiveness, because those stories are more dependent on situational plots.

[RokofAges75]

That's probably true about romances being more likely to have a sequel.  If I had to come up with a list of sequels, I'd probably be able to list more romance sequels, but at the same time, more of the sequels I've actually read and enjoyed are drama or suspense.  Then again, there are also suspense stories I love with sequels that I couldn't even finish reading because they couldn't hold up to the original (and some were discontinued, probably for that same reason).  I'm finding that I'm generally not a big fan of the sequel in fan fiction, period.