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- Feb 3, 2016
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I'm sure we've all experienced some kind of sneering about the genre we write, or at least seen general criticism of romance as 'easy to write' or 'porn for bored housewives' or 'not real literature' or whatever. We all know it's bollocks - especially the 'easy to write' part - but I thought it'd be nice to talk about all the positives of the genre.
I love:
- Knowing I have to have a happy ending. That's the kind of ending I like as a reader, but if I wrote in other genres I would have to at least consider whether it made a more powerful ending to kill off a character I'd grown to love, or tear apart a relationship. I think thriller writers have it really hard; I read a lot of those and it seems a shocking and unpredictable twist at the end is almost mandatory these days. While we have the opposite challenge - trying to hold a reader's interest when that reader knows from page 1 how it will end - it's a challenge I would prefer over having to come up with something totally unexpected yet believable.
- Romance fans. Does any genre have more fiercely protective fans? I love that romance readers know their own minds, are outspoken about what they like and don't like, and will buy as many books as we can produce for them. Which brings me on to...
- The massive market. Which probably accounts for some of the frustrated snobbery we can encounter from authors in other genres...
- The diversity in the genre. Not just in terms of #ownvoices kind of diversity, which is getting much better, but that you can have a romance that's set in 1850s London or a romance that's set on 3050 Planet Xor. A romance between a farmer and a shop assistant, a lord and a prostitute, or an alien and a shapeshifting zebra. It always boggles my mind when people say romance is too restrictive because it must have a happy ending, when the other 99% of the content can be anything you want it to be.
- That it's women-centric. I know some critics think it's an insult to say our books are escapism for women, or are fulfiling women's fantasies, that the men are too perfect and give women unrealistic expectations for relationships. To me, that's not an insult. I'm happy to provide a bit of fantasy. And if romance leads to a woman realising that she should hold out for a healthy relationship and not settle for some of the incredibly low standards that pass as normal, then great! Plus, if she wants to indulge in fantasies about unhealthy relationships then there's not exactly a dearth of those romances available, either.
- The romance. I'm not much of a my-writing-is-my-baby type of author but I do get very fond of my characters, and it gives me a little glow to be able to write them those happy moments. The first kiss, the first night, the HEA. And I'm okay with torturing them a little along the way because I know everything will work out fine.
What do you enjoy about writing romance?
I love:
- Knowing I have to have a happy ending. That's the kind of ending I like as a reader, but if I wrote in other genres I would have to at least consider whether it made a more powerful ending to kill off a character I'd grown to love, or tear apart a relationship. I think thriller writers have it really hard; I read a lot of those and it seems a shocking and unpredictable twist at the end is almost mandatory these days. While we have the opposite challenge - trying to hold a reader's interest when that reader knows from page 1 how it will end - it's a challenge I would prefer over having to come up with something totally unexpected yet believable.
- Romance fans. Does any genre have more fiercely protective fans? I love that romance readers know their own minds, are outspoken about what they like and don't like, and will buy as many books as we can produce for them. Which brings me on to...
- The massive market. Which probably accounts for some of the frustrated snobbery we can encounter from authors in other genres...
- The diversity in the genre. Not just in terms of #ownvoices kind of diversity, which is getting much better, but that you can have a romance that's set in 1850s London or a romance that's set on 3050 Planet Xor. A romance between a farmer and a shop assistant, a lord and a prostitute, or an alien and a shapeshifting zebra. It always boggles my mind when people say romance is too restrictive because it must have a happy ending, when the other 99% of the content can be anything you want it to be.
- That it's women-centric. I know some critics think it's an insult to say our books are escapism for women, or are fulfiling women's fantasies, that the men are too perfect and give women unrealistic expectations for relationships. To me, that's not an insult. I'm happy to provide a bit of fantasy. And if romance leads to a woman realising that she should hold out for a healthy relationship and not settle for some of the incredibly low standards that pass as normal, then great! Plus, if she wants to indulge in fantasies about unhealthy relationships then there's not exactly a dearth of those romances available, either.
- The romance. I'm not much of a my-writing-is-my-baby type of author but I do get very fond of my characters, and it gives me a little glow to be able to write them those happy moments. The first kiss, the first night, the HEA. And I'm okay with torturing them a little along the way because I know everything will work out fine.
What do you enjoy about writing romance?