[Cielina]

Note: By romance, I'm talking of it as an idea, not a genre - so many different books have some mention (if not more) of love, romance, and/or sex in there somewhere.


Romance in writing could be better. It's simply the same old clichés over and over again. The main protagonist nearly always falls in love, whilst antagonists rarely do. Romance is the most important and dominating type of love. When two characters get together porperly, it's a happily ever after (it's permanent).

Love is a complex emotion alone, not to mention it is messed up by all sorts of other emotions involved as well. I'm tired of the two happy characters angst for a bit, declare their undying love for each other at expense of everything and literally stick to 'till death do us part'. It's just so overdone.

What about relationships which both sides know won't work from the start because of consequences? What about bad, or horrible, or characters falling in love? What about relationships where the characters have to keep their relationship alive because of some other party (e.g. their children)? What about having relationships for the thrill of love or sex? What about commitment-phobes? What about relationships based purely on sex, which becomes love? What about relationships with love without sex?

What about marriage for status, money, and material things at the cost of a relationship? What about a relationship not based on material things torn apart by lack of money, prospects, etc? What about unrequited love, or one-sided love in marriage? What about vast character development of one person meaning a relationship falls apart? What about long distance relationships and the hard work needed to keep them alive? What about falling out of love, not because of any amoral reason, just because they simply aren't as crazy about each other anymore?


I can think of more off the top of my head. Characters with large and visible flaws can make incredibly interesting and emotive scenarios because of them - they can cause relatonships to become much more interesting. That doesn't mean every relationship need to fail (no, don't fill it with angst angst and more angst if you are doing a bad relationship). Sometimes seeing two characters having to put some effort in, some communication in, to make a relationship with flaws work can be rewarding as well.


Perhaps I've been reading too much junk recently. Just thought it'd be interesting to hear your thoughts.

This post has been edited by Cielina: 20 October 2009 - 03:13 PM

[Stormfire]

I agree entirely. It seems like romance is a vastly unexplored subject in literature. There's really only one kind that is done over and over again and it's the most two dimensional of them all.

There really not many other types that you will find in, at least not modern, literature. The only one that I can really think of off the top of my head is Snape/Lily from Harry Potter.

So many what-ifs will only ever played out proper in the realm of fan fictions.

[Invisible Ink]

Mmmm, thought provoking.

I've been thinking alot about the 'happily ever after' aspect of alot of the novels I read too. Whenever a novel or series ends, with no sequel ever, with two characters ending up together in a relationship, it always feels like it's in cement. It's forever. There's no more conflict or hard times. Nothing to end the relationship. It's a little sickening sometimes. And what's worse is that during the novel, as their relationship is growing, it always seems to be the same problems we read about all the time. I think that's why I really enjoy a novel that has a good romance between two guys. It's refreshing. There are so many new problems for them to face.

I've also thought alot about the 'love without sex' relationships. Not really in novels, but in real life itself. So many people seem to think that love means lust. It's really annoying and kind of disgusting. That's one of the reasons I really liked Chobbits. The whole story is a setup for the fact that love does not equate to sex. I don't know if you're into manga, and even if you're not and just looking for a good 'love without sex' story, I'd really recommend it. And the best part is that you can read it all online if you wanted.

[Go for Gin]

Wow, this topic is so dead...I wouldn't expect it from a topic with such a good discussionability. Or some similar word that actually makes sense.

I'm going to put in some input, (and was a while ago), but it's such a big topic that I can't just quick shoot something off. I'll be back in a bit.

[LaxMonkey]

wow. What a huge topic with alot of 'discussionability'.

I thought of somthing that would be interesting to write/read. When the Protagonist and Antagonist both go for the same person. It would be interesting. I havent seen many novels with this though..... thoughts?

[Black hole]

wow. What a huge topic with alot of 'discussionability'.

I thought of somthing that would be interesting to write/read. When the Protagonist and Antagonist both go for the same person. It would be interesting. I havent seen many novels with this though..... thoughts?

Happens a lot when you think about it. But it could be interesting if the protagonist and antagonist don't fulfill the "hero" and "villain" roles, i.e. they are both just people with different goals, and both actually have a legitimate chance of getting the girl/guy/whatever. In fact, the best way I can think to make it interesting is to have the antagonist be the better option, but the hero still goes for the same person anyway and loses them / forces the better person for them away.

But if it's just the big bad villain who captures the heroes love interest because he fancies her and tries to force her to marry him, and then the hero bursts in and saves the day... I don't think I really need to tell you I don't think that would be too interesting.

I don't know anything actual romance novels as I would never really read them. But I think the reason why romance often seems so unoriginal in other genres is just because it's something thrown in there because its expected or normal. The main character meets a good looking girl / guy, and throughout the course of the book they fall in love, get together, and it's implied they'll live happily ever after. Unless the author actually thinks of something more complex or interesting to do with romance, there's a good chance they'll just throw a "normal" romance in there, instead of having no romance at all.