How to Make the Romance Genre Respected

Discussion in 'Romance' started by PaintingWriter, Dec 27, 2015.

  1. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    Where cushions are comfy, and straps hold firm.
    That may take a little bit of looking into. I live in a town of literally 6k+ people. Searched the library archive and they don't have it anywhere within 50 miles. I would hate to have to opt out due to my circumstances. :p

    Besides throwing caution to the wind, I bought a lesser known Metal album years ago and it turned out to be pretty good. Sometimes it is best to throw a little risk out there. Anyways the over all exercise is to gain at the least a base understanding of how the overall genre works. That and it should not cost more than time, considering the aim is for academic purpose. BayVeiw raises a good point that just because one person likes something, does not translate over to the next. :p
     
    Last edited: Dec 29, 2015
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  2. Commandante Lemming

    Commandante Lemming Contributor Contributor

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    Yeah that's every genre. There's plenty of stuff in my own spheres that I'm not a huge fan of.

    Although in this case, commentary on lighter, fluffier Romance from readers who don't do light and fluffy might be funny as heck. (If this worked out my next move was going to see if I could get a few strictly-Romance people to return the favor and assign them some Hard SF like Cixin Liu's "The Three-Body Problem"...three cheers for worldbuilding based on abstract physics and orbital mechanics!)

    (I know, I know...I'm a horrible person :p )
     
  3. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    We could still read a novel from Romance, and then compare notes. Take the good with the bad, while giving a choice on what novels we all choose. Like wise you could extend the same to the Romance crowd with the SF challenge. Not exactly the standard 'book club' mentality, but then again why not break out of the classic mold.

    That being said to keep it within your original proposal, I find no reason why it couldn't work in either case. Sound fair? :p
     
  4. Commandante Lemming

    Commandante Lemming Contributor Contributor

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    Okay we figured something out. Thread forthcoming :supercool:
     
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  5. Wolfmaster1234

    Wolfmaster1234 Member

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    There isn't really any way to change people opinions of the genre. If you are writing romance though I would say probably the most common criticism of romantic fiction is how cliched some of the stories can be so if you want to write "respected" romantic fiction try to be as original as possible and avoid common cliches.
     
  6. NeighborVoid

    NeighborVoid Active Member

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    Romance should be an element of the plot, not a genre in and of itself.
     
  7. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Why?
     
  8. Commandante Lemming

    Commandante Lemming Contributor Contributor

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    Ummm...genre Romance is just a story where the Romance is the main plot rather than a subplot. (And every romantic comedy I've ever seen on film has non-romantic subplots just like any other story).

    There's nothing wrong with that.
     
  9. NeighborVoid

    NeighborVoid Active Member

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    It's rather mundane and specific by itself, like having a genre devoted to pizza store finance management. There's a very limited range of possible conflicts (adultery, forbidden relationships, etc.) that is quickly exhausted and causes the writer to outsource conflicts and ideas from other genres. By that point, it might as well be about the other genre because that's what the conflict now revolves around.
     
  10. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Have you read a lot of romance novels?
     
  11. NeighborVoid

    NeighborVoid Active Member

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    I read a couple of them a few years ago and abandoned the genre due to the lack of variety.
     
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  12. peachalulu

    peachalulu Member Reviewer Contributor

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    Good gravy that's like watching two classic movies and writing them off as boring. Taste is involved - how do you know you found a style of romance you liked.
     
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  13. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    And do you think those two books gave you enough of an understanding of the genre to be able to responsibly declare that the genre shouldn't exist?

    Do you distinguish between "It's not something I choose to read" and "It shouldn't even be a genre?"

    Are you just stating things to an extreme level as a way to stir things up, or do you actually believe what you're saying?
     
  14. NeighborVoid

    NeighborVoid Active Member

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    It's a bit more than that. Fiction generally serves to deliver an experience that one would not experience in their lives. Alien invasions, magic, effects of speculative technologies on society, etc. Like paying the taxes, romance is something most would eventually experience. Honestly, I'd rather spend my time pursuing romance in real life if I were interested.
     
  15. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    So you only read SF/F? No realistic fiction?

    Do you think that's a standard you should apply to everyone else, who may have different preferences?
     
  16. NeighborVoid

    NeighborVoid Active Member

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    I sometimes read realistic military/political fiction.

    It's a personal preference, really. Other people should read what they like. I just think romance is like soy sauce. Romance adds flavor, but I'd rather not have too much of it.
     
  17. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Fair enough - personal preference (or the lack thereof) is a bit different from declaring a genre shouldn't exist!
     
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  18. NeighborVoid

    NeighborVoid Active Member

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    It's sorta implied, though. It'd be tedious to add the phrase "I think that" to the start of every opinion. I'm not going to start a crusade to end a genre.
     
  19. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Well - I don't read hard scifi - the few books I've read have bored me to tears. But I don't think that it shouldn't exist. I just think it's not for me.

    But you apparently think that if you don't care for something, it shouldn't exist? Or are we back to the "overstated for effect" thing?
     
  20. NeighborVoid

    NeighborVoid Active Member

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    To clarify, I think it simply does not change enough to constitute an independent genre. It's a subgenre like military/political/crime.

    You cannot have fiction that is simultaneously realistic and fantasy, but you can have any combination of romance, war, etc. because they're subgenres.
     
  21. Lewdog

    Lewdog Come ova here and give me kisses! Supporter Contributor

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    You could always add some violence...everyone loves some gratuitous violence!
     
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  22. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Well, okay. You're disagreeing with the vast majority of book publishers, sellers, and readers, but - okay. Don't get too confused when you see the big "Romance" section at the book store, though!
     
  23. NeighborVoid

    NeighborVoid Active Member

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    Yeah, society tends to categorize things in strange ways.
     
  24. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    Or based on, say, murder? Or war? Or cowboys? Or crime? Or spies?

    Those would never work.
     
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  25. NeighborVoid

    NeighborVoid Active Member

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    In isolation, probably not. There's a lot of overlap.
     

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