LOL I praise Nicholas Sparks but by no means do I consider his books to be some of the best romance out on the market, in fact, I consider his stories to be pretty average and in many ways pretty standard and formulaic to match the current demand of the romance genre. Though don’t get me wrong, his books are still worth a read and as an aspiring writer something worth studying. I think I mentioned that I only began to like Nicholas Sparks after I started writing… the reason is because his writing style is something really resonates with me. I’m pretty inspired by southern themes I guess – stuff like The Great Gatsby, To Kill A Mockingbird, Gone With The Wind, a bunch of Cormac McCarthy books etc that feature southern settings and themes is really stuff I want to explore - and Sparks is very good at incorporating southern living with his stories (even though it’s all usually a tribute to North Carolina with hardly anything bad.) To be honest, I think I’m more in love with his writing style than his stories. His writing is pretty unique. He’s got a distinct author’s voice and pen that I haven’t seen really anywhere else and if you have read any of his books, you can see that he is an author who is very much in control of his writing at every step of the way. He is very specific. The way he creates his characters, they way his makes their romance come to light, they way the climax is handle… I mean, every sentence is honestly crafted to make sure that his characters are made HIS way and not something that reader is able to debate or argue with. He does this to make sure his plot moves at exactly the right pace, to make sure that when that emotional punch hits you, it hits you hard. I mean, he's almost manipulative in his plots, which is really saying something, as his stories are very simple. He is one of those authors that dictates exactly what effect the book should have on his reader… and even though I’m not a fan of that as I like my readers to struggle just as much as my character, they way he does is it is something worth studying in my view. As far as his stories in general, I like the themes he plays with. It's stuff I like to write about and I like the fact that romance is usually a central element of everything. I just wish that he would go deeper in both exploring the secondary themes of his books as well as his romance. All his books so far do not really explore how the couples really fall in love<<< which to me is like a rip off when I’m reading something that is meant to be a love story. I’ve noticed that with his books… he doesn’t show how the couple fall in love but rather tells. I hate it. I want to see it, experience it with them… but usually he doesn’t really go into depth of it. Also… once you read a couple of his books, you will see that his books are very formulaic and standard. Nothing wrong with it, he delivers those formulas well, but if I were able to change something in his books… well lets just say about 70% of things would be different. I gauge my books that way. If I were able to change something in the Harry Potter books… nothing would change; I’d take them they way they currently are again<<< main reason I refuse to read or look up any harry potter fan fiction. But that is why I never liked Nicholas Sparks before I started writing… not only did we get some sad/heartbreaking endings but he is an author that tells more than shows… that and he does tend to push his personal views on you. But I still recommend him and praise him on his writing style, you can learn quite a bit from him. I suggest reading: A Walk To Remember, The Rescue, The Guardian.
That is what I like too... and have a very hard time finding books like this. I don't mind if the romance is secondary, but because I like romance, I do want it to be developed well even as a secondary theme rather than having it develop as something extra. I can't find many books like this in the romance genre... usually head over to fantasy or sci-fi for this... but then, I'm reading it for the story and not the romance. It's like a no-win. I intend to change that. LOL
I like the "romantic suspence"-novels, especially when two people get involved in some kind of mutual problem and feelings grow slowly and the suspence- not the romance- is the dominant part of the plot, . I like when the romance is hinted and while people get to know each other really well while trying to solve things, only in the end things fall into place. Im a little old fashion in that sense, lol. plus I also like what you cited above. My current WIP I think is not the classical romance, first of all I don't overprotect my characters like many romance writers do, I do let unpleasant stuff happen to them if thats what the story needs to bring out the real persons in them, for the other characters to get to know and understand them. Then I think the characters are a little more developed than most romance books I have read. While rewriting I keep coming up with really good ways of showing who they are and why they do what they do and other details to include in the story to make it stronger. (Showing instead of telling is pretty new to me since i only recently started to write for other people than myself to read and it feels so nice when i find myself capable of practising it, because in the beginning I had a hard time figuring out how to do that.) I don't even know if my story would qualify as romance, maybe just general fiction? ok, Im ranting now, better stop, lol.
