Hello all! Just looking for some feedback from those who lean toward the romance genre - How would you feel about picking up a novel whose main character is a young girl for the first two chapters? The (obvious lol) reason I ask is the novel I am currently trying to find an agent for begins with a few major events in my character's childhood, and then by chapter three ten years have passed. Do you think its a turn off? Do you think readers of a romantic suspense do not have the patience for such a beginning? I was thinking of revising the beginning to include these events in flashbacks and would love your feedback! Thanks in advance!
No, it all depends how you write it. It's all the pacing and flow of your storytelling. Im not a romance fan, but your story has lots of potential for an unexpected start.
Are you able to get it all into one chapter? Personally I may be frustrated if I read two chapters then it jumped 10 years and never went back. But that's just me. If you are doing a romance type story, the hope and anticipation the reader will feel about wanting this little girl (or boy) to grow up, fall in love, ride off into the sunset (etc, etc, etc) would be a good start to your novel. Romance is all about hoping and wanting and seeing what comes next. Good luck!
I think if you're going for a straight romance story, it probably won't help. You'd be better off going with the adult character and introducing the romantic elements of the plot sooner. You can do anything if you do it well, however. I agree with Leah and even go a step further and ask if these childhood events really need to be dramatized on their own, or whether it can be made clear to the reader over the course of the story what the adult character went through as a child.
Thanks to both of you for the input! I appreciate all the outside thoughts I can get. I know I'm happy with it the way it is, but I also need agents/publishers/readers to be just as happy! Thanks again
Mandaberry: If you're happy with it, then it's worth sticking to. I'm just guessing, anyway. Figuring that a publisher is going to want to see the mature character the romance reader will identify with right away, and then see the potential romantic plot elements introduced pretty quickly. When mammamaia sees this thread, she'll be able to give you a better answer than I can.
Thanks, Steerpike. LOVE your avatar, btw. I have a white persian cat myself, they are great! Its not really a straight romance. Its more mystery/romance. I really need to figure that out, actually. I've been referring to it as a romantic suspense novel. Its as much, if not more, about the mystery aspect of the story as the romance, so I don't really know what to market it as. *sigh*
