Hi! So, I've been thinking about this for a while now... If you write a story about two girls who fall in love, is it likely that it's not going to spark straight people's interest?
I don't mind, romance is romance. Whether it's between two girls, two boys, or a girl and a boy. It depends how it's done. In fact, I'm straight and have a slightly love story between two boys in my story. As Michaelj said, I don't really like romance on it's own. It usually has to be mixed with another genre for it to be interesting to me.
Like anything else, I think it depends on how it's written. Usually I don't read straight up romance novels, but I do like seeing people fall in love in other books (fantasy for example). I do also like chick lit books, which usually have some other major plot point/drama going on other than the romance part. Those are usually fluff reads at the beach sort of books.
An entire genre is based on girl girl relationships; doesn't even have to be sexual. There is always an audience for just about anything, will it be a heterosexual audience, more than likely. I wouldn't worry about appealing to a specific group of individuals based on sexual preference, its like writing a cookbook and trying to get Mayo or Miracle Whip people to read it. Sexual orientation doesn't usually affect the reader base unless you are going to erotica or a coming out story. Though pure romance novels (of any type) are typically read by women.
Girl interrupted is partly a girl/girl romance story and it was fairly well received. There's Monster starring Charlize Theron, and there was also a movie about a girl at a boarding school that falls in love with another girl, but I can't remember the name of that one. There's a movie about two women that fall in love with each other during WWII and the Nazi occupation of Europe. I don't recall the name of that one either. I think it got a lot of critical acclaim but I thought that one was pretty boring. I don't know if this means anything but all of those examples are tragedies. Although it's not the same thing you might be interested to know there is an entire genre of Japanese manga that is called Yaoi. It is male homoerotica that is mostly read by women. I find this exceedingly strange coming from a Western background, but apparently in the Japanese culture there is something very appealing about this sort of material.
Write what you want to write. Don't worry if it sparks the interest of other people. If it's a well-written story with well-developed characters, there will be people who like it. No matter what you write, there will be people who love it and people who hate it, so there's no use worrying about it.
Yeah... I'm not going to spoil everything about that subject, but yuri is the girl/girl love equivalent. There is also different variants which basically indicate the romance level as well, yuri falls under erotica. Some publishers run various definitions which define it into categories with a descriptor. Lemon (sexual), Lime (no sex). So even if you have a 'girl loves girl' story; if it falls under the lime sub-category; the scenes in the book will detail touching or kissing, but no actual sex. Lemon will have sexual situations, but this is usually nuanced rather then erotica, for other terms exist to describe that. An important factor to consider, is it the central theme or is it some additional element? You could have a typical sword and sorcery or sci-fi novel with the relationship as a minor point, but you could also have the entire story revolve around the relationship instead.
I find this very interesting. As I mentioned the examples I can think of from the movies are mostly what I consider tragedies, and I got this on yuri from wiki: Around the 1970s, yuri began to appear in shōjo manga,[1] presenting some of the characteristics found in the lesbian literature of the early twentieth century.[7] This early yuri generally features an older looking, more sophisticated woman, and a younger, more awkward admirer. The two deal with some sort of unfortunate schism between their families, and when rumors of their lesbian relationship spread, they are received as a scandal. The outcome is a tragedy, with the more sophisticated girl somehow dying at the end.[7] In general, the yuri manga of this time could not avoid a tragic ending,[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_%28genre%29
I read a novel that had a bromance side plot (guy vs guy), I'm not homophobic and have nothing against gay people, but after reading certain chapters they made me feel dirty. As a reader, I would prefer it if you left out the naughty scenes (unlike the book I read) and captured the romance through story telling.
It's not the subject so much as it is how well ... or not ... it is handled. You can write an intriguing and audience attractng story about the most mudane thing if you craft a good story woven in between the threads. If you write a poorly constructed story about the most fascinating subject in the world, however; it will fall flat. Romance is not really as easy of a sell as many seem to think. It takes a lot of concentration, imagination, and thought to produce something that hasn't been done to death. Something unusual and just slightly off the radar may well be the next big thing. There have been tons of novels about gay romance. Most of them don't go far but, every now and then, something really special comes across and takes off. (Think of 'Philadelphia'.) So, writing about a lesbian romance is not out of the realm of possibility at all. How well you can write the story will determine whether it has a larger, more homogenous audience or not. And, as someone already said, don't worry about whether it will appeal to this or that audience. Just write it the best you can and let the story take care of the rest.
It's not the subject so much as it is how well ... or not ... it is handled. You can write an intriguing and audience attractng story about the most mudane thing if you craft a good story woven in between the threads. If you write a poorly constructed story about the most fascinating subject in the world, however; it will fall flat. Romance is not really as easy of a sell as many seem to think. It takes a lot of concentration, imagination, and thought to produce something that hasn't been done to death. Something unusual and just slightly off the radar may well be the next big thing. There have been tons of novels about gay romance. Most of them don't go far but, every now and then, something really special comes across and takes off. (Think of 'Philadelphia'.) So, writing about a lesbian romance is not out of the realm of possibility at all. How well you can write the story will determine whether it has a larger, more homogenous audience or not. And, as someone already said, don't worry about whether it will appeal to this or that audience. Just write it the best you can and let the story take care of the rest.
I think straight people will like it if it's well-written like the others said. Sometimes straight people like to read about what 'they're missing' and vice-versa.
I think Romance is the key factor that describe how good you are in respect to care and love with your partner. The relation of Romance is based on Trust factor.
Personally, I've been writing male/male romance for the past six years. This hasn't outright alienated any orientation: I've been contacted by both straight and gay men and women about my work as well as transexuals, with women making up the majority. I am guessing this is because even though my main character will always be in a same-sex relationship I never make their sexual orientation the focus of the story; my stories could all be rewritten with straight couples and still make perfect sense. There are graphic sex scenes in some but I've heard no complaints about them (except from a fourteen-year-old girl who, IMO, was too young to be reading it anyway). Absolutely. This doesn't only apply to fiction either: take a look into idol culture and you'll see that implied same-sex attraction between actors/musicians/etc is a popular form of fan service.
As Yoshiko says, I have a friend who writes m/m romance and she hears from all kinds of people. I've read several articles that state straight females are actually a big segment of the m/m romance readers. Can't say that that would translate to f/f romance, but I do think it indicates you wouldn't be hurt by doing it.
I am not a fan of romances myself. If it was a part of a mystery novel it would not bother me at all. To me, it's love. There is no way to judge or question similar feelings. If you write it right, it can beat all straight romance.
I love the way the advert above this thread is the 'start publishing your book' one with the two girls looking at each other and grinning... It would interest me. Any interplay of emotions and motivations, hidden and overt, intrigues me if well-written.
