Comments | crystalrmartin: On Writing Romance

crystalrmartin

On Writing Romance

Jan 31, 2010 13:21

As you all may or may not know I am currently in a creative writing class. The other night my professor said something that made me think. He said, "Falling out of love is much more interesting than falling in love." In a sense he does romance writing a dis-service. I disagree with his thoughts because, romance writing is not necessarily just about ( Read more... )

writing, romance

Comments 10

ex_marissam February 1 2010, 00:20:51 UTC

Boy, what a weird comment for him to make. I'm with you 100%. I can't stand break-up or divorce stories - they hold no appeal for me at all. But falling IN love stories... that's where the magic happens.

crystalrmartin February 1 2010, 02:14:37 UTC

Yeah I thought it was weird too. He also made a comment regarding poetry vs. fiction implying poetry is above fiction. Although I can't recall what he said, sadly. Somebody jokingly said he is Poetista.

ex_marissam February 1 2010, 02:55:18 UTC

That sounds like the belief that literary fiction is above genre fiction. Which always makes me think, Okay, but... which sells more?

crystalrmartin February 1 2010, 03:28:18 UTC

I agree, hey what are your thoughts about Amazon and Macmillan and this whole Ebooks pricing mess? You did hear that Amazon blinked today...

Thread 6

elthionesse February 1 2010, 06:55:33 UTC

"Falling out of love is much mroe interesting than falling in love"--typical comment of academic writers of fiction ( ... )

februaryfour February 2 2010, 01:13:39 UTC

It certainly shows a certain strange almost-dysfunctional tendency in the professor. XD Though I do agree in a sense: falling out of love takes a lot of backstory to write.

crystalrmartin February 2 2010, 01:19:11 UTC

But that begs the question does that backstory make it more interesting? It may be more involved yes, but I don't think that equates interesting. I write romance after all so maybe I'm biased.... ;)

februaryfour February 2 2010, 01:31:47 UTC

*laughs* Well, see, the way I see it, falling _in_ love just requires that two strangers meet and get along a lot better than most others do. It doesn't take all that much, once there's some physical attraction in the mix.

Falling out of love is a lot more interesting, because you're no longer _strangers_. You have human backstory. Every single interaction between them speaks volumes about what their lives has been like up until then.

Eg:

Scene:

She hadn't been trying to stay awake, but when Kenji's key clicked softly in the lock, Marsha heard. The alarm clock in front of her showed it was one in the morning ( ... )