Genre of the week: Romance

We go from my favorite genre, to my least favorite. Nothing against romance in general, but it's just not my cup of tea.

As it's not my favorite, I don't really know much about the romance genre. I just find the books and movies in here to be really cheesy. However, a romance in a story is a good way to show off the softer side of a character. Try as I might, I can't seem to develop a romantic relationship between two of my characters without it feeling forced. Then again, I don't think I've really gave it that much effort in the first place.

So what are your thoughts?

I find this hard since irl I'm asexual with little romantic experience. So the physical attraction parts are honestly me guessing or going from what I've seen in other stories and the romantic parts are almost as bad.

With that said, I guess what annoys me about romance is that it either tends to seem like its tacked on as an afterthought or it dominates the story entirely, often in equally unrealistic ways as characters bond in a relatively short span and think about little or nothing else.

For the tacked on part, it just seems like in some story types (action being the worst) if there is a character in the cast that the lead could be sexually attracted to, they will hook up. There could be next to zero chemistry between them; it doesn't matter. While this is somewhat accepted for whatever reason in action films, I feel as if newer writers often try to translate it into fan fiction with less than spectacular results.

Anyway, in fan fiction romance is basically shipping with only a few exceptions. I don't read many shippy fics since I don't care much at all for the anime characters and most that I see on ff.net have simplistic or unoriginal plots and some serious OOC issues. But apparently that puts me in a minority of fan fic writers so what do I know.

I'm fine with romance as a subplot/extra if done right, otherwise I don't really go searching for full-blown romance in published books. I do however seek and write romance fanfic as there are some pairings I like a lot.

Rediamond said:

Anyway, in fan fiction romance is basically shipping with only a few exceptions. I don't read many shippy fics since I don't care much at all for the anime characters and most that I see on ff.net have simplistic or unoriginal plots and some serious OOC issues. But apparently that puts me in a minority of fan fic writers so what do I know.

Click to expand...

Shipping isn't just for anime/manga characters. I've read several fanfictions where tv/game/book characters get together. But yeah, sometimes you do get an occasional OOC here and there in shipping stories. I usually have betas look over my work to see if any character reacted the wrong way and such.

I was referring to Pokemon fan fiction. There it basically is almost entirely manga and anime shipping.

Haha, even though I'm aromantic and asexual, romance is pretty much my favorite thing to write, and one of my favorite genres to read. When writing, I have to make sure that the characters that I want to have end up together don't have too many moments as a couple.

What I like about it is (when done right) the characters are explored in a different way than if they're on their own. Not only does it show how the characters are with each other, but it can show how they are on their own through the decisions that they make in the relationship.

Actually all I write is romance but ironically I hate cheesy romance movies/books ha. I used to read a lot of romance fanfic in the past but stopped for no reason really... I just write my own now.

I love building up the characters and expanding on feelings they begin to develop for each other. It's really fun! Even though I've never done anything with a guy, I'm always told I do a great job. It all comes from years of reading other people's great work and thinking about how I'd (realistically) want things to happen between a guy and I. Guess it's just a form of expression of what I'd want?

Astinus said:

What I like about it is (when done right) the characters are explored in a different way than if they're on their own. Not only does it show how the characters are with each other, but it can show how they are on their own through the decisions that they make in the relationship.

Click to expand...

This is what I like about writing romance too. When executed well, it can bring some very wonderful interactions and character development.

Warspirit said:

I love building up the characters and expanding on feelings they begin to develop for each other. It's really fun! Even though I've never done anything with a guy, I'm always told I do a great job. It all comes from years of reading other people's great work and thinking about how I'd (realistically) want things to happen between a guy and I. Guess it's just a form of expression of what I'd want?

Click to expand...

Slow build-ups are often fun! As I mentioned to Astinus, if done right it can bring out some memorable stuff. I think there's always advantages of researching a specific genre to get an idea of how it's written and some expectations readers want.

Romance fanfiction is basically all I read haha. I need a bit of romantic subplot to keep me interested, I think. Even in tv series and movies. It doesn't have to be the main thing though, but it sure helps making me invested in the characters if there is some kind of romantic attraction between them.

I enjoy writing romance as well, but lately (like, the last couple of years or more) I have only done it in RP situations where I only control one of the characters. It both makes things trickier and more interesting. On the whole though, fanfiction is probably the only kind of fiction I read (or write) where romance is the main deal.

I've read relatively few romance novels. While enjoyable, it's not really a genre I seek out. It's pretty similar for romance/romcom films. Unfortunately, it's so easy for writers to just be lazy and rely on the same tropes and cliches we're used to (which is why I'm so happy that Brooklyn Nine-Nine is being careful about making theirs original and natural). Relationships can bring out many interesting aspects of a character, but so many writers ignore those complexities (or ignore half of the couple), and the result can be bland and uninteresting.

It sometimes annoys me when non-romantic films shoehorn in romantic subplots. I'm generally dissatisfied with the portrayals of women in popular culture, and so often a romantic interest is just introduced as an additional prize for the (usually male) main character to "win." It's a breath of fresh air to get a film like Pacific Rim that's completely free of that.

I don't read romance fics either, and I pretty much stay away from shipping entirely. I've never entirely understood the appeal of shipping, especially in a fandom like Pokemon where there is so little precedence of characters winding up together canonically. I am admittedly more forgiving of OC romance.

None of this is to say that I abhor romance - I just think it needs to be used strategically and written well.

~Psychic

Psy_MoonShadow said:

It sometimes annoys me when non-romantic films shoehorn in romantic subplots. I'm generally dissatisfied with the portrayals of women in popular culture, and so often a romantic interest is just introduced as an additional prize for the (usually male) main character to "win." It's a breath of fresh air to get a film like Pacific Rim that's completely free of that.

Click to expand...

.
I agree undeveloped romantic interests and overrused tropes is one of the romance genre's downfalls. A shame that often happens in mainstream media, which is probably why I'm dissatisfied with some romantic subplots as of late.

I don't read romance fics either, and I pretty much stay away from shipping entirely. I've never entirely understood the appeal of shipping, especially in a fandom like Pokemon where there is so little precedence of characters winding up together canonically. I am admittedly more forgiving of OC romance.

Click to expand...

While I admit I don't have any investment when it comes to shipping in the Pokemon fandom, I have ships that I like in other fandoms mainly because I really like the interactions between the characters. I can understand with Pokemon shipping characters that don't wind up together canocially can be baffling, but I also can see the appeal of doing a "what if scenario" and writing out those type of stories can be fun. I've had a couple instances in other fandoms where a ship I haven't considered much I then like after seeing fanart/fanfics of it.