I started thinking about this a couple of days ago and it has taken a while for the idea to really develop in my head enough to write this morning. The simple, cold hard fact is that I simply haven't seen a romance out there with such passion between the characters that it leaves me speechless.
Now, don't get me wrong. I am seeing a lot of great "romance" novels out there with some great characters, plots, and so forth, but it was the romance that seemed to really be missing. So as to not confuse people with the blog today, when I talk about the genre romance, it will be in black, but when I'm referring to the emotional romance it will be in read.
My daughter had on her Disney Princess music several days ago. Yes, my family is into Disney. We love it! Hey we have to. That's where my wife and I met, but that is another story. The point is, she was dancing in the family room to IF YOU CAN DREAM from the Disney Princess album so I pulled up the video from it. Now, if you haven't seen the video, I recommend you check it out. Click here for the link. The premise is really a new song with all of the princess. The editing is really good on this.
As I was watching this with her, I was seeing how Disney had truly made the romance explode off of the screen from the princesses. The love and the passion simply couldn't be contained. Obviously, for all of the princesses, this was the "first love" and it was then I realized that was the level of romance that seemed to be missing in the stories.
Think back to your first love. It is that feeling of complete immersion in the relationship. You can't think straight. Everything you do seems to make you think of the other person. When you are with them, the entire world completely disappears around you. Words simply can't express the feelings and sometimes you sound like a babbling idiot talking about the person. When they aren't around, or there is a moment when you can't think about them, there is an emptiness.
That is ROMANCE!
Achieving that level requires much more than technique. You have to really pour all of your emotion into the characters.
So, if you want to know what I want in a romance right now, that would be it. Show me the ROMANCE!
Have fun writing this weekend.
Scott
That was a great post. And a great video. Once again, you're putting me in check with what I need to focus on. Thanks.
ReplyDelete(Ignore the tears at the song...sniff, sniff, they'll go away in a minute) :)
Your paragraph which begins, "Think about your first love."
ReplyDeleteTHAT is how I try to focus my stories. THAT is what love is about. I call it 'being stupid in love'. Because you are, you can't help it.
Thanks for the post Scott.