I want you to think back to the last time one of your relatives told a story. You know the type. Grandma or Grandpa, your aunt or uncle telling about some time in their life that was meaningful. You sit there enthralled with the words and feel yourself drawn into their world. That is reality.
Now, let's look at another type of story. Unfortunatly, it is the story I see far too many of. The author begins telling a great story. I get sucked in a bit, and then the bottom falls out. Suddenly, in an effort to keep the story interesting, we have to add in all of these additional plot events. The heroine has an abusive past. The hero suddenly reveals he was adopted by a priest that had relationships and is now somehow involved in a banking crisis that the hero and heroine must face. You know what I mean.
The deal is, when you want to write a romance, then focus on the romance. Show the beauty of two people having to make tough decisions while at the same time having to face this new found feeling of love. Let's not muck things up with all of this additional drama. Let them simply fall in love.
I am going to say it again, but the editors I have talked to want powerful contemporary romances without all of that extra stuff. We want to see people fall in love again. And frankly, I don't want to hear excuses of not having a conflict. I don't want to hear that you needed motivation for your character to not want to get into a relationship. Sure, have motivation. But it doesn't have to be a soap opera.
Scott
Wow, I LOVE this post. Editors not only want contemp. romance without all the "extra stuff," we as readers do as well. So glad to have this addressed, thanks!
ReplyDeletegreat points. I read a romance were it did start out good and in the middle it fizzled. Plus it had way cheesy lines, the kind that made you want to gouge your eyes out. By the end I was scanning to see what happened. It was series too and will I pick up the next one? No way!
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