I have to admit something: I do like Star Trek: The Next Generation. The best villains on that show were the Borg with their catch phrase: "Resistance is futile." That's a little how I feel this week as I ponder my future as a writer.
What am I trying to resist? Writing a romance, of course. I logged into Harlequin's website and perused all the writer's guidelines listed there. Not too challenging, I think. Granted, I've never written a romance before so, perhaps, writing a 50,000-word romance is like rocket science.
Over and over, at the various guideline pages for all different types of romance sub-genres (suspense, American, spice!), the editors reiterate that the romance should be front and center. The editors of the romantic suspense series even state that the plot should be simple. Romance, romance, romance. You can have lead heroes and heroines but they are the focus. The secondary characters should be just that: secondary.
This kind of threw me a bit. I love romances on TV and the movies but I have not really read many romances. Now, I've given myself two challenges.
1. Read romance books. Plain and simple. I've already gone to the library and checked out a few, all suspense. I noted one genre missing from the books the library had: SF. There was paranormal, vampires, fantasy, and contemporary. No SF. I love SF. I wonder why there are no SF romances?
2. Re-watch some of my favorite romantic movies and learn how they present the story. This one will be fun. Some of my favorite love movies are Down With Love, When Harry Met Sally..., and The Bridges of Madison County. A recent favorite is Definately, Maybe.
Be back next week...
LL
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