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I'm cracking up at a comment I saw last night after watching Grey's Anatomy.
You're both single now, McDreamy. Get in there and Carpe Mere's Diem, yo.
Hehehehehehehe. That's the thing about writin for televison versus a good romance novel. You can't read the whole book! And every shipper who wants the happy ending for Mere and Der will just have to wait week after week after week as the writers serve us tidbits of the relationship.
Not so in a romance novel because we get to focus on good conversation and juicy heat between our favorite characters and stay in their heads as they "grow." On television, I'm banging my head at the non-verbage between Mere and Der. Is it just me, or did McDreamy spend the whole darn episode grunting and making pig noises from his throat? LOL.
That's why writing a romance is difficult. The writer has to keep her focus on the main couple AND still carry the plot along for a few hundred pages. Imagine a whole hour of that happening on Grey's Anatomy. ZZzzzzzZZZzzz.
Someone once said to me that there were too many rules in writing a romance. "A romance doesn't move from point A to point B and tada! Happy ending," she said. "Where's the dysfunctional part?"
It's a valid point, but flawed. All writing, in essence, is about craft, and all craft inherently has rules. A romance = happy ending is Rule #1. A mystery = smoking gun somewhere. A horror story = taboo themes.
You choose to write in one genre, that's how it works; just as if you choose to play in a certain sport, there are rules to that game. Some cynics don't like this "rule" and look down on the romance genre because it isn't "real" life. That comment always cracks me up too. There's a reason why it's called fiction, you know.
Everyone is given the choice to play this game or not ;-). It's all about enjoyment. We don't watch the relationships on Grey's Anatomy because it's "real" life, but because it's entertaining and so well-written that the show makes you invest yourselves in its characters. And that's what good romances do.
Right?
Friday, November 03, 2006
McQuirky
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3 comments:
What? You like McHo better than McDreamy? Hmm...well, okay McHo looked better in a towel, I'll give you that, heh.
I don't think Finn has enough baggage to engage Mere's interest for too long. All he ever said of any relevance began with "My dead wife this, my dead wife that...." Who wants to compete with a dead wife?
Totally agree with you on romance novels and gaining knowledge that way. I've learned so much about culture, language, and other trivial pursuit stuff from my favorite books through the years. And without romance books, I wouldn't have gotten that craving to travel when I was a kid.
"Antidote to real life"...very well said!
Hi Leilani,
Thank you ;-).
As for the romance cynics, mostly, I think they aren't comfortable with how emotions are so idealized in our genre. Bitter, bitter people. Heehee.
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