Don't Be a Poser: Write What You Love

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of hearing author Tracy Wolff speak at my local RWA meeting. Her talk was about finding your place in the market. I figured the talk would be about what's hot, what's not, if you should go traditional or indie, that kind of thing. And she did discuss some of that.

But really, what the talk ended up being about and what I took from it was that you have to write what you love and what speaks to you.

Well, duh? Right.

Not really, actually. Tracy talked about how her debut book, a sexy, suspenseful romance, was the one that got her the first book deal. However, instead of it being bought as a sexy romance, the publisher wanted her to amp it up a bit to fit in the erotic romantic suspense genre. She agreed to that and got a multi-book deal, which meant she signed up to write more erotic romances.

However, she discovered that erotic romance wasn't really what came naturally to her or her style of writing. So she wrote her books and they didn't do as well as she'd hoped. After that, she moved on to write Harlequins, a paranormal series under a new name, and young adult. And she found her place in those genres and the books are doing well.

Now you may be thinking--oh, I know what I'm writing and it's what I love. Yeah, but what happens if an agent or publisher asks you to change that? 

When Sara signed me, she originally wanted me to dial up the suspense in my romance so that it was more erotic romantic suspense than contemporary erotic romance. I readily agreed to that because a) I loved Sara and liked the vision she had and b) I thought--sure, I can do that. I love suspense.

Yeah, well, I did it. I changed some things, pumped up the suspense, sent it back to Sara. And promptly got a  note from her basically saying in her very nice way--this isn't working, let's call a do-over. :)

What it came down to is that I am a character-driven writer whose main focus is the romance. I put suspense in my stories, but it is a subplot. My heart is with the romance and that showed when I tried to change the book into something different. Sara, luckily, recognized that and set me to rights. We did another major edit and brought the story's central focus solidly on the couple and my heroine's journey. Then we went on submission and the rest is history.

So, back to my point about not inadvertently becoming a poser. There are always going to be things that may be selling better than others. For instance, erotic romance sells well. So many times you see someone who prefers to write sweet romance or straight up suspense or whatever jump into that pool because there is a demand for it. But you know what often happens with that? The stories fall flat.

I can almost *feel* it when I'm reading an erotic romance by someone who is not totally comfortable in the genre. There are sex scenes that seem forced (not in a rape-y way, forced meaning they don't belong in that part of the story.) There's language (and dirty talk) that doesn't come across as authentic. In the BDSM subgenre, you see mistakes that show that the author hasn't done their research into that lifestyle. It doesn't work.

I write erotic romance because it's what I love to read, because it's the type of stories that come (*snicker*) to me. I also love young adult and read a lot in that genre. The first book I wrote was YA, and I haven't ruled out trying my hand at again one day. But say, high fantasy stories became super hot and trendy. I wouldn't be able to write one of those to save my life. I don't read them, I've never watched Lord of the Rings (I can hear the collective gasp on that one), it's not my thing. Even if I did all the research I could, my story would not be authentic.

So try to find the balance between writing a story that you think will sell with writing the story that you are passionate about. Your reader will feel that passion (and will be able to spot the lack thereof if it's not there.)

Have you ever found yourself tempted to write something "trendy" because you think it will give you a better chance? Have you ever read a book where you can tell the author isn't really a fit for the genre?

Battling the Romance Novel Stigma

Photo by Amber Madden

I don't do it often, but last year I hopped up on my soapbox in the comments section of the blog.  I had mentioned in my post on pen names that part of the reason I wanted to go with one was because I write erotic romance and I have a husband and kiddo who may not want everyone knowing what I write. Well, one of my commenters mentioned that she didn't use a pen name but that if she was writing pornography, then she probably would.

Now, I know she didn't mean anything negative in the comment but was just repeating a belief shared by many.  I did respond to her in the comments and I did the post below as a follow-up. 

Then last week I read Agent Sara's oh-so-on-the-money post over at Kat Latham's blog on Being a Feminist Romance Reader, and I got all rah-rah-go-team again. :) So rather than repeating myself I decided to update and rerun last year's post. Hope you enjoy. And definitely go check out Sara's post as well. It's awesome.

Battling the Stigma...

The genre of romance, not just erotic, has to constantly fight the stigma that it is just "chick porn."  From the days of the bodice ripper covers, women who read romance have been teased and put down for reading it.  The image of the lonely old maid or miserable housewife stealing away with her paperbacks is a familiar stereotype.

And when asked in general company what you're reading (even though over 50% of paperbacks and ebooks sold are romance, so a lot of us are reading them), women often are embarrassed to admit it's a romance or apologize in some way when they admit it.  "Oh, you know just reading one of those silly/trashy novels for fun."

And frankly, I'm over it.

Why are we made to feel that if we're reading romance we're something less than - less classy, less educated, less evolved?  Or even worse, that something must be wrong with us because we can't find a real man and instead look for them in books. No one questions people when they line up to go see the newest Romantic Comedy at the theater--and hello--what is that but a romance on screen? In fact, if you cut out all movies that had a romantic thread in them, not a lot of movies would be left. Romance is a universal theme from the beginning of freaking time.

And what about the resurgence of young adult books? Women often don't have trouble admitting they read those because, hell, everybody's reading them right now. The YA genre is fabulous. I know I can't get enough of it. But guess what? The vast majority of YA is uh, romance, with teens. If not for the age of the protagonists, many of those books would be shelved in the romance section. So are the people reading YA and romance lonely women who aren't smart enough to read "real" books--you know, the super serious tomes Oprah recommends?

Of course not.

I'm thirty-one and married to a wonderful guy.  I was salutatorian in high school.  I graduated with a 4.0 from my Masters program.  I do not read romance because I can't understand high brow lit fic or classic literature, I read it because that's what I enjoy. Reading is my escape, my entertainment. I like my happy endings. The world has enough depressing things going on in it. I don't mind a book tugging at my emotions or making me cry, but I want to see the light at the end of a book. That's my personal preference. 

If yours is different, cool. But why do we need to judge each other for what brings us enjoyment?

And as for the porn assertion so many people make, I beg to differ.  Here are the definitions from Passionate Ink's site that I used in the comments yesterday.

 

Porn: stories written for the express purpose of causing sexual titillation. Plot, character development, and romance are NOT primary to these stories. They are designed to sexually arouse the reader and nothing else.

Erotica: stories written about the sexual journey of the characters and how this impacts them as individuals. Emotion and character growth are important facets of a true erotic story. However, erotica is NOT designed to show the development of a romantic relationship, although it’s not prohibited if the author chooses to explore romance. Happily Ever Afters are NOT an intrinsic part of erotica, though they can be included.

Erotic Romance: stories written about the development of a romantic relationship through sexual interaction. The sex is an inherent part of the story, character growth, and relationship development, and couldn’t be removed without damaging the storyline. Happily Ever After is a REQUIREMENT to be an erotic romance.

Sexy Romance: stories written about the development of a romantic relationship that just happen to have more explicit sex. The sex is not an inherent part of the story, character growth, or relationship development, and it could easily be removed or “toned down” without damaging the storyline. Happily Ever After is a REQUIREMENT as this is basically a standard romance with hotter sex.

What I write are those bottom two (and I read all levels except porn) - sexy (think Charlaine Harris, JR Ward, Harlequin Blaze) and erotic romance (think Shayla Black, Maya Banks, Berkley Heat). And yes, those kinds of stories have hot or explicit sex in them.  BUT if done correctly, they also have character development, plot, tension building, GMCs, etc.  They are at the heart - romances.  And believe me, just as difficult to write as any other novel.

Porn, on the other hand, is the half-dressed pool boy showing up on a woman's doorstep then jumping on top of her before we even know anyone's name.  It's sex for the sake of sex.  This is why most women roll their eyes at porn because we're like--who cares?  I don't know these people.

Now, I'm not saying that reading romance can't put you in a sexy state of mind.  Even YA romance can do that with nary a sex scene present (hello, Mortal Instruments Seelie Court scene.)  But what's wrong with that?  Good books evoke emotions within us.  If a book makes me glance at my husband  and instead of me thinking about how he forgot to take the trash out, I'm thinking how hot he looks, why is that so bad?  (For the record, the hubs is a big fan of my reading habits.)

And I'm not saying that sexy or erotic romance is for everyone--it's not.  If frank language and open bedroom doors make you uncomfortable (or you're under 18)--that's cool.  There are tons of levels of romance from inspirational/Christian to smoking hot/swinging from the chandelier to choose from. 

But please, if you're not a romance reader/writer, stop judging those of us who are.  :)

So what are your thoughts?  Are you a romance reader/writer?  If so, why do you read it?  What's your stance on the idea of romance just being female porn?  And if you're not pro-romance (which is fine), how come? 

Why do you read what you read?*

Since it is Thanksgiving week, I am rerunning some posts I did before I had many followers. I will still be responding to your comments. Here is my very first post, hope you enjoy. I look forward to hearing about your own reading journey

**REPOSTED from 7/15/09**

As I start this blog, I found myself wondering how I became such a book-obsessed dork and why I prefer certain types of stories to others. Looking back, I've decided that reading development is kind of like that Plinko game from the Price is Right--certain people and book experiences bump you in one direction or the other. Some of us land in the $5000 slot and become lifelong readers of every type of book, others land in zero and miss out completely, and many of us fall somewhere in between finding a particular reading niche. Here's how my Plinko game went:

4th grade: Inspired by my mother's love of mystery novels, I start reading James Howe's Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery series and Betty Ren Wright'sThe Dollhouse Murders .

Result: A love of stories that scare me and make me laugh. This also leads to me being convinced that my room is haunted by an evil stuffed monkey that has sat on my shelf since toddlerhood. Monkey gets evicted to the attic, I sleep on the couch for six months (seriously.)

5th grade: My teacher, Mrs. Hymel, starts reading a chapter a day of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time to the class. I'm hooked. I go to the library to get the book because I can't tolerate waiting for her to finish. I proceed to read the rest of the series in rapid succession. When I'm finished with those, I move on to The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

Result: My love for both fantasy and series books is planted.

6th grade: We're assigned to read Where the Red Fern Grows

and Bridge to Terabithia . Amazing literary books. But both tore me to shreds. I had just lost my grandmother who I was extremely close to and books involving deaths just shattered me.

Result: I develop a respect but also a wariness for literary fiction. In addition, I acquire a lifelong aversion to novels that kill off the dog. I go on a binge of R.L. Stinehorror books (such as The Baby-Sitter (Point Horror Series)

)and Roald Dahl instead. I also began to indulge my budding interest in the paranormal. My science fair projects for this year: ESP and Poltergeists.

9th grade: I dig through my mom's book collection and pull out V.C. Andrews' Flowers in the Attic and Petals on the Wind . These books were depressing, full of drama, gothic, darkly romantic, and totally addictive. But why do I remember these? Because in the second book there was (wait for it) sex. Gasp. I was a very naive at fourteen and found this to be so scandalous. This is the first time I remember hiding the spine of the book while I was reading in public just in case. Of course, I went on to read like twenty more books by Ms. Andrews.

Result: Discover that romance + sexy + darkness = awesomeness

10th grade: I realize that most of my favorite horror movies started as books. I go through a Stephen King and Anne Rice phase. I also read a "based on true events" book called The Black Hope Horror: The True Story of a Haunting that scares the bejesus out of me. I have to remove the book from my room at night so I can sleep.

Result: Decide psychics, monsters, vampires, and ghosts are by far way cooler than normal humans.

9th grade-12th grade: My teachers beat us over the head with the classics because that's their job. I know now these books are works of art, masterpieces, etc. But as a teenager, I thought all of them (outside of Shakespeare and Poe) were big giant suckfests.

Result: I raise the stock of the Cliff Notes company (allowing me to ace all English tests and papers) and am further turned off by the term "literary."

And what do I do with the time I should be using to read my assigned books? I write my own romance novel because clearly there is no chance of actual romantic interludes in my own angsty life. A hundred and fifty typed pages of sappy teenage indulgence is born and titled Kismet. My male protagonist bears a strikingresemblance to Joe McIntyre of New Kids on the Block.

College: I start off with a double major: Psyc and English, but feel overwhelmed. I drop English because it's not as "practical", but still sneak in a few classes. LSU offers a Vampires in Literature class. How frigging cool is that? Not only do I get the chance to read stacks of vamp novels, I get the chance to write short stories about them, too.

Result: Regret dropping the English major. Promise myself that once I get settled in my psychology career, I will try to write in my free time.

So now, years later, where does that leave me?

Reading and writing the same things I grew to love as a child. My Plinko chip landed in the voracious reader of genre fiction slot. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not closed off to the literary side, but honestly its not the first thing I pick up. So, be warned that most of my reviews on here will fall under genre fiction.

So, I'm curious. What books from your past guided your tastes? Can you remember that first moment or first book that really hooked you on reading? Or something that turned you away from a certain genre? Leave a comment and let me know.

**Today's Theme Song**

"Thnks Fr Th Mmrs"-- Fall Out Boy

(player in sidebar, take a listen)