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TheScribe Profile
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Registered: 02-2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 212
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Elements of Romance


I am a fantasy writer, yet I have a romance manuscript (I've completed about 10 chapters) sitting on a back burner.

I joined a romance group to get answers but I've found the group is mainly self-promotion and a bit clicky -- I don't feel comfortable there. May I ask my questions here instead?

<everyone nods> emoticon

First question: Is it true or false that you have to include at least three sex scenes in romance?

If this is true, then I'm not finishing my manuscript. I prefer "stop at the door" romance but I'd like to hear your opinions.

Last edited by TheScribe, 4/15/2005, 12:45 am


---
Karen Lee Field
Author of The Land of Miu series
Available from: Smashwords or Kayelle Press
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Scribus Administratus

Registered: 01-2004
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
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Re: Elements of Romance


Scribe, this isn't exactly my genre either, but I do have a couple of thoughts.

There are so many "flavours" of romance right now that I don't think there's any such hard and fast rule. For example, the "sweet" or "tender" romance genres don't have any explicit sexual description at all (although there should probably be a hint of tension), while the "spicy" kind go right into the bedroom. There seems to be a wide range in between.

If you go to this page at Harlequin
 there's an extensive list of their imprints with a description of each kind, including LUNA, their speculative fiction imprint. You'll get a good idea there, I think.

Sherry

---
Reading: Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
Writing: short story: Of Snow-Jewelled Hills and Ice
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David Meadows Profile
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Registered: 09-2003
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Re: Elements of Romance


Betty Neels is one of my favourite romance writers and she has never, to the best of my knowledge, written a sex scene. In fact, she's never even "implied" a sex scene - her characters all have proper old-fashioned values, and her books end somewhere after the marriage proposal and before the wedding night.

I think she's the exception, though. Every other romance I've read probably does include at least three sex scenes. But it does prove that the exception can work.



---
Reading without thinking will confuse you.
Thinking without reading will place you in danger.
-- Confucius, Spring and Autumn Period
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TheScribe Profile
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Master Scribe

Registered: 02-2003
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Re: Elements of Romance


David, I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that you read romance. It just doesn't fit the profile I have of you. emoticon

The list I joined when I first discovered email groups talked about this topic, and it seemed that all the published authors were saying 3 sex scenes were a must.

Yet, like David, I've read romance (or what I class as romance) and there were no sex scenes just that nice, mushy feeling. emoticon

Having said all this, one chapter does have a forced sex scene (bordering on rape) but it doesn't go into the act itself. This really wouldn't be for "teens" but then again, I'm old fashioned in many way, so perhaps it would.

The people who have read the chapters say I've mastered the emotional side of writing, and some of the chapters have left them tingling, others in tears. I think this means I should continue with this story.

I know what's expected in fantasy, I'm treading on unknown ground with the romance genre.

---
Karen Lee Field
Author of The Land of Miu series
Available from: Smashwords or Kayelle Press
4/16/2005, 5:03 am Link to this post Send Email to TheScribe   Send PM to TheScribe
 
David Meadows Profile
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Re: Elements of Romance


quote:

TheScribe wrote:

David, I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that you read romance. It just doesn't fit the profile I have of you. emoticon


If it makes it easier, just remember that I read everything emoticon

Reading romances was an essential part of my education. It has taught me everything I need to know about how women like to be treated. (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post links here, but I have summarised my findings on my Web site .)



---
Reading without thinking will confuse you.
Thinking without reading will place you in danger.
-- Confucius, Spring and Autumn Period
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nuanc Profile
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Scribus Moderatus

Registered: 01-2005
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Re: Elements of Romance


quote:

David Meadows wrote:

If it makes it easier, just remember that I read everything emoticon

Reading romances was an essential part of my education. It has taught me everything I need to know about how women like to be treated. (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post links here, but I have summarised my findings on my Web site .)





David, I read your essay. Very entertaining. I don't read romances so I can only go by what you've said about them. But you gotta know that there's a difference between what women fantasize about and what they want in real life. Fantasies have a different purpose.

Men are no different. A shorter-than-average man might drool over a leggy blonde with big breasts but in real life, he might feel less than manly with someone taller than him. (though the breasts would probably still work for him emoticon ) Not that that example would apply to all shorter men but well you know... just an example.

I dunno. I've heard people (yes, women too) say that women don't like nice guys and want some kind of piggish person around but I haven't seen much evidence of that in the women I've known.

Ladies???

~nanc




Last edited by nuanc, 4/16/2005, 3:24 pm


---
READING: Not Wanted on the Voyage, Timothy Findlay
WRITING: a love story (planning stage)
PROPPING UP: Being Practically Creative
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Firlefanz Profile
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Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
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Re: Elements of Romance


Nope, I definitely don't want a piggish man around me. emoticon

And you are very right, nunac, fantasies are different from real life, and so is what one wishes for in a fantasy compared to what one whishes for in real life.

I think that's because if you are dreaming, you are either dreaming of certain settings or particular moments - never of life as a whole and with your brain fully engaged.

---
- Firlefanz

Reading: "Verkaufende auf Risa" by Gundhild Dreher
Writing: "Winter Song" - short story

Schreiberlinge unter sich
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TheScribe Profile
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Master Scribe

Registered: 02-2003
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Re: Elements of Romance


No piggish men for me either.

I think my romance story goes for affection more than intimacy. That's what I'm hoping for anyway but is there a market for affection...?

---
Karen Lee Field
Author of The Land of Miu series
Available from: Smashwords or Kayelle Press
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Scribus Administratus

Registered: 01-2004
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Re: Elements of Romance


Well, here's a quote from the guidelines for a "tender" romance line:
quote:

Above all, we're looking for novels with a fresh voice: sparkling, feel-good stories bursting with lively interaction and a guaranteed buzz of romantic excitement.



That sounds more affection-oriented to me. I believe, from scanning down the list of imprints on the page I noted in my earlier post, that this is a smaller market, but definitely there.

Sherry

---
Reading: Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
Writing: short story: Of Snow-Jewelled Hills and Ice
4/17/2005, 8:25 am Link to this post Send Email to SFGirl   Send PM to SFGirl
 
TheScribe Profile
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Master Scribe

Registered: 02-2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 212
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Re: Elements of Romance


Thanks, Sherry. I'll check it out.

Now, how do I get over my prejudice towards books published by Harlequin. I hope I don't offend anyone but I don't want to be known as a Mills & Boon writer. Actually, I'm dead set against it.

---
Karen Lee Field
Author of The Land of Miu series
Available from: Smashwords or Kayelle Press
4/17/2005, 9:52 pm Link to this post Send Email to TheScribe   Send PM to TheScribe
 


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