This is a rant of all the thing wrong with romance stories. Honestly, 90% of romance stories on Wattpad suck and 60% in the "real world" blow.
I have yet to find Romance story that can avoid these stupid cliches.
"Dat Ex-ho."
One of the protagonist MUST have an ex that refuses to get over him/ her because despite the fact that the character is majorly flawed, he/she is unforgettable, right? This ex must be portrayed as the epitome of all evil. They are spiteful, petty, and bad-mannered as well as INCREDIBLY sexual. They will stop at nothing to get the protagonists back and then suddenly, in the span of half a chapter, they Will completely get over their ex and find a new love.
I hate this cliche because usually the protagonist is an awful person. Also, because the "Ex-ho" is created solely for providing conflict, they are poorly developed (even if they are flat characters). then , when the author feels like the conflict has played out, suddenly their personality changes.
"The secret relationship"
The protagonists will maintain a secret relationship despite the fact that there are LITERALLY no constraint or reasons that they cannot admit that they are going out. Or one protagonist (the "reformed" player) that the relationship must remain a secret and it raises no flags for the other protagonist like "Maybe my dating partner doesn't take our relationship seriously?" The couple will take absolutely take no precautions to make sure their relationship doesn't get out. So they'll make out in the most public places they can think of and be so surprised when people figure it out.
This cliche is awful. Terrible. If you were going to write one of these there'd better be a legitimate reasons the characters must hide their feelings.
"The semi-controlling partner"
One of the character cuts off their S/O from his/her friends and family; they also control how their S/O eats and dresses. This character might even pressure their S/O into sex or use sex as a way to hurt their S/O. They might even slap their S/O and verbally abuse them but it's all okay because they're SO in love and they only want to protect their S/O. Absolutely none of the friends, coworkers, or family of their S/O will mention or react to the fact that said character fulfills 17 of out the 20 traits on "The Abusive Partner List." The character will be the hero of the story and will have the love of their S/O forever.
Twilight and 50 Shades are what comes to mind under this cliche. Books including this cliche are actually a plague to society,actually. They glorify unhealthy relationships. If you want to write about unhealthy relationships, at least make it clear that the unhealthiness of the relationship was a bad thing.
"The judgmental friends"
The MC's friends will hate the MC's new S/O for no reason AT ALL. Despite the fact that the MC has appeared 4 times throughout the story with a black eye THERE IS NO REASON FOR THE FRIENDS TO FEEL THAT WAY ABOUT THE S/O. Also the MC will completely ignore his/her life-long friends advice/concerns because they're only trying to steal away the MC's one true chance at love.
I hate this cliche when I was in elementary school and it appeared on Highschool Musical and I hate it now when its everywhere on Wattpad. Does it make sense for the friends to be saying this stuff for the sake of a poorly constructed conflict? Refer back to the previous cliche.
"Falling in love after a hookup"
self-explanatory. Lol no. Just.. no..
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The main conflict of your Romance story should NEVER EVER be romance. You may think, "Hey! That's the purpose of writing a Romance, right?" NO!!!! Do you know what that sounds like?
"Dan is soooo in love with Lisa but now he doesn't know how to please her anymore. He doesn't know whether to get her chocolates or pink flowers."
That summary I just gave you is very ridiculous. Now unless you're going to make getting the pink flower a struggle in which the character must trek across the land to find, the story will belong in a toilet.
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Why do romance stories seem to copy the same phrases OVER and OVER again? I mean phrases like, "she moaned under his kiss." "my heart threatened out beat of my chest" it's actually kind of weird.
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AN: I've actually started updating my story "Rearranging." Check it out on my account
YOU ARE READING
My rant on Wattpad (TotalSmile)
RomanceThere's so much stupid on this site, why not list them all? I upload once every week, that means 7 days.
