NECROCITY TIMES - Issue #2 - VALENTINE'S SPECIAL

LoveLines - WPRS Radio Show

Those numbers represent a lot of buying power.

A lot of buying power for sure!
What is your theory, Professor, on why people are willing to spend so much money on romance stories? What is it about the genre or the tropes and emotions within that people are so compelled?

The reasons that people read romance are as varied as romance readers themselves. It's part of why romance is such a broad genre!

Historically speaking, women choosing their own romantic partners is fairly new. Marriages were originally business contracts, after all. In many ways, romance is a celebration of that choice--equal parts fantasy and a reflection of a reality not often explored by other forms of media. Stories centering women (and queer folks, as well), written by women, for women, on such a large scale, are pretty new. Romance novels are ostensibly the story of a relationship, yes, but they also serve as a vehicle to tell stories about women's lives and experiences that are shoved to the backburner in other genres.

But romance isn't just a genre for women! Look at... uh, any story. Like. Pretty much all of them. Even if romantic love isn't the focus of the story, it's probably involved somehow, right? Star Wars. Indiana Jones, Greek myths, Disney movies... Romance is popular because it's (almost) a universal human experience (shout-out to the aromantic folks; you guys are still valid!). People frequently disparage romance for being "wish-fulfillment", but (aside from the fact that there's nothing wrong with escapist media and we engage in it all the time, ALL FIRST-PERSON SHOOTERS) modern romance often tackles difficult topics like mental illness, dysfunctional families, abuse, racial prejudice, class warfare, disability, and gender orientation and sexuality along with sexy abs (or whatever floats your boat). Romance showcases relationships that are healthy and positive... and relationships that are neither. Ultimately, love stories, perfect or not, captivate us. And the best love stories are the ones that face a few hurdles along the way.

So, what makes a good romance? If you ask ten people, you'll probably get ten different answers. There's no single right way to write a romance. Just take a look at Harlequin's category lines. Romantic suspense, paranormal romance, erotica, contemporary, inspirational... There are dozens of romance subgenres with their own tropes and reader expectations. A sexy billionaire BDSM romance is going to have a totally different dynamic than a friends-to-lovers contemporary set in a small town veterinarian's office. That makes it pretty difficult to boil down the recipe for the perfect romance... but there are a few things that most, if not all, readers seem to enjoy:

*Competence. Yep. Nothing galls readers more than a heroine who refuses to try and save herself, or a hero that lacks even the most basic emotional intelligence. That's not to say that your characters should breeze through the plot, facing no challenges as they recite 15th century Scandinavian poetry while simultaneously curb-stomping villains left and right. Having characters who are good at what they do doesn't mean they have to be good at everything. In fact, they really shouldn't be--it's much more realistic to be a jack of all trades or a master of one. But your characters shouldn't be TSTL, or "too stupid to live". Splitting up in a haunted house? Leaving your lover behind in the night because you heard the tail end of a conversation that could've been taken the wrong way? It frustrates readers when characters do things because they aren't thinking (or because the plot demands it). That's true in all genres, not just romance.

*Chemistry. This is the engine of the romance, the thing that keeps readers coming back for more even when they should be sleeping or working or eating lunch. You've probably read at least one romance where the relationship seemed forced, boring, or just confusing. Maybe you wished one of the characters had ended up with someone else. This is usually the result of a lack of chemistry, and it can kill a romance faster than a rote rejection letter. For clarity's sake, when I talk about chemistry, I'm referring to the natural connection that arises between characters and draws them towards each other. Emphasis on natural--readers can tell when a connection between characters isn't organic and stems from the writer's desire to push characters together even when they don't fit. Have you ever written a scene between two characters where the dialogue seemed to write itself and you found yourself getting kind of emotional along with your main character? That's chemistry! It's not an exact science (badumtshhh), but chemistry tends to result from a few things: characters with contrasting but complementary personalities, characters with opposing goals or viewpoints, and characters that respect/admire each other (even if they don't want to).