Friday, November 14, 2014

Troupes of romance

Two days ago, the women's magazine Cosmopolitan posted an article entitled 25 Erotica Lit Tropes that Need to Die. This spawned a friendly discussion in a writing group on Facebook and got me thinking. To me, most of the article is laughable at best. Regardless of her intention, the author came off as a bitter woman who hasn't had a good tumble lately, if ever. And judging by the comments on the article, I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Yes, some things in erotica are a bit eye rolling. But one thing I think the author didn't take into account is romance and erotica stories are FANTASY. Sex in of itself is dirty and really kind of gross when you really think about it. Often our private lives are lacking in one area. Not necessary in the bedroom, but we are all wanting or needing something our normal day to day lives doesn't give. That's why we escape to books to begin with. I'm not going to get into too detail regarding my sexy time with my husband. That's just between us. But I can assure you it's not lacking anything. Still, I have written several graphic sex scenes in two of my novels that differ completely from me and Brad.

Some of the things felt like the writer of the article was calling out Fifty Shades of Grey, not the genre as a whole. Still, erotica is the biggest genre for a reason. Yet there are a few things I've seen in novels that do make me roll my eyes. For instance, I will never write a romance with a billionaire or a cowboy. I am breaking two of my rules and writing a story featuring a rocker and one about a pirate. To be fair though, the rocker is just the occupation. It's not key to the story. I just need a reason why two of the main characters travel a lot and I'm already writing a wrestling romance story.

Good Lord I write a lot. lol

What are some cliches in romance that take you out of the story or you feel are overdone?

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1 comments:

Liza O'Connor said...

I think the story, the writing and the characters is all that matters. You can make anything fresh and interesting.

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