I have always considered myself writing romance. Ever since I stopped writing about horses getting stolen and dogs mysteriously appearing for the main character's benefit, that is. Since then I've preferred to write about characters falling in love and their struggle to get a relationship to work.
When I put fanfiction aside - after a short foray into the worlds of fandom - I continued to attempt writing romance. I have also read a number of creative writing crafts book, aimed at general fiction writing and genre fiction writing.
Three concepts makes themselves known, namely genre fiction, mainstream and literary fiction. A fourth concept is mentioned sometimes - commercial fiction. At times genre fiction and mainstream fiction are used synonymous, as are mainstream and commercial fiction. In romance though, there is definitely a difference between genre romance, mainstream romance, and probably - though I have yet not seen it - literary romance.
Genre romance has strict rules of what is and what is not allowed in its romances. The reader has a strong expectancy towards what they'll find when reading a genre romance, and many books are written on the subject. I've recently read Writing the Bestseller - romantic and commercial fiction (Jane Porter and Rebecca Lyles) a I've started Kate Walker's 12 point guide to writing romance. The first is a great book which I can recommend to anyone interested in writing about love, and the second seems to be just as good for the same purpose, and I recommend them both. Both are aimed towards genre romance - the kind of romance usually associated with specific publishers such as Harlequin Mills & Boons.
At a first glance it seems as if I am in fact writing genre fiction. A romance is a story about
- a man and a woman (although I usually have two men)
- a problem/conflict that keeps them apart
- a once in a lifetime love
- a happy ever after, or for modern romance a happy for now
I realize I have an issue with number three. I'm not a strong believer in soul mates or once in a lifetime love. A long time ago I read that if we had not found the partner we are currently with, we would have ended up with someone similar. It's all genetics and biology and maybe a little bit social heritage. My characters aren't destined for one another. They simply happens to be compatible and meet at a time and a point where things end favorably for them. Much as in real life.
Another tidbit about genre fiction that I've come across is the larger-than-life characters (heroes and heroines). what does larger-than-life mean? Maybe it's a language-barrier thing. But if it means what I've come to think it means, namely characters that are more, in every aspect of their beings, than real life people - well, then I'm frankly not interested. I want and need my characters to be just like real life people, no more, no less. I don't want over the top handsome heroes or characters with more money that they can spend in ten lifetimes. I want the across the street neighbor, or the fellow commuter from the train I ride every morning.
Does this mean I don't write genre romance?
Then there's the definition of mainstream vs. literary fiction. After googling the phrase it is easy to understand that this is a big issue for many. It is also clear that for many mainstream, commercial and genre fiction is more or less the same. Whereas literary fiction has more focus on character-driven stories rather than plot-driven as is the case in genre or mainstream fiction. Another difference is that theme and motif is more important in literary fiction, as is the craft of writing itself. Literary fiction has more focus on structure and language in a way that is different from mainstream fiction.
A last there is those who differ between the three, as the author of the site Novel Writing Help. According to this man, mainstream can be seen as a medium way between the two more extreme. In this case, one can be writing a mainstream romance if you don't fit all the requirements genre romance has set for you.
Does that mean I write mainstream romance?
As for now I'd like to think I do aim for mainstream romance rather than genre romance. I definitely want to break some of the hard rules set by genre fiction, but I also want to write stories with a happy for now. Problem with mainstream fiction is that as a writer you don't have a given audience as you do when writing genre fiction. Mainstream fiction apparently sell by author name, and caters to a totally different audience than genre fiction.
Well, maybe I should think less about how to categorize my writing and actually start writing. It's not as if category matters at the moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment