Romance Elements – I’m Over It!

Jump to Comments

As a romance writer, I read a lot of romance novels. Some of them are great, others – well, let’s just say, I’m over it.

There are some conventional elements of romance novels that some authors simply can’t do without. Grant you, we all use them from time to time. But when I read several books by the same author and they all contain the same elements, I get tired of them. I’ve listed a few, not in any particular order, of the things I dislike most.

1. The domineering man who must be dominant during sex. The woman must submit body and soul to his need to go primal and caveman. He doesn’t ask, he demands her subservience.

2. The woman who allows the man to dominate her during sex. Not only that, they go all gooey and moist even thinking about his “rock hard manhood”. These are women who are intelligent and educated, yet the man, simply by being near, makes them so hot, they melt all over themselves.

3. Couples who, for whatever reason, get off on the wrong foot and can’t seem to find common ground. While some of this is entertaining, a little goes a very long way. I don’t want to read 3/4 of the novel waiting for them to stop sparring. I find myself yelling, “Enough! Kiss her already!” Or to the woman, “Suck it up and apologize. He didn’t insult you that badly.” When this is the major conflict in the novel, it gets old really fast.

4. Certain terminology used to describe the couple making love. There is a fine line between erotic and porn. To me, the majority of difference is in wording. I won’t cite specific examples, but suffice to say I’m tired of “satin sheaths”, “erect nipples” and “throbbing members”. Believe me, it’s possible to find other ways to say it so it doesn’t sound like they just stepped onto the set of “Debbie Does Dallas”.

5. Sex scenes that seem to be thrown in for no other reason than they are expected. The love making should be a culmination of the relationship. This union should further the action in the novel, not halt it so they can have sex.

6. Sex scenes that are more like “how to” guides than they are romantic unions. I don’t want a “blow by blow” description of how they’re doing it. I want emotions, feelings, sensations. It’s more important to describe how the act makes them feel about one another than it is to go into detailed descriptions of what they are doing. Yes, some of that is necessary, but we can assume that the majority of our readers know how to have sex. If they don’t, they have no business reading a romance novel anyway.

Now, let me list a few of the elements I love most about romance novels:

1. Individuals who might never expect to fall in love – do.

2. Couples share the relationship, not demanding dominance, but giving and taking the dominant role.

3. Couples who care for, nurture and complete one another.

4. I believe in love at first sight. If not that, an immediate, electric attraction that they can’t get out of their minds.

5. Love scenes that take the reader away from their reality, bringing them into the world of the lovers. Yes, they can be steamy – or even broiling hot. The point is, they show how much the couple cares for one another in terminology that isn’t tasteless.

6. The couple finds ways to get along and work through their problems.

7. There is an outside conflict that brings them closer together. They overcome the conflict because of their union, not in spite of it.

Everyone has their own likes and dislikes in romance novels? What are yours? Why?

3 Comments

Filed under writing