Romance novels are often littered with heroes.
Yes, littered.
Heroes are such a boring lot to write. Good intentions waving in the
air, they swoop in and save the day with style, grace and not a hair out of
place.
Boring.
I’d rather deal with scruffy no-gooders who stumble into tough spots
and survive by the skin of their teeth. If they happen to drag another poor,
trapped soul out of the quagmire with them, so be it. They don’t mind giving a
bloke a break, but they’re not going to go out of their way to do it.
Enter the “Significant Other.”
Equally flawed but often more even-tempered, they are tasked with
recognizing the diamonds in the rough. A tough, dirty, frustrating job, the
Significant Others put some serious wear on their own tires trying to make
their relationships work.
In the end, the Ruffians and the Significant Others are as likely to
fall in to each other’s arms due to sheer exhaustion from fighting as from a
sense of Disney-like destiny.
This is my formula for writing a romance. Quirky, off-beat but real.
Bottom line: Don’t be afraid to find your own formula. Be imaginative.
Be you. It might be quite surprising how well it will work… and sell.
Until tomorrow…
Chloe
No comments:
Post a Comment