…Fiction with Romantic Elements?
Firstly, Fiction with Romantic Elements is a recognised RWA sub-genre. Thanks RWA! It means that writers like me are welcomed and able to benefit from membership and all the great RWA resources.
But is it understood as a sub-genre?
In a recent competition, my Fiction with Romantic Elements ms was marked down for not being romantic enough! The judge’s comments…
What could have been improved? ‘Romantic parts, more of romance in the story lines’
X Factor: ‘It would be a great story but not in the romance line.’
Reader enjoyability: ‘Story doesn’t sound like it has the real romance line, more like a biography fiction line.’
I write contemporary women’s fiction with romantic elements. But have I got it right? Seriously, I don’t know. I base it on the following:
• The romance is there – it’s just not necessarily the main plot line of the story.
• I don’t have ‘heroines’ – more everyday, flawed, warts-and-all women whose conflict is not necessarily with a hero/the love interest.
• The plot’s focus might be on social issues and themes about culture or society rather than a relationship.
• Rather than finding love/lust with another, my characters find personal fulfilment through self-acceptance/personal discovery and their HEA (happy ever after) comes about more from this internal growth/self-acceptance, rather than an external person/hero (although a relationship can be influential in helping them to reach/realise their dreams/goals).
I also question the requirement of a HEA in this sub-genre. If you study sub-genre ‘rules’, without a HEA it’s not a romance novel.
Yes, I like stories that leave you feeling optimistic. I won’t even watch a movie that has a sad ending: Eg The Notebook, Message in a Bottle, The Horse Whisperer- and don’t even get me started on Romeo and Juliet – not much of a HEA there! (If I do watch one of these, I turn the DVD off before the sad bit and make my own uplifting ending.)
But if the lack of a HEA means it isn’t a romance story, what is it?
I’d be interested in your thoughts.
Jenn, I'm with you, I thought that novels with romantic elements, the romance didn't have to be the central plot. Here's what RWAus have on the website explaining the categories.
Romantic Elements: Novels of any length, tone, or style, set in any place or time, in which a romance plays a significant part in the story, though it is not necessarily the central plot. Other themes or elements take the plot beyond the traditional romance boundaries.
Now Bronwyn Parry write's novels with romantic elements.
Hope that helps.
Sandie
Sandie
I know exactly where you’re coming from, Jenn. I used to receive the same comments.
One of the things that confused me no end when I first joined the RWA and began entering contests was that my works weren’t considered romance when there was no doubt in my mind that they were.
It took a great deal of thought before I realised that back then, my romance reading was almost exclusively from UK authors/publishers and they appear to have quite a different opinion as to what constitutes a romance compared to the US. Check out the books making the Romantic Novel of the Year finals for the UK Romantic Novelists’ Association and you’ll see what I mean.
So it would pay to be a bit circumspect about these comments and consider your target market and genre. What is considered a romance in one market may be considered women’s or even general fiction in another.
And remember that, while you can learn a great deal from contests, they’re not perfect determiners of publishability. Think carefully before you make any changes to your manuscript. You could end up turning it into something you never intended it to be. Something I know all about, much to my regret.
Jenn, I write the sort of stories you're describing but I don't know of any sub-genre name except 'women's fiction'.
You can read the first chapters of my modern novels on my website. You should also look at books by Katie Fford, who is archetypally UK in style – as well as a very good read.
For US books in a similar style, try Susan Wiggs, Robyn Carr and Sherryl Woods, especially their Mira books. They are superb!
To me, a romance is a book where the developing relationship is the main plot, and a romantic book has another plot, but with a romance at its core.
You don't have to write books with highly featured romances, you know! You can just write 'modern novels'.
Jenn, I felt all confident about placing a comment here and have come back to follow some advice by Anna Jacobs. Ignore me, everything wise has been said. —- It’s worth noting that all the judging comments you’ve displayed refer to your story. I would have thought it was your writing that was being judged. I’m sure the judge means well but they haven’t read your story at all, just the introductory pages, so they can gauge to quality of your writing of the story. They’re even said it’s a good story, but expressed an impatience to read about romance. I think your answer is in that remark. Keep working on the story as it is. I think I’m impatient to be your first book-buying customer. I love a good story. —- Erin
Hey Jenn,
We must have got the same judge!! I have an outback story told from two different POVs (one brother and the other brother's wife). Not only did I get told there was no romance in the synopsis (yet there was a proposal, both couples got married and had children – unromantically of course) but one judge told me she found it hard to understand how a brother and sister-in-law could be romantically linked!! (They weren't, they were just the narrators).
I think in RWA a lot of the judges are thinking M&B category… even when it says ST Mainstream with Romantic Elements. In category, it's 1 man, 1 woman, 1 love. It's so much more in ST.
I just decided that maybe I wasn't cut out for the contest world. I'd enter for feedback but never expect to final.
So I'm with you … mainstream with romantic elements doesn't fare well in our contests.
Cath