There would be a villain in the form of a family member or an old enemy who the hero thought were out of the picture. There would be denial of feelings and the heroine would turn up her nose, brush away the tears and tell him to screw it if she's not stubborn enough to insist that yes, he is damn well in love with her.
Then the heroine might just get kidnapped or the hero would face some danger and somehow this would led to a scene of "I've fallen in love with you the moment I saw you across the ballroom." before the much awaited for "His manhood swelled at her delicate beauty." part.
Oh I forgot, that heroine has a high chance of either being past her marrying age due to family obligations, lack of standing or perhaps she was ruined due to the gossips coursing throughout the ton.
Yes. I read enough romance novels to know the basic plot. I'm not ashamed that one of my guilty pleasures are books with scandalous-ish covers.
Do you see the formula here? Its so common, basically part and parcel of writingdom. There are two reactions to such formulas. You either:
a)Find it comforting if you happen to like the writer's style of writing. You'll relish every word, loving how it seems familiar but foreign. You might even feel that the characters are all reincarnations from another book.
For example, Jodi Picoult is one of my favourite authors and she has some kind of formula going on, just not as obvious as those romance novels. Yet, I still love her books.
b) If you don't like the style of writing or you're not easily satisfied, you'll dismiss the writer's books and scoff, saying everything is just the same.
(Now is when I start bashing certain writers which might just bring the hellhounds down on me)
For this exact reason, I'm coming clean by saying that I just don't like Danielle Steel and Nicholas Spark. I've read ... 8-9(at least) books by the former and 3 from the latter and god, I skip most of the pages of Danielle's books and Nicholas'? Well, I know some girls just love his books because they really tug on your heartstrings but I swear, I regret making his The Guardian as one of the books I borrowed from the library.
No, I'm not dissing their writing skills. I just don't like their formulas.
Your taste in books is like your definition of beauty. Its very very subjective.
12 comments:
Yeah, musicians do the same a lot of the time. Shit sells I guess.
You didn't mention Stephenie Meyer so you're not going to get the hate. It is the same though with every formula and genre as well. For the most part Stephen King books are pretty similar, but people still love them. Most writers have their own way to do things and sometimes you just don't agree with that. Like Mozart said the same applies to music as well. Just because you don't like a particular artist doesn't mean they're bad (though some are just actually bad and need to stop for the good of the human race) it just means you don't like it.
I hate forgetting to check that little box that says subscribe to comments.
Stephenie Meyer. My problem with her is her ruining the most basic concept of vampires. Sunlight = kill. Not sparkle. and the message Bella gives in those books of hers? Oh god. Don't get me started. (Unless you want me to)
Oooh please do. I love it when a girl doesn't act like Twilight is God's gift to literature.
Haha. Let me list out what's wrong with the series.
- Bella,life is not about getting a boyfriend. Yes, all those sacrifice, wasting away your life is all for a boy.
- She literally played with Jacob's feelings.
- It puts emphasis on sex. Like, not in a straight honest way. But in the "celibacy, we can't have sex cause its dangerous for you" way.
- Edward is a stalker. Give me Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
-There's no plot. Its just for those girls who needs "romance" in a "modern" setting.
-The last book? Ewwww. The girl's name? God, I thought Stephenie made a poll or something because its that bad. The book is obviously a crowd pleaser.
I know someone who named her kid after that...thing. I feel bad for the poor thing.
That godawful name? Oh my god. Poor child would be seeking a name change.
To the comments, I used to LOVE Twilight. When no one else knew about it. Now, it sucks! D; There's too much hype around it and the movies are horrible. -.-'
But yeah, I don't really like Danielle Steel or Nicholas Sparks. I read a few pages and get bored.
Haha Twilight really did suck. And real life is nothing close to romance novels. At least the characters always get someone in the end. It's pretty cliche.
I like that you referred to Jodi Picoult as an example. A friend of mine was saying that all her books are the same, with just a few plot changes.
I thought about it and realised it was kind of true, but I still love her books because I like her style.
nice post :)
Oh and I love your comment up there about twilight :P
@Jodie- From my detailed Twilight rant, its obvious I've read it all. It was ... ok before it got big. The movies made it sooo cheesy.
@Beyond Timid:Romance novels are pretty much guilty pleasures. If you're not smart enough to not realise its different from life, well, your fault.
Someone should write one on one sided love.
@Purple:I just love Jodi Picoult. But she tends to well, touch on different issues which I think make the books interesting.
Post a Comment