Today I will be discussing my pet peeve. It is a disease
that becomes ever more present in new novels. A sickness of writing called “instant
romance”. This is where the characters barely know each other but declare they
are soul mates (I had the misfortune to read one such novel where the lead met
her love interest and immediately declared he was her soul mate. It killed the
story.)
There is nothing inherently wrong with a love element in
novels, in fact, novels need that love element or love interest to resonate
with the reader on a deeper level. But personally the instant romance thing is
kills a story for me. The minute there is instant romance involved I will toss
the novel aside like the cheap fodder it is and refuse to read it further. Why?
Simply because character development becomes neglected. The author already
stated the love interest in the novel between character A and B (and sometimes
C, then you get the ever popular love triangle) and thus sees no need to
further develop the characters involved. Instead the characters become
caricatures of daytime soap operas, where they experience unrealistic emotional
angst or simply cannot choose who they want between character B and C.
A good romance or love element in a novel, regardless of
genre, will develop with the characters. Even if the characters are introduced
from the start as being an “item” that information should not hinder the
development of the characters or the romantic connection between them.
Simply put I’m trying to say this: instant romance/love does
not happen in real life. Instant lust happens, not love. Feeling attracted to
someone the moment you see them, feeling aroused and lustful is something that
happened to us all. We all saw a stranger who made us hot under the collar, but
we did not run around proclaiming our undying love for said stranger, now did
we? So why should our characters do it? Love is something that grows and
develops over time.
The best romance novels and films leave you aching for love
and there is no reason the love element in your novel should not develop
equally naturally (within the limits of what you are writing).
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