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I don’t think controversy means that an idea from an author makes them a poor example to use; let’s not forget that what was controversial in the past – women writers, powerful heroines instead of heroes and all manner of other things – are all par for the course today while we have new controversies to deal with – introducing sex partway through a series (like LKH), alternative lifestyles (like Fifty Shades) and so on. Sex and romance (irrevocably linked in this case) seem to be today’s controversies and that is probably why there’s so much of it out there. Whether people love it or hate it, they’re talking about it; horror/fantasy/urban contemporary fans are talking about LKH, traditional romance fans are talking about Fifty Shades, fans of classics like Stoker’s Dracula are talking about Twilight and, whether loved or hated, if it’s talked about, it’s probably bought. Sex, and especially different takes on it, have become a selling point and, maybe, almost too necessary to get sold now.
That being said, I can see the point. Sex is out there. Romance is out there. People have it, people think about it, talk about it, want it, so why wouldn’t characters be doing the same things… Because it might turn some people off? Are the people you have to change your story for – whether adding romance or removing it – really the people you want reading your book? Is it still your book at that point, or has it become theirs and you just typed the words?
This has got a little off track, but I think the point I’m waffling and flapping to make is that… I think romance has always been out there (or maybe I’m the only one who wonders what would’ve happened if Helen Hanff had been able to go into the bookstore at 84 Charring Cross Road – a wavering source, I know, with it being non-fiction and all – instead of only writing in her orders), but we’re… Allowed to be more open about ‘I’m writing romance as well as this other genre’ without being turned away for it being there at all.
My Inner Editor takes many forms…
Inadequacy. This usually comes at times between writing, when I’m doing other things; reading or talking about writing or browsing for new books. In fact, I was hit by this just the other day, stood in the middle of Waterstones’ sci-fi/fantasy/horror/contemporary urban sections with the little Inner Editor whispering in my ear, “You’re never going to be this good. You’re never going to be on these shelves with people asking ‘Do you have any Reine?’ You might as well give up now; you’re never going to get there.”
“Really? That’s what you want to say?” This comes often during the writing itself. I’ll write a sentence or a line of dialogue or even an entire scene and the little Inner Editor voice will raise its ugly head and inform me that the message coming across is not the message I intended to send at all and I should therefore go back, delete the entire thing and start over.
“How are you going to feel when people you know read this? Do you really want your mother/father/brothers/best friend/third-cousin’s-cat-sitter’s-boyfriend’s-brother reading this?” This one usually comes during sex scenes and sometimes during particularly violent scenes.
“Is this really necessary to the story or are you desperately trying to pad?” This tends to come on re-reading a scene or chapter.
So, for me, I find that most often my Inner Editor is at its most dangerous when I’m not actually in the midst of the writing itself. If I can sit down and just… Make one word follow another, I tend to be okay, it’s only when I look back or allow myself time to think that I find myself in trouble, which is awkward if I’ve had to leave writing a scene for sleep/food/the mailman. I’m much safer remaining in my own little world, whatever that may be at the time.
Interesting topic. Definitely food for thought. For me, I’m unashamedly a romance writer. I think it has a lot to do with what you start out writing. Laurell K. Hamilton wrote something similar in one of her books, though for her it was regarding sex: You have sex the way you first had sex. I think this extends to you write the way you first wrote.
The first ‘real’ writing I ever did (not for a school paper or because I had to, but simply because I wanted to) was freeform roleplay and had a romantic element. I dare say that the romance was the main point of the writing and everything else orbited around that, so romantic relationships have sort of become my bread and butter. I’ve gone into writing with the intention of “There won’t be romance in this,” but it invariably creeps in when I’m not looking or have let my guard down thinking I’m safe from the kissy kissy stuff. I’m also unashamedly an erotica writer; I think love and/or sex have their place, even in the most tense of thrillers/adventures/mysteries. Sometimes, as both a writer and a reader, you need something good, or even something not quite so bad to ease you through those hard times and, sometimes, the characters need that too.
Most recently, I begin with a romance; some kind of relationship and build my story from there. What trials and tribulations can this couple go through? How will it strengthen or weaken the foundation of their relationship? will it survive? Will they survive? I like exploring the interactions between people, between couples and, especially, I like investigating just how far the character I’ve thought up and brought to life will go in the name of love and/or for the one they love. Where do they draw the lines and how do those lines move in times of need or in the face of truly putting those lines under pressure?
