Photo by Ludovic Migneault on Unsplash
As many of you know, I write Historical Christian Romance stories, and my first novel should be out in time for Christmas if all goes well.
I have begun writing my second novel and yesterday, when I met with my critique partner, I asked her a question. You see, I began my new novel with Chapter 0, which is sort of like a Prologue. It’s a scene from my main male character’s back story. Yesterday, I had Chapter 1 ready to give to my critique partner, and she gave her critiqued copy of my Chapter 0 back to me. I asked her what she thought about the fact that I began this novel with a scene from the back story of my main male character and had written Chapter 1 about my main male character in the actual time period of the story.
Why did I ask her that question? Because I had been told when writing my first novel that you cannot wait until you’re too far into the story to introduce the lady who will be the main male character’s love interest. Or rather, both the male and female, who will fall in love, must both be introduced early in the story.
On another note, I had also been told that my male character should not be the main character. I was told that romance readers wouldn’t like it. That it didn’t fit the formula. I’ve been a romance reader for many years. When I first began reading romance stories, I read a lot of Harlequin Romance stories. However, after awhile, I grew tired of the fact that I found them to be so predictable. I felt that the stories had different characters and were set in different places, but the story lines were all basically the same. So, I branched out to read other romance stories.
I have found throughout the romance genre that generally, the formula is boy meets girl and, though they are attracted to one another, something or, sometimes, more than one thing, keeps them apart until the last third or quarter of the book.
My novels do follow that basic formula. However, I choose to make my main character the male, at least in these first two novels. However, once the male and female begin interacting more, I change scenes or chapters back and forth between his point of view and her point of view, so really, my novels really have a male and a female main character throughout the majority of the novel.
One more thing I find odd, is that when you submit a query or a novel to an agent or publisher, they almost always ask you, what makes your story different from the other stories that are out there in your same genre. Why do they want to know what makes it different, if it’s not supposed to be different?
All that being said, I would like for you, Romance readers, to please answer the following questions in the comments below: 1) Do you prefer your romance stories to be predictable? 2) Would you be willing to read Romance novels that begin with a main male character? 3) Do you find it refreshing to find new twists in the Romance genre and look for books that offer something new or do you prefer to stick with the same old, same old?
I appreciate you taking the time to answer these questions.
Kelly F Barr 
First answer: No! Predictable stories are boring because you can guess them from the beginning. The more twists and turns the better! That’s why I love Jen Turano’s books. You always know the guy and girl will get together, but you have absolutely NO clue what will be happening in the middle of the story between the first meeting and the wedding day. Second answer: Of course! Jen Turano’s books go back and forth between guy and girl, and fresh perspectives are always interesting. I don’t care who tells the story as long as the story is told, ha!
Third answer: Refer back to answer #1 for this one. 😉 But some of the “Same old, same old” stories are fun, too. Maybe that’s why I reread my favorite books a gazillion times, I don’t know. LOL!
PS: SO EXCITED for your novel!!!! 😉
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Hello Word Warrior Girl 1,
Thank you so much for answering my questions and sharing your opinion. I greatly appreciate it. I also appreciate your enthusiasm and your excitement for my novel.
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Congrats on finishing your first novel! I know how long and hard you’ve been working on that, and how exciting to see a release coming up so soon!
This was a really interesting read. I’m not a huge reader of romance myself, largely because it’s so predictable. My other issue stems from how much of it focuses on contrived lovey-dovey feels, which tend to annoy me after about two pages, lol.
To answer your questions then, 1) NO! I don’t like it when I can see the next twist or turn in the plot three chapters before it happens. I like knowing the ending is going to a happily ever after, but that’s part of the genre description and therefore an expectation.
2) Yes. I wasn’t aware this was considered a taboo and did this in my first novel (along with writing both male/ female protagonists in first person…another taboo!). Oops? Or not? No one who has read it complained that it started with the male protagonist, so it never even crossed my mind. I would say keep yours the way that feels right in telling the story!
3) Definitely looking for something outside the mainstream formula. As mentioned before, I don’t read romance just to read it. If I’m going to spend my time on it, it’s gotta have something different.
Which sort of brings up your question about being different while writing within a genre. For me personally within the context of Christian romance writing, different can be an unusual setting or time in history (a pony express station and the Edo Period in Japan are two specifics that grabbed me).
It can be a hobby or interest that exists in the book beyond a mere catalyst (one protagonist decorated cakes simply because she loved it and found it therapeutic–it had little to do with the relationship plot and a publisher probably would have told the author to cut the element out, but it added charm and depth to the character and I loved it).
It can also be in the writing. If the quality is great and/ or there’s well-done humor, I’m more likely to read even if it’s predictable.
General example: My mother-in-law gave me a Georgette Heyer book to read, “The Reluctant Widow.” I knew nothing about the book and my knowledge of Heyer’s regency period works came from my MIL. “There’s mystery, it’s hilarious, she’s usually poor, he’s either rich or a doctor or a rich doctor.”
It was a riot. Heyer is not an author I would binge read, and some of it was a little tedious (females in my experience are not so oblivious and dense), but I did really enjoy it. It was the first mashup of murder mystery/ romance/ humor I’d read that actually worked, and I learned a lot from it!
And that’s the end of my long-winded comment. 🙂
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Thank you so much, Elizabeth, for the congratulations on finally finishing my first novel and for taking the time to answer my questions so in depth. I really appreciate it!
The Reluctant Widow sounds like a good read.
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