tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post1670470060522540079..comments2024-01-12T00:48:48.031-06:00Comments on Go Teen Writers: Writing Romance That Works a Guest Post by Hillary Manton LodgeStephanie Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13128389560727867719noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-56726149404578924902016-11-16T13:23:45.856-06:002016-11-16T13:23:45.856-06:00Wisdomcreates - exactly! That little shred of huma...Wisdomcreates - exactly! That little shred of humanity/likability is super important. The Eltons are a great example.Hillary Manton Lodgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15614571234796672008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-50225890547402331742016-11-16T13:20:04.116-06:002016-11-16T13:20:04.116-06:00Thanks for commenting, Rachelle! Now I'm cravi...Thanks for commenting, Rachelle! Now I'm craving fudge, haha.Hillary Manton Lodgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15614571234796672008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-81486950712033966652016-11-16T13:19:26.439-06:002016-11-16T13:19:26.439-06:00Thaaaat sounds amazing!Thaaaat sounds amazing!Hillary Manton Lodgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15614571234796672008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-70187133777120536672016-11-16T13:18:41.833-06:002016-11-16T13:18:41.833-06:00I think my mom has a very similar recipe! Glad you...I think my mom has a very similar recipe! Glad you enjoyed the post, Georgina. And you're right - a lot of it is structural character building, worked more specifically into romance building. <br /><br />Thanks for commenting!Hillary Manton Lodgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15614571234796672008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-2714373215892077802016-11-16T13:17:16.156-06:002016-11-16T13:17:16.156-06:00Mmmm, snickerdoodles!Mmmm, snickerdoodles!Hillary Manton Lodgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15614571234796672008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-51597171682632377072016-11-16T13:13:11.777-06:002016-11-16T13:13:11.777-06:00What the arranged marriage/loveless marriage trope...What the arranged marriage/loveless marriage trope really does is shifts the stakes a bit, and also creates more intimacy earlier in a relationship - even if they're not "intimate" they're still sharing a life. Love Comes Softly is a great example. Lori Wick's The Princess is another one - she marries the prince out of a sense of affection and duty, and not love, and the prince is still grieving his wife. But there are still qualities that make them a good match and worthy of each other, and reasons why they need each other - though in this setup, I think he needs her more than she needs him. <br /><br />Thanks for stopping by!Hillary Manton Lodgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15614571234796672008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-44596067363683312392016-11-15T09:36:14.227-06:002016-11-15T09:36:14.227-06:00I liked Eleanor and Park. The ending worked becaus...I liked Eleanor and Park. The ending worked because Park's helping her was out of his love for her. He wanted her to be safe. And that meant giving her up. It's not typical for the genre.Jill Williamsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11943570354349667196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-38615880261330828582016-11-15T09:34:33.186-06:002016-11-15T09:34:33.186-06:00You can have unlikely romances. People can learn t...You can have unlikely romances. People can learn to love one another. They're going to have to learn numbers 1 and 2. This would be the kind of story that is a romance after marriage. One example I am thinking of now is the historical romance by Janette Oke called Love Comes Softly. It's about a woman who was pregnant with her first child while she and her husband were on the Oregon Trail, looking to start a new life. But her husband unexpectedly died, so she is deserted. A man comes along (who is a widower with a little kid) and he offers to marry her if she will cook, keep his house, and help raise his child. So she marries him out of desperation. But by the end of the story, they come to love each other. It's not a typical romance, yet it still follows most the ingredients above, they just come after the marriage. I think that is what you will need to do--at least for the situations in which you want your couple to fall in love. Jill Williamsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11943570354349667196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-57521103931292271432016-11-12T09:59:02.591-06:002016-11-12T09:59:02.591-06:00Thanks for the character breakdown!
My favorite r...Thanks for the character breakdown! <br />My favorite recipe to make is probably a grilled Nutella sandwich. Grilled cheese sandwich with Nutella instead of cheese. Lexinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-71646536094350038672016-11-10T23:13:36.389-06:002016-11-10T23:13:36.389-06:00Wow! This post was so informative. I learned a lot...Wow! This post was so informative. I learned a lot, and much of this applies not just to romance, I feel. Thank you for sharing this with us, Jill, and thank you so much for letting her share your insights, Hillary! <br />My favorite recipe to MAKE on my own is Strawberry Pretzel Salad. It's a three layer dish of strawberry jello, cream and a pretzel crust that is a holiday tradition in my family. :)Georginanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-13050983534311828762016-11-10T19:31:39.481-06:002016-11-10T19:31:39.481-06:00---SPOILER ALERT FOR ELEANOR AND PARK---
I've...---SPOILER ALERT FOR ELEANOR AND PARK---<br /><br />I've heard over and over again that in romance, the two characters have to end up together. So what do you guys think of an Eleanor and Park type ending?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-53339166608242430102016-11-10T10:52:49.122-06:002016-11-10T10:52:49.122-06:00Oh wow! This was very helpful! I recently finished...Oh wow! This was very helpful! I recently finished a story that was supposed to be a romance, but I really wasn't sure how to do it. It kind of fell flat. Now I can go back and make good changes. I don't typically read or write romance so it needs a lot of help.<br />I do have one question though. I know in the future I'm going to be trying out unique romance. The kind with arranged marriages and people getting married without really knowing each other. Some of that isn't going to fit the rules very well, especially #1 and #2. Is there a way to get around that or should it still be implemented somewhat?<br />~LaurenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-54577243222949374892016-11-09T22:31:32.054-06:002016-11-09T22:31:32.054-06:00I thought about The Tale of Two Cities and a few o...I thought about The Tale of Two Cities and a few other stories when I read this. Because here and there, you find a heart-tugging romance been some angelically good character and the no-good tramp. But, even in those stories, this romance rule holds true. Because there is SOMETHING redeeming...some shred of humanity left or some spark of potential in a dark life... That makes the reader deem that character worthy. Nobody looks at Mrs Elton (in the book Emma) and feels a warm fuzzy romantic feeling about her, even though her marriage occurs within the timeline of the book. Why? Because she isn't a likeable character.Esther Brooksmith (wisdomcreates)https://www.blogger.com/profile/15010043354045249021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-73500411671309929842016-11-09T19:20:20.820-06:002016-11-09T19:20:20.820-06:00Ooh, my favorite recipe is either snickerdoodles, ...Ooh, my favorite recipe is either snickerdoodles, soft pretzels or lemon sour cream pound cake!! Emmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03861384032480877924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-9486275665675015502016-11-09T17:46:09.228-06:002016-11-09T17:46:09.228-06:00What a wonderfully helpful post! Thanks so much fo...What a wonderfully helpful post! Thanks so much for sharing, Jill, and for creating, Hillary!<br /><br />Oh, sheesh, favorite recipe? Probably chocolate-chip cookies or fudge. We have a super simple fudge recipe that is like the most addicting thing I have ever tasted! :D Thanks for the giveaway!Rachelle O'Neilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02884513979937452569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-25647848733148918822016-11-09T17:15:48.578-06:002016-11-09T17:15:48.578-06:00Helpful post!! :)
My favorite recipe to make is ...Helpful post!! :) <br /><br />My favorite recipe to make is probably boiled/no-bake cookies. Yum!!Faith P.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12321422384005620538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-18475727582506860822016-11-09T12:51:41.714-06:002016-11-09T12:51:41.714-06:00Thank you for explaining :)Thank you for explaining :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-3188132955067939582016-11-09T11:29:54.674-06:002016-11-09T11:29:54.674-06:00That's fun, Keturah. I am not a fan of the lov...That's fun, Keturah. I am not a fan of the love at first sight situations, either.Jill Williamsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11943570354349667196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-86450103917221420472016-11-09T11:28:30.229-06:002016-11-09T11:28:30.229-06:00Sure. This doesn't mean that the characters ar...Sure. This doesn't mean that the characters are the same. It's that the pieces of them match up well. They are fulfilling each other's needs. You can tell they're a good fit. This is about those books you read where you just hate one of the romantic characters. And the reader keeps saying, "WHY? Why would he/she want to be in a relationship with this person? There is nothing likable about him or her." They might be whiny or lazy or cowardly or completely annoying. The romance being written is not satisfying to the reader because the author hasn't done the right work to make this couple deserving of each other. One side is majorly skewed.Jill Williamsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11943570354349667196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-90704499856003676892016-11-09T08:36:48.062-06:002016-11-09T08:36:48.062-06:00Ok... so I stay clear of romance for the most part...Ok... so I stay clear of romance for the most part, unless I totally change it. Lol... I like twists. Especially in romance. So, if I do it, I put some unique twist on it... when you have the trio... either all three get different people than you would have suspected... or something drastic and unexpected happens. Or in my Cinderella story.. the MC thinks she loves someone else. So, I'm totally destroying that thought of "love at first sight", but that one must "choose to love". Haha... anyways... this post had some extremely helpful points :)Keturah Lambhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041749245034077912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024721400572472213.post-45012264866719646412016-11-09T08:15:24.916-06:002016-11-09T08:15:24.916-06:00Could you elaborate on Romance Rule #1, please?Could you elaborate on Romance Rule #1, please?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com