reviewer's manifesto
sherryfair had this to say in a comment to yesterday's post:
IMHO, writers who write these critiques get an unparalleled opportunity to articulate to themselves their own aesthetic standards. Their own goals in their art become clearer to them as they indirectly write a manifesto on what they believe in. Writers within the romance genre who don't do this may be losing out on something that could offer them a lot of insight. A lot of writers saying: "I believe this, and this is where I stand on this question" -- how can that not be healthy for a writer's work & for the genre as a whole?Can I just say: exactly, and be done with it? Would that be lazy? For my own growth as a writer, is it possible for me to put down, say, ten things about fiction that I believe strongly, and would be willing to argue?
Here goes.
1. A good novel tells a story; a story begins with conflict, small or large.
2. A good story has rounded, well drawn characters who move the story, instead of being moved by the story.
3. A good story floats along on well done dialogue.
4. The author's voice should be distinctive, but not intrusive or louder than the narrative voice.
5. Authors owe it to their readers to get the details right.
6. Talent is there or it isn't, but craft can be learned and honed. A good author has mastered the craft so that it doesn't intrude into the reader's awareness.
7. Lazy authors resort to stereotype and take shortcuts with character motivations and plot.
8. A good author sets up a set of expectations the reader can count on for the length of the ride.
9. A good author uses language so skillfully that the invisible becomes visible.
10. A good story evokes powerful feelings that stay with me for a long time, and a very good story, forever.
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I could probably nudge these ten things around for days and days and not be quite satisfied, but I'm going to stop and make a different list.
The five biggest problems with the romance genre:
1. Outlandish, outdated motivations and plot devices. Girls masquerading as boys, women tricking men into getting them pregnant, dukes posing as highwaymen, secret babies, etc etc.
2. The restrictions on female characters motivations, habits, background.
3. Trite, overused, painful vocabulary that needs to be locked away in a vault for the next five hundred years. First word on that list: sensual.
4. Ridiculous titles and cover art.
5. Awkward, stilted, clumsy writing.
(okay, six):
6. Dependence on a small set of settings and historical periods which are used in stereotypical ways.
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Before you start shouting at me: Of course there are hundreds of well done romance novels that commit none of these sins. Judith Ivory and Jenny Crusie and Laura Kinsale are examples of authors who have done a lot to lift the bar, but there is still a lot of bad romance writing out there, and worse: a reluctance to have serious discussions about things that go wrong.
Commence firing.