Romance Novel's vs Series (NEED OPINIONS)


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Yu-ikita's avatar
I guess both are good, I guess?
But the easiers are the novels, the series can lost the gender of romance to comedy or suspense. It's difficult to keep love in the way of a serie show except if you risk to put some drama and tragedy in there
WishingUnderThatStar's avatar
How many romance novels and series have you read?

FYI, I'm an avid reader of the romance genre. I will give you my input but I'm interested in what you know of the genre and market.
iamversatility's avatar
I have yet to read a romance series, but I have watched TV shows that I would consider to be romance series. As for stand alone I have read several and watched movie adaptions of the books. Nicholas Sparks.
WishingUnderThatStar's avatar
If you're wanting to write romance novels, you need to read (Watching TV shows is irrelevant) romance novels. Or at least do some research. :/
Firstly, Nicholas Sparks is NOT a romance novelist; his books are drama orientated that include love stories, which doesn't equate a romance novel. Sparks has even denied writing romance novels in dozens of interviews.

Which is why your first 'format' you mentioned in your journal won't work. Not only does it show your lack of understanding of the romance genre, but you also have no understanding of what the market wants. e.g. "each book a stand alone novel and just use different characters which would allow me to make them all happy endings if I so wish."
While there are a few exceptions, such as the classics, novels in the romance genre always, always, always have a happy ending.

Having a romantic relationship in a piece of writing doesn't automatically make it a romance novel.
iamversatility's avatar
I really appreciate the honest feedback, I know romance readers take their genre seriously which is the main reason I wanted to get some responses.

I do agree with the romance being something different than what I am trying to probably right. Unfortunately its probably more of a marketing issue via stores like amazon that have these genres listed making you list them under broad categories. I'm not quite sure what to classify these stories under when they are love stories in the truest sense however it isn't just about the romance involved but more about their lives intertwining.
WishingUnderThatStar's avatar
If you're writing a novel in a particular genre, no matter whether it's romance, fantasy or a thriller, research has to be done. Each genre has its own "requirements" and market.
If you want to write the kind of books that Nicholas Sparks writes then that's fine. However you cannot say that they're romance novels.

"I'm not quite sure what to classify these stories"
So do the research first and figure out what they are before you slap on a label.

"however it isn't just about the romance involved but more about their lives intertwining."
You would have to do the research but from the sound of it, I would say that this novel of yours is more literary fiction than anything else.
iamversatility's avatar
Yeah I think literary fiction is appropriate.
Sachi-pon's avatar
i really like romance stories ^__^ i think both types of story ideas are good. i don't know which one i like better. i guess it all comes down to what kind of ideas you have. if you can easily think of several short ideas and several characters, do the individual novels. but if you want to write about one main character who  goes through a lot of growth/change over time, and you want to have continuity in your stories (so that each event builds on the one before it and all the parts link together) then do the long series.

for me personally, i like to think of several shorter ideas. so i would do the individual novels. though you may have a different feeling so i don't know!! ^__^
iamversatility's avatar
Thank you for the input. I'm really trying to weigh the pro's and con's of each approach. I really like the uniqueness of the series version plus the idea of not having to come up with new main characters for each book is a + well as many characters anyways.
Sachi-pon's avatar
no problem... well i guess you want to do the series then!
iamversatility's avatar
I only got one persons opinion on this so far I would like to at-least get 10 opinions thank you.