While I was in the shower this morning, I was ruminating on quite a few things. (Many of my deepest thoughts occur while trying to make sure I don't get shampoo in my eyes.) I have recently switched offices at work, which means I am surrounded by all new staff. When they see my novel covers pinned to the corkboard above my head, we have the inevitable conversation about me being a writer, and the next question is always "What kind of books do you write?" My standard answer is that I write love stories. Because it's true, I do. And I hate to admit this, but it's almost embarrassing to say "I write Romance".
But you know what? There's nothing wrong with Romance!!! Generally, the attitude I have run across from most non-Romance readers is "What's the point? You know what's going to happen before you even open the book! They meet, they fall in love, they have a falling out, they make up, The End." And for formulaic romance, they are right! Even in (Chick-Flick) movies, that's the exact same formula. They are right!
But you know what? The same can be said of ANY genre! Murder Mystery: There's a murder, they follow clues, there's a few twists and turns, but darn it if they don't always figure it out in the end. Thriller: There's some sort of scary mystery/conspiracy, the hero get chased and almost killed throughout the whole thing as he follows clues, he/she figures it out in the end and he goes home mostly in one piece. Westerns (channeling Louis L'amour, because he's the one I read copious amounts of in High School): bad guys do something, loner cowboy who's quietly the best of the best tracks them down, he thinks about the girl he left behind/is trying to save a few times, has a showdown to beat the bad guys and goes home to marry the girl.
See? Predictability. Pattern. Formula.
So what's the point? You know how it's inevitably going to end. In fact, my mother used to drive me NUTS when I was a teenager. Go into any bookstore with her, and she'll head for the romance section (she's the one who got me into the genre) and the first thing she'll do is crack open the last five pages and read them. You Just Ruined It!!!! WHY BOTHER to read the whole thing now??
But now? I get it.
The point isn't the ending. Yes, you want a good payoff. You want the ending to make your heart skip a beat while you smile goofily and sigh. You want that natural high where you feel as light hearted as the girl being told "I love you" by the unlikely hero. You want that moment of giddiness. (Which is why Mom cheated like that, if the payoff wasn't good enough for her, she wouldn't waste her time with the rest of the book.)
But honestly, the whole point is the journey itself. The point of anyone's personal favorite genre is that you want a chance to meet a few people you can like or (even better) love, and you want to take a journey WITH them. You want to find out how *their personal story* unfolds. Because you want to care. And those people stay with you, like friends you used to have in your life. You can think back on them with fondness, and you are part of them and they are part of you.
I'm sure there's a lot more reasons I'm not thinking of. What do you think? What's the point?
