Inquiry - Romance (Not a vent post, promise)

[kriadydragon]

So I think most know how I feel about pairings. I've never been a fan of romance, can't stand the whining, angsty complications with some romance, character A worrying if character B really loves them all while they're running for their lives or the world's about to end, and cringe whenever a show or book introduces a "potential love interest." Oh, and mustn't forget my distaste in sex scenes.

The thing is, though, I'm not so opposed to romance as to not have it at all when it comes to my own stories. The other thing is, I tend to be subtle about the romance - in that it's not front and center, yet neither is it entirely not there at all. The best way I can sum it up is to say I "leave it open"; in that you can see it as friendship that might one day become more, friendship that is becoming more, or - well - very subtle romance ;)

The recent story I'm attempting to plot (original fic, not fanfic) got me thinking about how I handle romance and romance in general. When is it too much? Too little? Cringe worthy or just right? That kind of stuff. I want to hear other's opinions on romance. For example, is a story/show just as good if no romance is involved? Can friendships be just as powerful? Etc. Anything you have to say on the matter, please say it. The story I'm plotting isn't a romance, but there's a guy, a girl, the potential for feelings but hopefully not to the extent that it dominates most of the plot. But plots can be sneaky that way ;)

Comments

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I mostly just want to know what one can get away with. i.e. Can I have a guy and a girl in the same story and not have them fall in love? Or not fall in love in a way that it's obvious they're in love? I don't want to end up having my characters focus on their feelings for the majority of the story, as that's always been a big annoyance for me when it comes to romance in fiction. Not to say there's anything wrong with it, it's just not my thing.

More than that, though, it's not something I want to write, especially when there's so much else going on around the characters. I've read quite a few stories where it seems like the world revolves around the two character's relationships, and most of the time it drive me nuts because the world's about to end and character A is pining over why character B refuses to express their love. And if they would just stop pining, they could save the world already.

[bratfarrar]

Oh yeah. Definitely. Agatha Christie does it in just about every single one of her mysteries, with as little schmoop as possible. Well, except for the few where she began with the romance as a premise, and even then it's relatively mild.

Usually, the main feeling expressed is trust and faith in a person--i.e., that they're not the murderer. The actual hand-holding, etc., usually doesn't come until the very end.