This is the second installment (read the first if you haven’t) of ramblings inspired by an exercise to make me slow down and think about the mechanics of what I’m trying to do in my own work by typing out someone else’s novel.
And: it’s working!
And starting sentence after sentence with a conjunction is another nitpick I’ve run across.
And, now only slightly more (page 107 of 209) than exactly halfway through, the characters have only just had their first romance “moment” — the touching of hands, accelerated heartbeats, longing glances, breathtaking possibilities. I admit it took my breath away — in a huge sigh of relief that they’d actually, finally, gotten around to this point.
Pacing and plot points are some of the things with which I’m struggling so I’m trying to be very aware of the plot points, events, and beats happen along the way. If this were another genre and the romance only a sub-plot, I’d not have given it a thought one way or the other. However, this is a romance I’m typing. In a romance, tease and retreat spin the timeless dance of heartbeats and we readers want the ebb and flow of emotions throughout. So this stood out to me as way too long to wait for that first moment.
On the flip side, mine progress much faster. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Maybe I’m pushing my characters too hard. Too fast. Maybe I’m asking too much to have them dance their way through all the acts. Maybe I should give them some space. Give them … a break. What if they do things on that break I don’t want them to do? What if they don’t come back? What if they do and that break echoes on and on and on throughout the remainder of their relationship?
What if they (or the readers) burn out and fade away before the end?
Maybe, just maybe, my characters are capable of moving faster, though, because they’re older. I am writing a #SeasonedRomance after all. My characters have been both battered and wizened by life. They know it’s too short to waste even if they aren’t sure about each step they take. That doesn’t make it any less of an emotional roller-coaster ride, for them or — hopefully! — the reader. Perhaps their choices to love are more purposeful, less angst-y, more sharing of self with others than creating self from others. Perhaps their reasons against love may also be more ingrained, the barriers higher, reinforced, and armored.
Heh, still kind of feeling out my own reasons for targeting this newer sub-category of romance, but I’m liking all the possibilities.
Ironic, isn’t it, that writing older (ahem, and by older “they” mean “over 30” {cough}{cough}) characters in a romance is a newer thing? Let’s hear it for the Gen X’ers, the Baby Boomers, the Slient and, yes, even the Greatest ones who all still want to read romances but want strong characters their own age!
There now, how’s that for rambling?