Writing
I've been enthusiastically writing a fanfic based on the otome game Seduce Me. Basically, I really liked the characters and parts of the story, but there were other parts that totally didn't work for me. Since I really wanted to see a fanfic with a polyamorous relationship based on the game with characters who were adults and had been adults for more than just a short period of time (not that teenagers can't have sex if they choose to do so, but I just would much rather read about ladies who are in their mid-20s or older) and since no one else seemed to be writing that story (there are poly stories, but the characters are very young), I decided to write it myself. Normally, I have a story that I want to tell to an audience. However, in this case, the story is first and foremost for me. It has been surprisingly fun, since I can be as excessively self-indulgent as I want.
I'm only about 1/4 of the way done, but I am finding that some of the advice given to writers isn't necessarily true or isn't true in the way I interpreted it. For example, I see the advice that your characters don't have to be likeable. I have definitely read books that follow this advice, and generally I dislike them. Yes, an amazing plot can help get past the writer's choice of assholes as characters, but why handicap yourself? Generally, any book that is part of a series has characters that are appealing for one reason or another, especially in romance and maybe also mystery. I think that is perhaps a requirement for romance, since you are supposed to find the love interest appealing (and while there are people who date assholes, generally the characters in romance novels aren't that kind of asshole). Anyway, I think this is why I like fanfic. The characters in most video games that I play are supposed to be likeable, even the bad guys sometimes.
One of the other pieces of advice was that if a scene doesn't forward the plot, then cut it. This is probably good advice for something that is plot-driven, and in some ways, romance is still plot driven. However, if the goal of the novel is not to see how Mr. X saves the world from a horde of zombies but rather to watch characters that you love building stronger relationships with some plot in the background, then fluff scenes might be appropriate. Fluff scenes totally aren't going to work, though, if the characters are unlikeable assholes.
So, anyway, I'm going to probably have scenes where two or more of the characters sit together, watching the rain and talking about their lives, or walk around the yard, looking at wind damage and thinking about the future. I may end up cutting those scenes, but it might be that they will add depth to my characters and their relationships. We'll see.
I'm only about 1/4 of the way done, but I am finding that some of the advice given to writers isn't necessarily true or isn't true in the way I interpreted it. For example, I see the advice that your characters don't have to be likeable. I have definitely read books that follow this advice, and generally I dislike them. Yes, an amazing plot can help get past the writer's choice of assholes as characters, but why handicap yourself? Generally, any book that is part of a series has characters that are appealing for one reason or another, especially in romance and maybe also mystery. I think that is perhaps a requirement for romance, since you are supposed to find the love interest appealing (and while there are people who date assholes, generally the characters in romance novels aren't that kind of asshole). Anyway, I think this is why I like fanfic. The characters in most video games that I play are supposed to be likeable, even the bad guys sometimes.
One of the other pieces of advice was that if a scene doesn't forward the plot, then cut it. This is probably good advice for something that is plot-driven, and in some ways, romance is still plot driven. However, if the goal of the novel is not to see how Mr. X saves the world from a horde of zombies but rather to watch characters that you love building stronger relationships with some plot in the background, then fluff scenes might be appropriate. Fluff scenes totally aren't going to work, though, if the characters are unlikeable assholes.
So, anyway, I'm going to probably have scenes where two or more of the characters sit together, watching the rain and talking about their lives, or walk around the yard, looking at wind damage and thinking about the future. I may end up cutting those scenes, but it might be that they will add depth to my characters and their relationships. We'll see.