romance for dummies: chapter one, don't be dumb

[hth_the_first]

I fail at Chapter One; I am clearly the dumbest person alive, because I signed up to write 3 stories this month. It's like Christmas in August! By which I mean, that time of year when I usually sign up for way too many holiday fic exchanges? Yeah, it's like that. Anyway, that's part of why I didn't get around to all the things I was going to

Comments

[viciouswishes]

You're the writer. Think of something.

I'm stealing this to use for every excuse someone comes up with. Usually, I just say, "And you call yourself a creative writer?" but that comes off too accusatory.

While not having seen Knocked Up, I can't comment; however, I do think you bring up an interesting point. I also see with the big Hollywood romances the ones where x has casual sex with y but wants it to be the big romance and then finds it at the end of the movie with z. I'm thinking of movies like Bridget Jones (even though she should've dumped them both in both movies) and Must Love Dogs.

[ivy03]

To add more words to the Knocked Up debate... It isn't the sort of movie that I would ever have gone to, but I ended up seeing it on a date. The date was odd, but the movie was hilarious. It's worth it for that even without viewing it as a romantic film.

What I found romantic about it is that the leading man starts out a completely immature shmuck (pot-smoking, living with his buddies, watching porn and pretending that's a job) but over the course of the film, he grows up. That may not be classical romance, but that's pretty frickin' romantic. I know a lot of guys who I wish would go through a similar transformation. It's like the requisite makeover scene for frumpy women, except in this case, the guy gets a job and that's so much hotter.

[lastscorpion]

I have no intention of going to see Knocked Up, but Sexual tension is the claw-hammer of writing romance. is a wonderful, wonderful line!

Completely off-topic

[darkrosetiger]

Hi,

I sent and email to you last week, asking for permission to do DVD commentary for one of your fics for this challenge. If I don't hear back from you, I'll assume that you're not granting permission, and I won't do the commentary, but I thought I'd check to make sure you got the first message.

Thanks,

Darkrose

Re: Completely off-topic

[hth_the_first]

Oh, sorry I missed that e-mail somehow! Certainly you have permission -- actually, I'm one of those people who feels like you shouldn't need permission to do any kind of commenting you like on anyone's work, but I understand that certain challenges or whatnot require you to get the official word. Thanks for thinking of me, and I'll be looking forward to reading it!

Re: Completely off-topic

[thinkingheart]

There's an organization called creative commons which run a free 'licensing' system, so that you can explicitly label works for which you own the copyright* so that others know you're happy for them to re-use/create derivative works etc.

*obviously a bit tricky for fan-works.

[chicklet_girl]

I haven't seen Knocked Up yet, either, but wanted to offer a big WORD to the rest of your post. I look at the set-ups for current romantic comedies (haven't actually seen any, because they look so awful) and think Even if there's no physical impediment to True Love, like an inappropriate fiance or parental hissy-fit, you can create an intra-character conflict. Surely, one of these people might be reluctant to trust the other for a reason other than 'wacky misunderstanding.'

But then, screenwriters would have to make three-dimensional characters, and they certainly can't have that. They just leave it to the fanfic writers and romance-novel writers. *rolls eyes, goes off to reread "No Refunds or Exchanges" for the millionth time, then tackles her stack of Jennifer Crusie TBR*