Would it matter? Seriously, would it even matter?

The Chatters
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To observe is one thing, but to some people, experiencing is another story. Yet some people are able to write romance stories or stories with some romance in it, yet never experience a romantic relationship. Whether it is idealistic or even semi-realistic or whatever, they write romance stories or have some romance in their stories.

Yet people who have never been in a relationship DON’T write romance in their novels, not even a little bit. Yet some who are in romantic relationships also do not write romance either.

So, I am someone who has never been in a relationship nor do I want to be. Yet I often think about my fictional characters as an extension of me in weird situations or extraordinary situations. They don’t fall in love either, I forbid them because to add romance into their lives would require me to understand romance in a way I never experience. I may be observant, but that’s nothing in comparison to actually experiencing it. I am not going to go out to find someone to experiment being in a romantic relationship for the sake of writing good fleshed out characters or whatever. That is stupid and time consuming. Yet I do enjoy romance shows and such, but I treat that like an itch that comes once in a while and I have to scratch it.

I am semi-romantic, but don’t show it. Nor do ship fictional characters, mainly because I got bored and rather focus on EVERYTHING else than shipping non-canon and canon relationships.

Overall, I don’t think about what my characters want. Some could probably benefit from romantic relationships or even interesting friendships or even both. Yet since I see them as myself in weird ways, I rather they focus on the goal and meeting people along the way, but romance isn’t there.

If I was to make Frostsong have romance in the story where the romance is a subplot or a minor subplot, then maybe, but it is the matter of actually putting romance in there.

It feels fake and cheesy as hell. Who wants fake ass cheesy romance in their stories? Some might, I ain’t some of those people.

TL;DR- If I tossed romance in my novels, even a little, would it truly matter if being or not being in a romantic relationship would help me in the end?

Thoughts and feelings?

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@alenatenjo
@Akje
@NatilladeCoco
@NotARussianBot
@lowarlo
@TheTigerWriter
@J.L.O
@JohnnyTuturro
@rachelsfloetry

Got anything to say? Do any of you write stories with romance in it, but it doesn’t overtake everything or purely romantic stories?

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The standards for romantic subplots these days are so low almost anything you could write would be tolerate as long as both of the characters involved have interesting interactions.

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Almost. The keyword is almost.

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As long as you’re self-publishing nobody will force you to do anything.

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True, there’s expectations.

Shippers, regardless if the romance is non-existent, will ALWAYS ship character in non-canon relationships based on their interactions.

To them there is no such thing as friendships, especially if they view it as, friendships in the real world don’t work in that manner.

Some don’t believe that or even think that, yet most do and they speak the loudest.

It does seem like I am pleasing an audience that doesn’t exist, but I also HATE STUPID PEOPLE WHO TALK WAY TOO FUCKING LOUD!!!

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Pretty sure some people who’ve never been in romantic relationships have written romance and vice versa (as in, people who are or have been in a relationship, but don’t write romance)

So, to me, experience with romance doesn’t matter so long as the character’s relationships (romantic, platonic, etc) feel “organic” and interesting.

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When does it come off as cheesy and taste awful or even comes off as stupid? I haven’t experienced love in that manner, but I don’t think I can even do something that is organic or interesting.

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If you have ANY relationships, some of the behaviors and emotions spill over. You learn how to treat a spouse with parents, either their relationship towards you or each other. You learn how to treat an equal through siblings, cousins and friends.

Will some relationships look fake without experience? Yeah, it happens. But some of the best fic relationships are built upon the lost yearnings of a soul that has suffered greatly. So, do it, don’t do it, it’s only got to withstand “is this recognizable”?

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That makes sense…

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@J.L.O

I am worried that I probably can’t pull it off so well. Which begs the question that needs answering, how much do I really know my characters after all? I just write the stories and know what I would like my characters to be, but I don’t know them well enough, honestly.

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You don’t learn how to write a relationship by not writing relationships. The first one is probably going to be flat, even for the personally experienced.

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Alright. I understand.

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I can only speak from my own preferences (and I’m rather picky with romance so, may not be the best to ask)

I like “cheesy” when its cute or wholesome with a touch of awkwardness
Am a fan of friends-to-lovers, though if they remain friends it’s also good
Romances like Gomez and Morticia Addams will immediately win me over
Not a fan of when a relationship feels forced or simply happens for the sake of having romance despite the characters having little or no chemistry.

In the end though, it all depends on character dynamics or how they develop during the story, how the author portrays them, etc.Writing a good romance, or even friendship, requires practice, though reading or watching stories also helps observe how other authors write relationships.

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Thanks so much!
I still appreciate your comment.

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Welp, I’ve never lived in another time period, but I like writing about them. The thing with our characters is that we live vicariously through them and experience things that we’ll never get to do in real life. I mean, it would be awesome to have magical powers, but you’re not likely to ever have them. Does that mean you can’t write about someone with magical powers? Of course not. Write what you want! ( ˆ◡ˆ)۶ ٩(˘◡˘ )

As long as you’re willing to reread your draft and edit it, there’s no reason you can’t be as cheesy as you like in the first draft. Go wild! Just fix it before publishing and it’ll be cool. (*＾-‘) 乃

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So, you’re saying that it is alright to write romance in my stories even though I never experienced it?

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Right! Like JLO said, the way to learn to write romance is by writing romance. You’ll never get better at it if you never try. Not that you need to learn to write romance if you don’t want to, but it’s always good to experiment with different genres and things. I can’t remember writing gay romance before, but I’m doing it now. Am I a gay man? Nope! Not even a gay woman. But we get better at writing things by writing them.

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Thanks so much.

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I’ve written orgies with all sorts of partners, and in general, I’m not into that at all. Same principle.

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