The Mushy Stuff

You all know exactly what I'm talking about.

Whether you want to admit it or not, we've all seen them. Books that have romantic plot-lines shoved into them just because "they're supposed to" and "everyone expects it".

WHY?! In heaven's name WHY?!!?

I can't tell you how many times I've read a book and thought "This love story was completely unnecessary. Why are these people getting together? It doesn't add to the plot, it doesn't make me like either of these characters more, it doesn't hammer home the theme, it just beefs up the word count and makes me mad at the author."

Some of you are rolling your eyes at this point I'm sure.

"But Seth!" You whine. "Don't you realize that everyone wants to see the boy and girl fall in love with each other? That's what EVERYONE wants!"

Restraining my anger, I respond "No. Actually it is NOT what everyone wants."

Sometimes I feel like Shrek in the first movie where he's trying to explain to Donkey that Ogres are like onions because they have layers. Donkey says something about cakes having layers, and that everyone loves cakes. Honestly, to all those people who say romance is what everyone wants in a novel, I just want to say

"I don't CARE what everybody likes!! Romance is not a necessary ingredient in making a successful book!"

This is an issue I'm kinda passionate about in case you haven't noticed. It's something I've had people ask me about several times, and to be honest, I can't usually give an answer that will satisfy them. Basically, I'm fine with the whole "boy meets girl" storyline, as long as it makes sense within the confines of the story world, and what the author is trying to get across with the book.

I can think of two examples that illustrate what I mean. First, is a book idea that I LOVED when I heard about it, but didn't love quite so much when I actually read it because of a love triangle that in my opinion did not need to be there.

The Hunger Games.

Yes, I went there.

When I first heard about this, (before the movie was even on the radar) I thought it sounded great. Gladiator was one of my favourite movies growing up, and I figured this would be basically that, only more intense because it's a book, so you can really get inside the person's head and everything. I especially liked the family dynamics and loyalty threads I saw in the first chapter or so. It was all really promising. I could see it all working out wonderfully with Katniss volunteering and Gale getting picked from the ballot. They would be two friends pitted against each other till the bitter end, and then one would die, and the other would have to go back alone. Very touching. Very sad. Awesome story.

Then HE showed up. The bread guy. (Facepalm)

This was a classic example of "I hate you. No, I love you. No actually, I hate you, because I love this other guy! Who I now hate." On and on it went. Seriously, the whole thing just sickened me. I don't know if this guy was in Mrs. Collins' plans to begin with or something, but for me, he just made the whole thing a lot less enjoyable. I would have much preferred just reading a gripping tale of survival, loyalty, and friendship. At the end of the day, what did you walk away with from this story? Was it "Wow, that was a really cool post-apocalyptic landscape with intense action, and great characters!" or did your response sound more like "TEAM PEETA! No! TEAM GALE!!"

I honestly loved the story throughout the first book, and the first three quarters of the second, but for me, she took a great idea and made it a lot more shallow by pandering to what 'everybody' wants, and putting love in where it really didn't have to be.


Now for my second example, which will be Ender's Game. This was a book that I really really enjoyed, and guess what? The hero doesn't fall in love with ANYBODY!! Gasp! It can't be! Say it ain't so!

But it is.

This is a prime example of a book that really nailed it in pretty much every way. The characters were really awesome, I felt so connected and sympathetic toward Ender, and at the same time the villains were evil, but not so evil as to become caricatures. The plot was tight, with a twist that I personally never saw coming. The only complaint being that it almost felt like he ended one book and went into the prologue of a second near the end. And the theme was really powerful. I felt like there wasn't a lot of added fluff with this. It all felt right.

Ender did not have to have a love interest to be interesting. He didn't need someone back home to be fighting for to make him motivated. He didn't need some girl swooning over him to make his dangerous situations seem somehow more perilous because he needed to be able to see her face again. He was perfectly capable of carrying the story on his own. For me, this was a much needed breath of fresh air.

Too many times I think we get stuck in our rules of convention. We seem to think that books should be a certain way simply because everyone expects them to be as such, and because it's always been like that. I say that you shouldn't have anything happen in a novel that doesn't have a purpose. That goes for unnecessary explosions and car chases too! Sometimes, you just have to take a good hard look at it all and ask yourself "If I took this aspect of the book out, would it really be worse off?"


When I write any kind of love story into a book I'm working on, I never do it simply because I think fans will like it. I do it if it will demonstrate a point, or if it will enhance my themes, or deepen my characters. It's not something flippant for me, and I don't think it should be treated so carelessly by writers these days. It seems like people think that no matter how bad your writing is, if you can make a good love story out of it you'll sell millions.

Sadly enough, this almost seems to be the case.


Do you agree? Disagree? Let your voice be heard! Is there anything wrong with romance in novels? When and why? Or why not?

P.S. Don't worry, not all my posts will sound like rants. These were simply the first posts to get finished. The next post will not be a rant, I promise! :P