I just read somewhere that romantic comedies were the hardest to write within the Romance family. Is this true? Why? Just out of curiosity. It surprised me. I would have thought it would easier.
Romantic comedies hardest to write?
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I think it's going to be different for everyone.
Different writers have different strengths, and it's easiest to write in the genres or sub-genres where those strengths are prominent.
It'll also depend how you define romantic comedies.
For example, it would be super-hard for me to write a mad-cap, zany, laugh-on-every page type romantic comedy, but also super-hard for me to write a romance with no funny moments or lines.
Different writers have different strengths, and it's easiest to write in the genres or sub-genres where those strengths are prominent.
It'll also depend how you define romantic comedies.
For example, it would be super-hard for me to write a mad-cap, zany, laugh-on-every page type romantic comedy, but also super-hard for me to write a romance with no funny moments or lines.
Yep, I think of myself as a funny guy, and could even imagine doing standup. I'm not so sure about stringing together enough jokes on the same topic to make a novel, though. Especially romance. I take it pretty seriously. I do have an idea for a parody romance novel (not a parody of romance novels). I have low confidence that I can pull it off.
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It depends on the person, of course, and on what you're calling romantic comedies, as Captcha says.
In general, I find them easier to write because I have more fun with them, and I can't help but try to think of ways to make people laugh. Though it's hard for me to tell if I'm actually succeeding at being funny. Erotic romance is harder for me.
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Me, I think I'm funnier when writing than talking. I doubt most people think of me as funny.
I do plan to write a parody of romance novels soon. A novel-length parody this time. I've already written some short ones (see sig) and those were a lot of fun
It's hard to write a GOOD romantic comedy.
Because most romantic comedies are cliched, contrived and an insult to love.
Because most romantic comedies are cliched, contrived and an insult to love.
Yeah, if the author's definition of "romantic comedy" is the purple-prose-y, wink-wink, lol women will read anything as long as the hero is hot... they're going to have a hard time writing a good romance, let alone an actual funny one.
I do think most romantic comedies are pretty good, though. But when you see the ones that are trying to hard but don't realize how badly they're failing, it can make a reader despair.
I do think most romantic comedies are pretty good, though. But when you see the ones that are trying to hard but don't realize how badly they're failing, it can make a reader despair.
My latest book was classed as a romantic comedy, much to my continueing bemusement. I did not set out to write a funny romance; I wrote what popped into my head. As I always do. Yet my editor said my book was LOL funny. This kind of worried me, because I never set out to write comedic romance, and it would be lovely to have such control, to sit down and say 'now I'm going to write a funny book'. I wrote dialogue that was right for my characters in their particular situation, as I always do. The book was no easier or difficult to write than my other novels.
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This is similar to what happened to me with my first book. (Same publisher as your latest book, too!) They called in romantic comedy, and even though that wasn't what I had set out to write, it pleased me, and that's when I realized how much I like it when people think I'm funny. I am much more conscious of humor in my stories now, but that doesn't make things easier or harder to write for me.
I don't think it makes sense to say any particular genre is harder/easier than any other. It all depends on the author's inclinations and voice.
I do think romantic comedy has some inherent challenges, because comedy tends to be distancing, and romance tends to be more all about the feels, which is up close and personal. It's hard to balance the two. If the comedy is too dominant, then you lose the emotions. If the comedy is too infrequent, just an occasional tension-breaker, then you can't really call it a comedy. (But that's true of romantic suspense too; too much romance, and you lose the feeling of suspense, and too much suspense and you lose the feeling of romance.)
Personally, I think ANY kind of comedy is extra hard in terms of finding an audience, regardless of overarching genre, because while tragedy is universal, humor isn't. If you want to make a person cry, there's a guaranteed way to do it -- kill someone the reader cares about. Yes, you need to be able to write it well, but the scenario itself is pretty much a guarantee for triggering sadness. Now, try thinking of something (NOT a pratfall, since those don't work in a verbal medium instead of a visual one) that's GUARANTEED to trigger laughter. There aren't many options.
And it gets even more complicated when you add in the element of the (generalized) differences between genders, where women tend to prefer more situational humor (something that's funny only because of the particular person saying it in particular situation), whereas men tend to prefer humor that's in the form of a joke, where it doesn't really matter who is saying it or what circumstances the speaker is in. (This is the theory, anyway, from a book called something like "I used to be Snow White, but I drifted," on women and humor.)
So, for a book that's marketed to women, and is intended to be funny, it has to be humor that comes from characterization and situation, not a straightforward pun or one-liner. What's funny in one circumstance isn't funny in another. (There are some great examples, IIRC, in the Snow White book.)
It really all depends on the author's voice and the character's sense of humor. If the author can nail both of those AND the character's sense of humor connects with a wide segment of readers, then romantic comedy can be spectacularly successful. See, e.g., Jenny Crusie's Bet Me (or Welcome to Temptation).
Plus, there's the fact that when humor doesn't work, it's worse than if there was no attempt at humor. Even a near miss is painful.
In case you're wondering, I've thought about this a lot, because people tell me my Helen Binney books (mystery, not romance, but I started out writing romance until I realized I didn't have a romantic molecule in my entire body) are funny, but the thing is, Helen Binney doesn't think her experiences and thoughts are funny. They're just who she is. If I TRIED to make her funny, I think the end result would probably be cringe-worthy.
I do think romantic comedy has some inherent challenges, because comedy tends to be distancing, and romance tends to be more all about the feels, which is up close and personal. It's hard to balance the two. If the comedy is too dominant, then you lose the emotions. If the comedy is too infrequent, just an occasional tension-breaker, then you can't really call it a comedy. (But that's true of romantic suspense too; too much romance, and you lose the feeling of suspense, and too much suspense and you lose the feeling of romance.)
Personally, I think ANY kind of comedy is extra hard in terms of finding an audience, regardless of overarching genre, because while tragedy is universal, humor isn't. If you want to make a person cry, there's a guaranteed way to do it -- kill someone the reader cares about. Yes, you need to be able to write it well, but the scenario itself is pretty much a guarantee for triggering sadness. Now, try thinking of something (NOT a pratfall, since those don't work in a verbal medium instead of a visual one) that's GUARANTEED to trigger laughter. There aren't many options.
And it gets even more complicated when you add in the element of the (generalized) differences between genders, where women tend to prefer more situational humor (something that's funny only because of the particular person saying it in particular situation), whereas men tend to prefer humor that's in the form of a joke, where it doesn't really matter who is saying it or what circumstances the speaker is in. (This is the theory, anyway, from a book called something like "I used to be Snow White, but I drifted," on women and humor.)
So, for a book that's marketed to women, and is intended to be funny, it has to be humor that comes from characterization and situation, not a straightforward pun or one-liner. What's funny in one circumstance isn't funny in another. (There are some great examples, IIRC, in the Snow White book.)
It really all depends on the author's voice and the character's sense of humor. If the author can nail both of those AND the character's sense of humor connects with a wide segment of readers, then romantic comedy can be spectacularly successful. See, e.g., Jenny Crusie's Bet Me (or Welcome to Temptation).
Plus, there's the fact that when humor doesn't work, it's worse than if there was no attempt at humor. Even a near miss is painful.
In case you're wondering, I've thought about this a lot, because people tell me my Helen Binney books (mystery, not romance, but I started out writing romance until I realized I didn't have a romantic molecule in my entire body) are funny, but the thing is, Helen Binney doesn't think her experiences and thoughts are funny. They're just who she is. If I TRIED to make her funny, I think the end result would probably be cringe-worthy.
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