I've spent some time perusing the FAQs and getting a feel for how things work around here since I joined a week ago. This is my first post other than introducing myself, so feel free to correct me if I say something wrong.
I love to write romantic stories that lean toward the dramatic (some critics would say melodramatic) and they happen to include characters with questions or hangups about their sexuality. Both of my novels featured explicit sex, but I've never felt it was gratuitous or too prominently featured for the plot.
It seems like I get complaints from mainly erotica readers that I spend too much time on "boring" stuff which they skip for the good parts. Romance readers sometimes complain that the explicit sex makes them uncomfortable, but they really enjoy getting to know the characters through their dialog and actions, which obviously takes more words to show than just saying it plainly.
I write what I like to write, so I'm not willing to throw one side over for the other. Is anyone else writing across different sub-genres like this and fighting their readers expectations? How do you balance between the two and still remain confident about your story?
I love to write romantic stories that lean toward the dramatic (some critics would say melodramatic) and they happen to include characters with questions or hangups about their sexuality. Both of my novels featured explicit sex, but I've never felt it was gratuitous or too prominently featured for the plot.
It seems like I get complaints from mainly erotica readers that I spend too much time on "boring" stuff which they skip for the good parts. Romance readers sometimes complain that the explicit sex makes them uncomfortable, but they really enjoy getting to know the characters through their dialog and actions, which obviously takes more words to show than just saying it plainly.
I write what I like to write, so I'm not willing to throw one side over for the other. Is anyone else writing across different sub-genres like this and fighting their readers expectations? How do you balance between the two and still remain confident about your story?