By Gwen Hayes
Welcome to a new feature on the Dirty Discourse blog all about your questions about Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes. I am Gwen Hayes and I approve this message. I get a lot of frequently asked questions…but I’m happy to put yours into the hat as well! Reply with your question in the comments below.
First of all, if you are unfamiliar with Romancing the Beat, it’s a guidebook about the story structure of the romance arc of a novel (or story). The structure is broken down into four phases with individual beats in each phase. I’m no longer editing or publishing, but I’m still plugged into the “scene.”
Question:
I write fantasy but not romantasy. Will the beats work for me?
Answer:
Yes. If you have any kind of romantic arc on page. And I think you should.
While Romancing the Beat was written to and for romance authors, there are romance arcs, or “B” stories in lots (most) books, movies, and television series. In a romance novel, love conquering all is the main theme, with other plot points becoming the “B” story. If you are not writing a romance novel, but have any kind of sexual tension in there, the romance is your “B” story and will support your main plot. And flesh out your characters. And raise stakes. And make your readers care more.
The romance beats might be fleeting in a book that is not a romance, but they are there in the push and pull of sexual tension. If you do it well, it will add higher stakes to your story. People want love to win. Rocky had a romance. Speed had a romance. But neither would be considered a romance.
If your fantasy is spread over a series of books, your romance arc might be split up over the series rather than one book. If your fantasy has many point of view characters, not every character necessarily needs to fall in love. Example: Han Solo and Princess Leia (General Organa) romance arc is spread out over the movies Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. They were main characters but not the only main characters. In Princess Bride, Westley and Buttercup’s romance arc is a second chance romance. The goal of the movie/book was not that they fall in love. Falling in love a second time, however, raised the stakes.
If you have a question about Romancing the Beat, please drop it in the comments. We can’t promise all the questions will be answered, but they will go into the hat for next time.
Gwen Hayes is a freelance editor and author. She is published with Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and self publishes under various pen names. She is represented by Deidre Knight of the The Knight Agency.
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