Wednesday, May 07, 2014

Mental meanderings again... #RomFantasy


Ironically, I think I had an epiphany moment earlier today in the most unexpected of ways. I have a business page on Pinterest, and lately I’ve been using it more as I try my hand at visual boards for some new works. Mostly I love to peruse the new pins and things in the evening via my tablet, it’s quite relaxing. This afternoon I was killing some time and decided to have a look. As I looked over the new collection of images added over the past couple of days, one thing struck me hard and fast… fantasy… people are getting so into their online fantasy games and lives, they’re disconnecting from their own lives. It led me to make a post on my Facebook page: It's actually getting irritating to see how many people are more content to live in Fantasyland than deal with life in any way. Is pretending to be sexy and adventurous really preferable to actively making your real life the place that makes your heart smile? It's sad to see so many people running from themselves. What surprised me was the array of comments that followed quickly… mostly in support of the observation, I might add.

I have been writing romance for approximately ten years as a professional author. Prior to this, I wrote romantic elements into thrillers and high fantasy tales, but pretty much did not write straight-up romances. I’ve always read romance novels, started when I was about eleven and I go back to them always. But, it never occurred to me to write them. Then I started and discovered I really loved telling love stories. The past year or so, that has slowly changed in ways. The market itself has changed. The sudden explosion of erotic romance into the mainstream market has been a boon to many writers, and a death knell for others. I thought I was keeping up, but I know now this is not the direction for me. I’ve come to the conclusion that I am not truly an erotic romance writer, and if I continue to attempt to push myself into that mould, I’ll hate it more all the time. All this crashed into clarity because of a bunch of images on Pinterest that were supposed to be “sexy” and honestly–I look at these pictures and the words that come to mind are anything but sexy or appealing. Exploitive, crass, vulgar, in some cases pushing the boundaries of abusive. Is this how sexy is defined now? Women and men tied up and hurting each other? This is not BDSM, (that is a lifestyle choice based on trust in its truest form), this shit is abusive and ugly.

Over and over on Facebook I see the streams of images, and the commentary that ranges from sublimely inane to just totally off the fantasyland parade track. When on earth did people get so caught up in this online Lalaland? At what point in time do you look up from the make-believe world on your screen and deal in terms of real life? How many people are pretending to be what they’re not–every day of their lives–because somehow they have the idea this shit makes them popular or cool?

There was a time when romance was a love story, not a battle. When a hero and a heroine falling in love was the lure. Even historical romances are falling into the crapper with language and terminology that would make an editor laugh out loud in horror ten years ago. I’ve used my share of explicit language and sexual content, so I’m not pretending otherwise. There are times when it’s appropriate and is part of the story-telling. I suppose what I really wonder is when did this become the entire story? When did a romance book require this much detailed sex to be considered a romance story?

Some people have long said that romance novels encourage unrealistic expectations in real relationships. Others have said that reading romance novels enhances real life relationships and keeps them healthy and thriving. BUT, when did these books become an excuse to avoid the real relationships we have? I can think of many people I know on social sites who would rather talk about their “hot” fictional crushes than sit down to dinner with their spouses, and honestly–how can that be positive? Living in a fantasy world might be a fun escape, but when you spend more time there than in the real world–I think we have a problem.

For me, I have to rethink my approach to many things in the coming weeks. I know I’m not cut out for the current romance rage. In an ideal world I’d be writing romance with sensual overtones and relationships that exist well beyond the sexual escapades. Personally, I don’t find pain and suffering sexy. I don’t think fucked up billionaires and tortured “boys” who need psychiatric help are remotely sexy. And, I don’t want to be just another writer selling out because these dysfunctional stereotypes are being lauded as sexy.

I’m not against erotic romance, and I will likely still write it when the story fits it. But, in the end, I guess it will always remain about the story for me, not the feeding frenzy of fantasy fucking that seems to be the favoured escape at the moment. For whatever reason, we’re reaching a place where people have to be reminded to treasure their realities as much as they do their entertainment escapes. If the fantasy is taking more time than your reality–look at yourself and ask why? Then fix what is wrong, because the real world is where you need to live, and fiction is the complement to that reality, not the alternative option. The farther you drift from the reality of your life, the more alone you become... and that is very sad, indeed.



8 comments:

  1. I have seen the same thing, Denyse, and agree with you. I can understand the pull of wanting to escape into fantasy, into being someone/something else for a few moments (hours). But when it encompasses everything else in real life, when you plan your life around the fantasy, you've gone too far and need to step back and remember how to breathe real air again. You put this very eloquently!

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    1. Thank you, April. We're caught up in a semi-real world anyway, with technology being the focus of so much of our work and interaction with people. But if we sink further into the unreality, rather than disconnect from the electronics and go out into the real world - I think we're just creating a template for loneliness in our lives. The more you live in fantasy, the more alone you become in reality.

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    2. It is a vicious cycle that we must intellectually and actively acknowledge and break.

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    3. It's alluring, to escape to a place where you can be whatever you want to be, but if it's not real, the illusory "happy" is just that - an illusion that will one day shatter and leave you alone.

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  2. Oh, how I agree with this, Denyse! Lately, I've been limiting my romance reading to a few select authors who keep the erotic elements as minor as possible - and even then, when a scene starts in 'that way', I start skipping pages. I've found that once an erotic scene starts, characterization goes into hiding - names mean nothing, because the characters read like every other character in every other similar scene by every other author. It's tedious, and sometimes turns my stomach, so I just skip it. I know full well I would never be able to write it enough to satisfy the current marketplace, so I'm leaning back toward fantasy and suspense with a romantic subplot, written as much for myself as for attempts at professional publication.

    I admit, I often read as a way to 'escape' some of the tensions of the real world. But that 'escape' ends when I close the book, and I'm ready to admit it. I have to survive in the real world, and to do that with any success, that 'escapism' cannot extend any further, so I don't go into fantasy worlds of any kind, online or in games. Instead, I try to find a few more 'real' things that I can enjoy and relax with. You're very right about the danger of imaginary happiness - it just doesn't last and it can destroy you far worse that reality can.

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    1. Thanks so much for coming by, Roberta. And for your insightful and thoughtful comments. I'm beginning to understand a great number of people are seeing the same thing... the escape into fantasy has to be tempered with reality, always.

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  3. I love when you share your thoughts. I do agree, I have always seen this but I never got so lost in it that I could not see the reality in my own life. I, for one, do read as a form of escape into fantasyland but I think we all do. It is just sad that now every time you turn around there is another story that remains the same but just with different use of words. I have to say I am looking forward to seeing the direction you go with this. I like your writing, your stories. I love how you can capture a love story and make is classy if that is how to describe it. It just makes you sigh ......

    Well anyway, love when you share and write about what you have seen.

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    1. Thank you, Jen!! For coming by, and for the lovely things you've said. I know we all need to escape, it's part of life and natural, but too much and things get very skewed in all the wrong ways. Hugs, D

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