Matthew Kendora (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} mkendora) wrote,@ 2007-02-16 05:33:00 |
|
Rant revisited
I meant to revisit this a few days ago, since I'm supposedly older and more mature by 365 days.
Last year, I posted my Theory of Romance on Valentine's Day. I had a date with a semi this year, so I'm late revisiting it.
Let's see... I still agree with point #1. Seriously, there's never a "romantic" film that makes me want to sit down and watch. Not for free, and definitely not at my expense. Having had recent experience trying to write some romance-like prose, I know it isn't easy, but I'd say I got about 1000000x as emotional (if my profanity-laden announcement of completion was any indication) over my own prose as I have over the supposed tear-jerker films.
Point #2: I'm still dead on. In fact, my prose hinges aound the main statement. Passion is not romance, romance is not passion. That's what I wrote, and I think I sold my first reader on the scene in question. Now, I haven't tried a romance without passion personally, but I have ideas how I can do so, and so it's a goal for the next year: write a chapter-sized tale that is romantic without utilizing passion.
3. I'm currently buying Romance comics drawn for early teenage Japanese girls... and enjoying them. Clearly, one or both of the following apply: I am completely deranged, or it's just great writing. (Miss Watase is *still* improving after some pretty darn good efforts already.) Despite an expanded circle of male acquaintences through work, I can't expand on this, but it holds true for everyone I know. Including some watching Japanese girly shows in secret. Seriously, guys. Be men about it. I watch shoujo series all the time and love them. Just admit it, and be proud of it. You don't need a support group. You just need to admit you have better taste than Naruto fanboys.
4. Genbu Kaiden to my rescue! Seriously, I can show you exactly what I mean about soft and delicate winning the day. About how scarcity amplifies importance, and all that. Just read Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden. The main romance? Something like one kiss per volume. The sweet, soft, and tender kind, too. Really gets me, because that's how I'd want it.
5. Seeing as it's sports season, I think you can find your "average American male" and run your own experiments. I think it still holds true, though.
6. Less is still more. Seriously. I just wrote some of this stuff, and it would have sucked if I'd have focused on the rush towards intimacy. I honestly think I managed to sell the whole passionate sequence because I focused on...err... that's a secret. Let's just say that the angle I chose probably sold the scene more than any amount of talking about flushed faces, burning touches, or anything else.
7. nothing to add. I hate trying to write kissykissy crap, so don't expect me to break any new ground here personally.
8. Once again, I offer a Yuu Watase work as defense of my original position: this time, the FY OVAs. People are willing to endure endless uncertainties, repeated heartbreaks, and even death... because they love someone enough to give up EVERYTHING. That's what it's really about. Love is not about you. It's about the one you love. I think that's another reason for #1: it's not about you, but they sell it to you as if it were.
So, in summation, my last year has taught me... I like romances better than a year ago, but does it really count if it's all one author? I don't think so, because it only proves she has something going for her in the perspective area. I've tried my own hand at the content game, and I can see why it's so damn cliché. Still, that's no excuse. In a realm of infinite possibilities (the human imagination), why is it that we're still generally stuck with lame love? Maybe it does need a Kendoric love story to awaken people. I hope not. Given infinite time and money to accomplish such a task, I'm still much more likely to die by bashing my skull in in frustration that I am to complete it...
I meant to revisit this a few days ago, since I'm supposedly older and more mature by 365 days.
Last year, I posted my Theory of Romance on Valentine's Day. I had a date with a semi this year, so I'm late revisiting it.
Let's see... I still agree with point #1. Seriously, there's never a "romantic" film that makes me want to sit down and watch. Not for free, and definitely not at my expense. Having had recent experience trying to write some romance-like prose, I know it isn't easy, but I'd say I got about 1000000x as emotional (if my profanity-laden announcement of completion was any indication) over my own prose as I have over the supposed tear-jerker films.
Point #2: I'm still dead on. In fact, my prose hinges aound the main statement. Passion is not romance, romance is not passion. That's what I wrote, and I think I sold my first reader on the scene in question. Now, I haven't tried a romance without passion personally, but I have ideas how I can do so, and so it's a goal for the next year: write a chapter-sized tale that is romantic without utilizing passion.
3. I'm currently buying Romance comics drawn for early teenage Japanese girls... and enjoying them. Clearly, one or both of the following apply: I am completely deranged, or it's just great writing. (Miss Watase is *still* improving after some pretty darn good efforts already.) Despite an expanded circle of male acquaintences through work, I can't expand on this, but it holds true for everyone I know. Including some watching Japanese girly shows in secret. Seriously, guys. Be men about it. I watch shoujo series all the time and love them. Just admit it, and be proud of it. You don't need a support group. You just need to admit you have better taste than Naruto fanboys.
4. Genbu Kaiden to my rescue! Seriously, I can show you exactly what I mean about soft and delicate winning the day. About how scarcity amplifies importance, and all that. Just read Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden. The main romance? Something like one kiss per volume. The sweet, soft, and tender kind, too. Really gets me, because that's how I'd want it.
5. Seeing as it's sports season, I think you can find your "average American male" and run your own experiments. I think it still holds true, though.
6. Less is still more. Seriously. I just wrote some of this stuff, and it would have sucked if I'd have focused on the rush towards intimacy. I honestly think I managed to sell the whole passionate sequence because I focused on...err... that's a secret. Let's just say that the angle I chose probably sold the scene more than any amount of talking about flushed faces, burning touches, or anything else.
7. nothing to add. I hate trying to write kissykissy crap, so don't expect me to break any new ground here personally.
8. Once again, I offer a Yuu Watase work as defense of my original position: this time, the FY OVAs. People are willing to endure endless uncertainties, repeated heartbreaks, and even death... because they love someone enough to give up EVERYTHING. That's what it's really about. Love is not about you. It's about the one you love. I think that's another reason for #1: it's not about you, but they sell it to you as if it were.
So, in summation, my last year has taught me... I like romances better than a year ago, but does it really count if it's all one author? I don't think so, because it only proves she has something going for her in the perspective area. I've tried my own hand at the content game, and I can see why it's so damn cliché. Still, that's no excuse. In a realm of infinite possibilities (the human imagination), why is it that we're still generally stuck with lame love? Maybe it does need a Kendoric love story to awaken people. I hope not. Given infinite time and money to accomplish such a task, I'm still much more likely to die by bashing my skull in in frustration that I am to complete it...
