LOL! Your whole post made me laugh so hard! You really nailed it!
Let the reader make his/her own judgement
In romance novels in particular, the authors seem to think we need to know EXACTLY how awesome the hero is. Exaggerated example: "His 6-pack, glistening with sweat, shines in the sun. He is the most handsome man in the land, with gorgeous women flocking him. He has a gentle soul, hidden underneath all that muscle". If that wasn't enough, they often make other characters (the mother, the sister, the servant) sing praises about him. JESUS, PEOPLE! Can't you just give a simple objective description and let us judge him on his actions (then again, many of them are rapists)?
There is no such thing as strong women
Either the heroine is weak and has self-confidence issues right from the start... or she's a strong woman at first and then loses all will-power when she meets the hero. Her successful career? Not anymore, since the hero demands your whole life. Her house, money, 21st-century life? It doesn't matter, all can be abandoned in a second! And the family? Strangely heroines either don't have families or all their family members are cruel to them.
The world is full of hot men... and Average Janes
Most of the romance novels I tried make the heroine an average Jane, without any special abilities or ambitions, while the hero (and his friends!) are all hot men, with beautiful white teeth (despite cleaning them with chalk, a century ago), tall (despite people being short back then from poor diets) and wonderful hair (even though some novels are set 3 centuries ago and no one remembers to wear wigs).
These were the first things I could think of. Will think of more.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-09-29 09:23 pm (UTC)Let the reader make his/her own judgement
In romance novels in particular, the authors seem to think we need to know EXACTLY how awesome the hero is. Exaggerated example: "His 6-pack, glistening with sweat, shines in the sun. He is the most handsome man in the land, with gorgeous women flocking him. He has a gentle soul, hidden underneath all that muscle". If that wasn't enough, they often make other characters (the mother, the sister, the servant) sing praises about him. JESUS, PEOPLE! Can't you just give a simple objective description and let us judge him on his actions (then again, many of them are rapists)?
There is no such thing as strong women
Either the heroine is weak and has self-confidence issues right from the start... or she's a strong woman at first and then loses all will-power when she meets the hero. Her successful career? Not anymore, since the hero demands your whole life. Her house, money, 21st-century life? It doesn't matter, all can be abandoned in a second! And the family? Strangely heroines either don't have families or all their family members are cruel to them.
The world is full of hot men... and Average Janes
Most of the romance novels I tried make the heroine an average Jane, without any special abilities or ambitions, while the hero (and his friends!) are all hot men, with beautiful white teeth (despite cleaning them with chalk, a century ago), tall (despite people being short back then from poor diets) and wonderful hair (even though some novels are set 3 centuries ago and no one remembers to wear wigs).
These were the first things I could think of. Will think of more.