  Romance/Love
This week: A look at Romantic Comedy Edited by: StephBee  
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Thinking about writing a romantic comedy? It's a lot harder than it sounds. Here's an overview and some tips for tackling such an ambitious project.
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A good romantic comedy does a lot behind the scenes. The plot is centered around the ideal that true love conquers all. And the hero and heroine better watch out because there's a slew of complicating circumstances waiting to keep them apart.
A romantic comedy is a story written in a light-hearted way that deals with the follies and misunderstanding of young lovers. (Taken from the Oxford Dictionary of Literary terms.)
Goals to Accomplish:
1. Keep in mind this is a romance. You want your readers to fall in love with your hero along with the heroine.
2. The hero and heroine are irresistibly drawn to each other...
3. And they are kept convincingly apart by internal/external obstacles or both.
4. Happily Ever After is the pay off.
Tips:
1. Surprise. A good surprise often gets a chuckle. The reader expects one thing but gets another. Remember "My Big Fat Greek Wedding? Surprise worked well when Toula met Ian.
2. Truth exaggerated. This is a little like looking into a distorted mirror at the carnival. Windex cleans everything. -wink.
3. Recognizing the human condition. This is that "a-ha" moment when we recognize that something is true and its presented in a fresh and funny way.
4. Misunderstandings. Remember men and women often interpret the same things differently. Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus. Men are on FM and Women are on AM.
5. Snappy dialogue. Clever one-liners always get a chuckle, but don't overdo them.
The key to a good romantic comedy are the characters. They can't be comical all the time. They need to have chemistry and be complex.
The heroine: She needs to have a goal that the reader can understand and identify with. She needs to be credible, independent, a little unconventional, and often fairly confident in herself. Sounds like Toula to me.
The hero: He's got to be a guy the heroine and readers can fall for. He, too, needs to credible with goals. He can be quirky and have a sense of humor, but if you make him look crass or cruel, you'll turn your readers off.
Give your characters flaws. A good flaw provides conflict and comedy. A heroine who is afraid to fall in love again because her ex-boyfriend ran off on her to go digging for dinosaur bones is one many readers can empathize with. 
Just remember that behind the laughs you want your story to resonate with readers. Have it mean "something." Again, that something is often "true love conquers all." My Big Fat Greek Wedding has a great ending. It's about family, friends, and the power of love.
FEEDBACK: I'd love to hear what your favorite romantic comedy is and how it resonated with you.
CONTEST: Send in your romantic comedies and I'll feature them in my next newsletter.
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From my Dialogue Contest:
Submitted Romantic Poetry:
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#1769923 by Not Available. |
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#1781280 by Not Available. |
This week's picks:
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#500406 by Not Available. |
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#849712 by Not Available. |
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From my Newsletter dated: 1 JUNE 2011:
LinnAnn -Book writer 
As for the cussing, not always. I smashed my hand into a cement block and the ER doc. said, "I bet you let off a few choice words with that."
My little girl piped up, "No she didn't. All she said was, 'owie, owie, owie'"
lol, just something to think about when you make generalizations. didn't cuss this last time I crunched it either.
Thanks for all the hard work you put into this.
love, LinnAnn
Thanks for your thoughts, LinnAnn. Steph
Hypermommy 
Great newsletter on dialog. But I must admit I disagree with you about the use of dialect. When done well (and you're right, most probably don't) it makes a character more real for me. Actually, it would be quite jarring for me to encounter a backwoods South Carolinian who spoke the King's English. It just wouldn't fit.
For what it's worth, that's my opinion. Thanks for a great newsletter!
Thanks for thoughts. I, personally, would try to stay away from dialect. I've found as I've branched out, it's just easier to reach audience when you don't use it.
BIG BAD WOLF is Howling 
Romance is hard. It's even harder when your the Big Bad Wolf.
Wolf, you always make me  with your one-liners!
StephBee is a 911 Dispatcher for LAPD. Her short story romantic comedy "Matchmaking Amusement" can be found in the "BeMused Anthology" released with Desert Breeze Publishing. When two muses fall in love the only way they can be together is to get their writers to fall in love as well! The Anthology received 4 stars from Long & Short Reviews. |
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Romance/Love: June 29, 2011 Issue [#4471]
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