 Romance/Love: July 29, 2015 Issue [#7123] |
  Romance/Love
This week: Independence and Dependence in Romance Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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An Elf Romance Newsletter
While romance focuses on the aspect of relationships and some dependence is understandable, I sometimes wonder about independence when it comes to the main characters. This newsletter explores both dependence and independence within romance stories. |
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I have to admit that on occasion when I'm reading a story that part of the main plot is the romance, at times I wonder about the main character and how much they focus on the one they fall in love with. At least, I wondered enough to come up with this topic. There is a song that comes to mind too, Miss Independence, which was performed by Kelly Clarkson and is about how a girl was independent but then she fell in love. I had to wonder if we could have heroes and heroines who have some levels of independence but that can also take on the dependent role of the story/relationship.
Independence
Not a very common trait to focus on throughout a whole romance story, though it's not uncommon for the lead character to be one who has had to go through things on their own. it helps set up the character and develop some personality aspects to entice the reader. The very of start of the story is where we still see some of the independence because the relationship isn't there yet part of the time (though some are already in the relationship the story revolves around so that does vary some). However, the beginning doesn't need to be the only place for showing some levels of independence.
1. Character Development - The different levels of independence, actions the character takes and how they maintain or change those factors in their lives will show something to the reader.
2. Conflict/Change - How the need for dependence and independence changes or develops can help with the conflict of the story. Even when we know the characters are going to be together at the end, there still have to be reasons to question that option and independence can both help and hinder things.
3. Reader Annoyance Level - This may just be me, but if a main character is too needy unable to have some level of independence, I tend to lose interest. While I understand the need for help and couple-dom (which isn't a real word but oh well), still I can relate more to a main point of view character who has at least some level of independence, even in YA.
Plus, as the saying goes, you have to love yourself in order to love others. Paraphrased but it's a realistic point that it wouldn't hurt for some of our main characters to also have to varying degrees. Having someone else around is great, but sometimes we have to do things on our own.
Dependence
How the characters intertwine and the varying levels of dependence will also help to shape a romance story since in many ways it is at the center of the plot. While too much dependence can make a character hard to put up with, the same can go with not being able to have some dependence on others. It's a balancing act because if someone's so independent and set on their own it becomes a bit cliche and affects believability at times with how they change and develop the relationship. Much like independence, the levels of dependence will show character, help or create conflict and overall can be a strong element within your romance story.
It's all in how you write the characters and their romance.
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Should a character have some level of independence in a romance story?
I haven't written for this newsletter in a long while. Last time was back in February when I talked about timing. No comments were sent in back then. Hopefully my next one won't be months from now.
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