 Romance/Love: April 12, 2017 Issue [#8231] |
  Romance/Love
This week: Gray Area Between Romance and Erotica Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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Romance/Love Newsletter by Dawn
Looking at some of the differences between romance and erotica stories, what qualifies for the genres and a few possible contests to enter. |
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Not too long ago, I made a slight change with my contest. I am a fan of romance and love, which is why I like to edit this newsletter on a regular basis even though my main one is the Fantasy newsletter. I also write my share of romance story lines within my novels despite romance not being the main genre for a fair number of them. Since taking over The Weekly Quickie, which is an erotica contest, I've had some entries that don't quite qualify in the genre and have even held rounds looking just for romance. Now, we're joining some of the other contests on the site and officially the contest is for flash fiction in romance and/or erotica.
What is the difference?
Well, there are a couple of points. One might seem rather obvious. The basic definitions of the genre should help when considering what the reader is going to expect when a story claims to be romance versus one that is labelled as erotic.
Romance is going to be a story that is based around the romance between characters. There is the question for the reader whether they will get together or not in the story with conflicting getting in the way between them, pushing the doubt into the reader's mind. Most require a happy ending so the reader knows that at some point things will work out but how they make it through the story is what they want to see develop. There can be sexual elements or scenes, depending on the imprint/publisher etc but it's not a requirement.
Erotica, on the other hand, is supposed to be a story that is based around the physical, sexual interactions of the characters. There can be romance and relationships but they aren't necessary. There doesn't actually have to be a physical romantic/sexual act. In fact, some of the more erotic stories are about something very different. It's all in a matter of word choices and how the writer describes things within the story.
Aside from the actions happening in the story, the questions of relationships, the viewpoint and what receives priority within the limited word count, there is another slight difference on WDC in particular between the two. In general, the item rating will be different in romance versus erotica. While on the rare occasion this might be different, for the most part if there are sexual descriptions, acts, etc, within the story then chances are the rating should be GC at a minimum. I've sees only a couple of stories that were erotic but low key enough to qualify for 18+ but the rest have to be rated higher. And there is nothing wrong with a GC rating. We always want to rate our items based on what the system requires and judges/readers do appreciate having that factor noted appropriately.
On the other hand, romance won't nearly as often be GC rated. 18+ is far more common and some will even be fine enough to be 13+. Some teen stories are also romance. So, that is a big difference between writing something for a romance prompt/contest and writing erotica.
I enjoy either. And to be honest, it's not always easy to find romance contests that are open on the site. Many contests will allow romance, of course, but not near as many are looking for the genre specifically that are open all of the time. There are a few contests that allow both and now Weekly Quickie is one of them. If you know of any others looking for romance, let me know. I'm always looking for contests to check out and promote in these newsletters.
Until next time, happy writing whether it's romance, erotica or maybe a little of both genres.  |
Hoping for a summer round with this one:
And shameless plug:
Plus, check out these items entered in contests here on the site:
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What do you think the main different is between a romance story and an erotica one?
Last time, I discussed the grand gesture or fix when it comes to a conflict in some common romance story lines. Many opportunities for both romance and erotica stories on the site and a variety of conflict potential. Hope to see some feedback on the topic which you prefer to write and what the difference is between the two genres in writing for them.
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