Poll: Romantic stuff in stories and games

[Shadow88]

I have noticed that in alot of movies, books and games that there are almost always a romantic subplot going on.

While there is nothing wrong with this if you do it right I do notice that many of these stories are shoe horned in. One such example is the recient Star Wars stuff where the male protaganist gets the girl to fall in love with him by just sitting there or worse doing stuff that is decidedly NOT MANLY OR COOL.

So as an amature writer (and a decidedly not romantic nerd) I am asking wheather or not I need to get a girl to write up a love plot[joke] or just axe it and stick to the stuff I'm good at and like.

EDIT: I mean wheather or not it will make money (yes I am a greedy bastard).

 

[Amnestic]

While this is connected to games, perhaps it may be better placed in Off-Topic? Just a friendly suggestion

If you don't think you'd be any good at writing a love plot, don't. That'd be just silly and will lower the quality of writing. Bringing in someone else to write your loveplot for you would equally be silly, as they will likely have a different writing style to you and the switch may be somewhat jarring, though perhaps if you chose to do it from a first person perspective a writing style change could work.

You don't need a romance plot to be successful, it can add to the story but equally it can take away from it. Some of the best games (highest scoring?) and movies have no romance plot at all. You don't need one, only put one in if you think it'd add something that would improve the story on the whole.

That's not to say that if you're deciding not to include a romance plot you need to amputate your main character's genitalia. S/he can be interested in other people without having a romance plotline and sometimes stories are all the better because of it.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Well....as an amateur writer, I'd first invite you to NANOWRIMO (Write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November)
http://www.nanowrimo.org : I'm at http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/102655

First of all, stories don't NEED a love plot, some work very well without (Hitchhikers). BUT...there should always be a 'loving' plot, where someone feels an intensity towards or against something.
Secondly, why get a girl to do it? Have you ever longed for a cigarette, clean clothes, chocolate, the next episode of House? That's your love interest, whether that's a metaphor or not.
Thirdly, always go for the stuff you like. If you really feel like throwing up whenever someone says "I wuv u"...Don't put it in, unless it's to parody it. It will always end up as drivel.

Go with what you know, or what you can feel. But always, Keep Writing.

Hollywood etc. are FAR too hung up on the Romantic Subplot at the moment and ruin a lot of good films because of it.

 

[Deschamps]

There are stories with romantic plots that contribute and there are stories with romantic plots that are meant to attract more people. One of my biggest pet peeves is movies, games and music (but especially movies) that are made to appeal to an audience. These things should be made by an artist who intends to express something or convey a message, not a company that wants to make as much money as possible.

So back to the topic, if a romantic plot helps you convey your message, then include it. If it's being used to appeal to more people without adding anything to the story then get rid of it.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Romance is good... when it's appropriate, NEVER TACK ON A SUBPLOT... EVER!

What I mean by "tack on" is a subplot that doesn't fit the story, a good example of a poorly added Romantic Subplot was in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy moive, it didn't fit and felt added on to what was already a good story.

 

[Raven28256]

I like a good, well-written love story, but romance does NOT need to be in everything. Something that really gets to me is when a game, movie, or novel has a poorly written romance thrown in just for the sake of having it. What REALLY gets to me is when a military drama/war film adds a female soldier into a unit that doesn't allow women to serve just so they have some tail for the protagonist to chase. It breaks my suspension of disbelief when you have a team of Navy SEALs or SAS operators with a single female love interest thrown in so they can squeeze a few kissing scenes and a poorly directed sex scene out of the film/game/novel/whatever.

So, to review: If it fits and is well-done, then I'm fine with it. If it was obviously just thrown in and is poorly written then no.

 

[ZenMonkey47]

Ah mushy stuff. Difficult to do well, extremely easy to do poorly.

In my humble experience, if you ever have to ask yourself "should I be adding a romance plot?" the answer is most likely no.

 

[mokes310]

I don't think you do, but if it's done well, I believe that it can play a very pivotal role in keeping a story/movie memorable. I suppose it's like anything really, romance, action, violence, etc...so long as it helps to tell the story, then great!

 

[Trace2010]

Nope...as a matter of fact...it is a tad overdone.

A great romance can drive the most ridiculous of plots...but a bad, contrived, unrelated, or "forced" romance can doom even the greatest of plots.

 

[TheBluesader]

Romantic subplots exist for two reasons: because companies still think they attract female consumer money (maybe they do a little, but really?), and because guys who write about people getting their limbs hacked off are often desperate to prove they can scribe more depth than just people getting their limbs hacked off.

This has been going on a long time, and it's not going to stop, even if it is consistently pointless. Anyone read Malory's Mort d'Arthur? This guy won't get off the shallow courtly romance train, and it's the most mind-numbing stuff in the book. Do we really care that Lancelot and Guinevere share a passion that will not be tamed? No. It's just an excuse for him and and Gawain to get into a slap-fight that leads to epic battle after epic battle. Yet 60% of the stupid book is about Lancelot diddling Arthur's queen.

And that book has been consistently printed since 1485. How can we expect today's corporate creatives to do any better?

 

[olicon]

Case in point: FF12 doesn't even attempt to bring up any notion of love, but it's by far my favorite game. My favorite franchise, the Suikoden series, always have a female character that are somewhat in love with the protagonist, but that rarely ever get highlighted up in the game.
Admittedly, a good love/romantic subplot enhances story telling, just like every other kind of plot. But it is never the selling point for me.

 

[Gotham Soul]

As long as the subplot is optional, I'm not complaining. I tend to skip that kind of thing.

 

[searanox]

A while ago I would have said "hell no" because I was going through a point in my life where I couldn't even look at a couple in public, or use any form of media with a romantic element, without having an emotional breakdown. Now, though, I really don't mind that much (though it still tends to get to me a bit) as long as it's not shoehorned in and makes sense within the context of the story. Love is a part of life, and while it can be denied, it's foolish to remove it entirely in a place where it should exist.

 

[goodman528]

If the romance is an integral part of the story and well written, then sure, bring it on. e.g. 1984. But most of the time it just feels like a tag on, like a box to tick for the marketing department, OR a reason to bring some pretty girls into the scene. I'm not against sexy girls in these games, I just feel the writters whould make more of an effort to have them there other than the fact they look good.

 

[WhitemageofDOOM]

That's not to say that if you're deciding not to include a romance plot you need to amputate your main character's genitalia. S/he can be interested in other people without having a romance plotline and sometimes stories are all the better because of it.

Heres a wonderful solution.
Have your main characters in mature committed relationships at the start. No need to write romance and they clearly have perfectly working genitalia. And if you later feel the need to focus on relationships between men and women you can focus on the much more interesting committed relationship than the boring "lets get together" part.

These things should be made by an artist who intends to express something or convey a message, not a company that wants to make as much money as possible.

If artists had a message worth conveying, or an idea worth expressing they would be scientists and not artists. If they had a message about the human condition they would be psychologists or sociologists specifically.

 

[mooncalf]

I had a videogame girl once, Ava Tar was her name and she was quite a character. I was her mentor, guiding her steps with all the care of knowing that I could get her killed if I wasn't attentive. Yeah we had fantastic times, we went everywhere together.

We were so close - but it was never sexual - we just knew what made each other happy and we shared a love of adventure. Then Enpeecee came along, the perfect wrench in my plans. Suddenly, Ava wanted to do all the things HE wanted to do, even when it sounded INSANE.

I was cool at first, it was a new thing, but soon he expected more and more of Ava's time, I began to feel marginalised, Enpeecee was nice enough in a vague third-wheel kinda way, but he had this habit of always talking about the same things, always dragging Ava down.

He was so shallow, but Ava was obviously falling for him, and where did that leave me? Easy, in this world of make-believe, it was simple enough to slit En's throat and walk Ava off a tall ledge. GAME OVER.