Boy meets Girl.
Boy loses Girl.
Boy finds Girl again.
And they live happily-ever-after…
(Or, at least, happily-for-right-now.)
Most genre fiction has some kind of formula. That formula offers a comfort while reading and the characters are dangling over the metaphoric, or physical, cliff. Knowing the hero and heroine end up together keeps me from hunting down authors…yes, I’m looking at you Joely Sue Burkhart.
That formula is just the frame work of the romance house.
Authors finish their houses with SciFi, Fantasy, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Suspense, Time-Travel, Contemporary, Historical, Inspirational, and decorate it for any age group or heat level.
What’s not to love?
Aliens. Robots. Sword wielding warriors. Alternative worlds. Vampires. Zombies. Fae. Shifters. Crazy serial killers. Smart-ass modern woman. Military. Pirates. Mythology. Oh my…
There’s no end to the possibilities.
Do the Boy and Girl (or Boy and Boy, Girl and Girl, or some combination) fall in love? Almost always. And that’s a beautiful thing.
What are your thoughts on the predictability of story formulas?
You might also enjoy —
Kylie Griffin’s Everything You Know About Romance Novels Is Wrong posts: Part One and Part Two
Raelyn Barclay 
Well, it is one of those catch 22 things for me as both a reader and a writer. As a reader, I want the formula there or I may be a bit peeved it went off course. Yet, I don’t want to “see” the formula in action. That’s where, as a writer, it can get interesting.
I don’t want to “see” the formula in action — that’s a great way to put it Angela! It’s also probably one of the reasons we have so many sub-genres under the Romance umbrella.
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Predictability can be comforting when all you want is to immerse yourself in the story and not worry about too many particulars that would make it too complicated rather than just plain enjoyment.
I prefer a little bit of novelty when it is an author new to me, one that I have read for years does not matter if their formula is tried and true because they grab me every time anyway.
Immerse…hmm, yeah.
The house is on fire? Can I finish this chapter first? LOL
Thanks for stopping by Jackie!
I think Angela hit the nail on the head. I want the “formula”, but I don’t want a paint-by-numbers story. The story has to be memorable long after you put down the book.
She’s great at nailing down those things, isn’t she?
Thanks for stopping by Maria!
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I, too, would hunt down certain authors if it weren’t for the HEA (or HFN) formula in romance novels. It’s one reason why I have continued reading them now that I’m in a happy relationship (I started reading them due to an unhappy relationship, so there used to be a direct coronation for me between the two.)
I started reading them long before I had the chance of a good or bad relationship, LOL. However, there have been a few times when the romantic formula saw me through tough times in and out of relationships.
Thanks for stopping by Nicole!