rainwaterspark (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rainwaterspark) wrote2024-07-07 10:22 am
rainwaterspark) wrote2024-07-07 10:22 am
Fanfiction and traditionally published fiction
Here is the problem I have with many traditionally published queer romances/romantic fantasies: if you've ever spent time reading fanfic, traditionally published stuff is just not as good.
I'm thinking of books like Red, White and Royal Blue, Winter's Orbit, The Kingdoms, or Sorcery and Small Magics (which hasn't come out yet, but I read an ARC of it). People tell me I should find these books swoony, but I do not. These romances are as compelling to me as stale bread. They're just...bad.
And I'm not saying that I only like fanfic because of my favorite ships or whatever. I've also read and enjoyed indie-published queer romances as well as Chinese danmei novels. I have a similar experience reading all these works, regardless of specific genre (contemporary romance, paranormal romance, fantasy romance, sci-fi romance), trope, or heat level: I get characters who are compelling as individuals but who also make sense as a couple I want to root for.
That sounds like a low bar, right? And yet traditionally published queer romances are SO bad at meeting that bar.
One thing that all the traditionally published books I listed above has in common is that they're all written by white people. To be fair, so were most of the indie-published queer romances I've enjoyed (so #NotAllWhite People, before anyone comes after me), but something about these romances are just SO poorly written to me. I don't understand what other people see in them unless there is a ton of projection going on. Like, WHERE is the romantic tension? WHERE is the yearning? WHERE is the deep, nuanced character work? WHERE are the scenes where the characters understand each other/enjoy being in each other's company?
I don't know what goes into the thought processes of agents, editors, and acquisitions teams. Are the stale, tension-less queer romances the ones that feel "safe" for them to acquire? Is stripping queer romances of emotion the only way they are "acceptable" to publish? I really want to know.
It's so frustrating to me because I WANT traditionally published queer romances that make me swoon, that take over my life, that I want to tell all my friends to read. But right now, I only get those feelings from danmei, so those are the only books I really look forward to. SIGH.
I'm thinking of books like Red, White and Royal Blue, Winter's Orbit, The Kingdoms, or Sorcery and Small Magics (which hasn't come out yet, but I read an ARC of it). People tell me I should find these books swoony, but I do not. These romances are as compelling to me as stale bread. They're just...bad.
And I'm not saying that I only like fanfic because of my favorite ships or whatever. I've also read and enjoyed indie-published queer romances as well as Chinese danmei novels. I have a similar experience reading all these works, regardless of specific genre (contemporary romance, paranormal romance, fantasy romance, sci-fi romance), trope, or heat level: I get characters who are compelling as individuals but who also make sense as a couple I want to root for.
That sounds like a low bar, right? And yet traditionally published queer romances are SO bad at meeting that bar.
One thing that all the traditionally published books I listed above has in common is that they're all written by white people. To be fair, so were most of the indie-published queer romances I've enjoyed (so #NotAllWhite People, before anyone comes after me), but something about these romances are just SO poorly written to me. I don't understand what other people see in them unless there is a ton of projection going on. Like, WHERE is the romantic tension? WHERE is the yearning? WHERE is the deep, nuanced character work? WHERE are the scenes where the characters understand each other/enjoy being in each other's company?
I don't know what goes into the thought processes of agents, editors, and acquisitions teams. Are the stale, tension-less queer romances the ones that feel "safe" for them to acquire? Is stripping queer romances of emotion the only way they are "acceptable" to publish? I really want to know.
It's so frustrating to me because I WANT traditionally published queer romances that make me swoon, that take over my life, that I want to tell all my friends to read. But right now, I only get those feelings from danmei, so those are the only books I really look forward to. SIGH.