Do Your Lovers Live HEA?
If you’re a romance reader or writer, you’re likely to know what HEA means. Otherwise, probably not. HEA stands for Happily Ever After. In other words, if you write or read romance, you probably expect your lovers to live HEA with no serious problems. Otherwise, it’s not really “romance.”
This came to my attention recently when Heather Massey wrote a review blog on my SF adventure-romance novel, Beyond Those Distant Stars. You can find it as the July 6 post on The Galaxy Express at http://www.thegalaxyexpress.net. Heather is very positive and supportive concerning the novel, but my non-HEA ending is a bit of a problem for her. At the end of the novel, Jason and Stella do not ride (or fly) off into the sunset together, and the reader knows there will be no more romantic or erotic scenes between them.
For readers wanting a traditional romantic ending, it’s a downer. It also commits the unpardonable sin of being UNPREDICTABLE. One romance reader said online that when she reads romance, she wants “to turn her brain off.” That means she settles into a romance knowing that the course of romance may be rocky, but that all will work out beautifully in the end. HEA will reign.
This may be the main reason readers like romance. It guarantees a predictable, happy product, a storybook ending with the metaphoric equivalent of violins playing in the background. It’s escapist fiction, a recess from the pains and disappointments of the real world.
Now, I admit I don’t read traditional romances, but I think the HEA requirement is too simple. Worse, it encourages sameness, comformity, mediocrity, and predictability. I suspect a lot of folks share a similar negative view of romance, but we shouldn’t forget that some romances are darn good. My point is that romances need to be less restrictive and more open to possibilities in order to explore more fully the often painful and difficult realities of life. Romances can be complex. They can be literature.
The Galaxy Express is devoted to SFR [Science Fiction Romance]. Beyond Those Distant Stars is a science-fiction romance. ONLY, there’s no HEA and while the romance is important, it’s not the main thing. I like this because (1) It’s less predictable and I have a real problem reading a book whose ending I already know in advance, and (2), it contains more verisimilitude, which means it’s truer to life. C’mon: How many HEA couples do you know? For that matter, how many successful, loving couples who have shared a long life together have done so HEA? Answer: practically none. We’re talking about human beings here, folks, and human beings are the most contrary, cantankerous critters in the universe, inclined by their flaws to keep divorce lawyers and day time drama watchers happy.
So when I write science fiction adventure-romance, my lovers will seldom live HEA. Usually they will split up and move on for various reasons, or continue together with some problems and uncertainties. In many ways, I think that’s more interesting and true to life. In addition, when I do write science fiction romance, romance is not the main thing as it is in romances. Always, I’m more concerned with ideas, adventure, and characterization. Always, there are romantic elements rather than a story focusing only on a romance. On top of that, one sex or erotic scene is usually enough. I can make my point with that.
While I know there are readers who want simply to turn off their brains and curl up with a book whose happy ending they’re assured of, I see romance as a continuum of possibilities rather than a fixed standard. IMHO, that’s what romance should be. And if do have a happy couple, they will live HFN (Happy for Now), which to me is more plausible and realistic.
@Heather Massey
This is for Jacqueline – posted by DNW
Heather: I have a blog entry on this topic set up to post Sept 9, 2010 on aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com. Thank you so much for adding more commentary here and please let me know when you get a blog post on this up. I should have time to add a link to yours in my treatment.
My post today is on “Greed is Good” and next week “Emigrating to the Future” — then a 7 part series on “Just Exactly What Is Editing” that starts Aug 3 and ends with “How Do You Know If You’re An Editor or a Writer?” — all of those are cued up, so the HEA one is up for September 9.
John: I stole your title, and linked back to this discussion to try to keep it all together, and I lifted a couple of issues from the top of the discussion only, then went on from there. I also plugged Heather’s review of your book that started this fertile discussion. All that is set for Sept 9, 2010 at aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com
I’ll probably add or rewrite some of my post on this before it posts. This is a totally huge topic, and we’ve barely even defined it here, nevermind explored it.
Heather touched on the chicken-egg aspect of whether the writer leads the readers, the publisher leads writer and reader, or reader leads — and that’s an even bigger topic than the HEA or Romance in general. I just lead up to it in my September post.
Oh, on definition of “Romance” that I use:
A) THEME: LOVE CONQUERS ALL
B) OPTIONAL THEME ELEMENT: THE SOUL IS REAL
C) NEPTUNE TRANSIT AFFECTING AT LEAST ONE IF NOT BOTH OF THE PAIR THAT’S BONDING and that bonding process is the plot while the story involves the character maturation of the individuals.
Here are some of my posts involving that personality, character, plot arc and theme-arc that defines the essence of Romance genre in such a way that the genre could be expanded way beyond genre limitations. Read them in this order:
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2008/01/falling-in-love.html
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2009/10/astrology-just-for-writers-pt-6.html
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2009/11/astrology-just-for-writers-part-6.html
(those are not the same post – I got the part numbering wrong)
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2009/12/astrology-just-for-writers-part-8-beat.html
What John has described as his preference for the life-events he puts his characters through is best depicted in astrology by transits of the planet Pluto to major points in the character’s natal chart. There actually is an archetype template that describes these experiences — all the experiences are different, but they are all the same.
What I mean by “Romance Genre” is the life-experience archetype template described by typical Neptune transits to sensitive points in the character’s natal chart.
In some people’s lives, BOTH those transits hit at once, sometimes both affecting the same points, sometimes each affecting different points. Thus what John wants to see happen in publishing (expanding the Romance Genre formula) is actually built into the Romance template already — very clearly if you have a smattering of astrology in mind. Think of it not as a superstition but as a language.
When a writer plots using these astrological patterns that have been distilled by students of human nature over thousands of years, readers (whether they are well schooled in such things or not) will recognize them as “realistic” no matter how strange everything else in the story may be. Violate the astrological pattern, and ignorant readers will still reject it as unbelievable.
Here’s a post that links all my astrology posts to date including one on Pluto.
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2010/03/pausing-for-you-to-catch-up-with-me_30.html
Here’s more on Pluto, Relationship, and HEA
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-does-she-see-in-him.html
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2009/07/six-kinds-of-power-in-relationship.html
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2009/09/targeting-readership-part-one.html
Targeting a Readership Part One has a Part Two that’s also Astrology Just For Writers Part 6 — converging topics.
You’d think with all this muttering about HEA over several years now I’d have covered the whole topic — or at least said everything I have to say on the matter. But the truth is, I haven’t even scratched the surface! This discussion shows how much new material there is to examine!
Thank you again, John.
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://www.simegen.com/jl/ (homepage with more than you’ll ever want to know)
http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com (a few of the currently available titles)
thanks for your wonderful declare!
David:
My whole blog post using your post as a springboard is now up at
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2010/09/do-your-lovers-live-hea.html
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com
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