From the outside, it does seem like a lot of rules. Some people object if they bump uglies too early, for instance.
Some people get upset if they call it "bumping uglies" too.
Overwhelming? How much more than whelming would that be exactly?
Anya ,'Touched'
Natter 63: Life after PuppyCam
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
billytea - May 29, 2009 7:06:10 pm PDT #21992 of 30000
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.
Trudy Booth - May 29, 2009 7:09:56 pm PDT #21993 of 30000
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart
I think "bumping uglies" is my very favorite euphemism for sex.
erikaj - May 29, 2009 7:10:07 pm PDT #21994 of 30000
Always Anti-fascist!
I actually did read a parody romance written to flaunt the "rules" once, although, you're right, they still didn't call it *that*, no.
DavidS - May 29, 2009 7:14:34 pm PDT #21995 of 30000
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
But expectations don't cover *only* the outcome. Other genres do allow for more than one kind of ending, but each genre demands certain elements ... or a book doesn't fall within the genre anymore.
That's true. But the genre elements are less plot defining except in perhaps Mysteries which - like Romance - needs a money shot satisfying ending. Science Fiction can go just about anywhere storywise, it just needs elements addressing how advances in technology can affect the story. Similarly a Western is defined by it's setting and era and to a lesser extent it's themes, but within that can tell any story it wants.
erikaj - May 29, 2009 7:18:13 pm PDT #21996 of 30000
Always Anti-fascist!
But mystery has about fifty billion categories, which is cool, until you start think about how Chandler would feel about being shelved next to the mystery solving Siameses. Then, it's a little sad.
msbelle - May 29, 2009 7:19:38 pm PDT #21997 of 30000
I remember the crazy days. 500 posts an hour. Nubmer! Natgbsb
opps - real life too real. sorry.
Amy - May 29, 2009 7:20:59 pm PDT #21998 of 30000
Because books.
But the genre elements are less plot defining
Right. But my point was simply that there *are* expectations, however loose, in genre fiction. So you need to know what those expectations are to satisfy the bulk of readers. You can't answer *only* to yourself, and what you think equals a good book, not if you'd like to sell it.
erikaj - May 29, 2009 7:22:11 pm PDT #21999 of 30000
Always Anti-fascist!
Yeah, something like that. Of course, George Pelecanos swears the caper story is the new Western.
DavidS - May 29, 2009 7:22:27 pm PDT #22000 of 30000
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Right but Mystery as a genre requires a certain ending. The mystery must be revealed. Romance requires a certain ending - the lovers get together.
Science Fiction doesn't have a plot requirement, its genre requirements relate to an element of the fantastic which is technologically feasible.
Amy - May 29, 2009 7:27:31 pm PDT #22001 of 30000
Because books.
Science Fiction doesn't have a plot requirement, its genre requirements relate to an element of the fantastic which is technologically feasible.
Isn't that what I said? That it was simply the elements of some genres that are expected? In other words, an author might write a novel set in 2736 and consider it sci fi without including any tech advances or explorations of what those advances have done to society, and *think* it's a really good book.
And it might be, story-wise. But it wouldn't be a really good *sci fi* book.
I feel like we're talking around each other now, so.