Ah, something I actually know something about to pull me out of deep lurk mode.
Interesting too to read that romance readers expect introspection as I'd been of the impression that - in common with most published novel genres - introspection was something to avoid when writing a modern romance novel. Learn something new.... <g>
There is one major element to take into consideration when talking about introspection in romances as opposed to other genres and that's the almost routine use of dual perspectives in the romance novels of today. Thirty years ago, romances were almost exclusively HER story and not his. Most of the time then it was rare to even get a clue to what he was thinking much less feeling until the end of the book and even then readers couldn’t be sure. A situation that eventually led to some major discontent within the genre's readership and basically a writing revolution as authors began experimenting with the tried and true format.
Nowadays, romances are for the most part THEIR story and it's a big distinction with regards to introspection and points of view. It's actually uncommon to find a romance today that doesn't have both the hero's and heroine's point-of-views intermingled more or less equally. Sure sometimes that gets to the point of head-hopping but that is not always the sin it sounds like in the hands of a good romance writer and especially in love scenes.
More than anything else, though, one of the cardinal rules of romance writing today is that romance readers expect to know what's going on in HIS head and heart right along with hers. They want to experience that total emotional journey of TWO people coming together and that's when introspection becomes of immense importance.
And let’s not forget to mention the total sensory aspect of love scenes themselves. I can probably count on the fingers of one hand the romances author's I've read who are able work conversations into love scenes without ruining the mood.
So, yeah, romance readers probably do expect more introspection but it's not necessarily because of the emphasis on internal conflict alone. Put it this way, keeping all the above in mind, consider this - as much as romance authors might want to use conversations and actions to convey these emotional internalizations, is there not a limit on how much one can realistically expect a MAN to vocalize, or even act on, what he's thinking and feeling?
(ducking)
Seriously, though, I doubt that most other fiction genres encounter THAT particular problem on a routine basis even when multiple points of views are used in stories. Even poor Clark, as sensitive as he was portrayed on L&C, had a strong tendency to clam up most of the time when it came to romantic issues instead of having those "important" conversations.
It’s definitely all about finding that balance within the context of what’s expected in the genre.
Beverly :-)
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