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<blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 9328735" data-attributes="member: 11760">Romance novels get a bad rap for being formulaic, but the prolific writers do have a formula, but it's not typically the story elements people think of. They know that there are certain things they have to include in a standard romance story if they're going to get it turned around in X amount of time.So they know they have to come up with, say, (these are not the exact examples) two compelling main characters, a starting situation, two or three plot complications, one to two additional characters to complicate things, a reversal of fortune, etc. Then they create those, assemble them in an outline and fill in the gaps.In screenwriting terms, the people I know -- who may or may not be representative of other writers -- are doing something similar to what screenwriters do when they follow the format in <a href="https://blog.reedsy.com/guide/story-structure/save-the-cat-beat-sheet/" target="_blank">Save the Cat</a>.All that said, craftspeople of all sorts follow formula. If you're making a table, you know it needs three to four legs and a flat top and it's not hacky to plan around that. And the people who are excellent at their craft can work within those structures to do something fantastic. But since they know what the parameters are they're working with, they can save a lot of time and perfect creating those elements quickly and well.The example in that link traces the Save the Cat method onto The Hate U Give, which is a very well done YA novel and a decent movie. So formulaic isn't necessarily the same thing as bad.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Whizbang Dustyboots, post: 9328735, member: 11760"] Romance novels get a bad rap for being formulaic, but the prolific writers [I]do [/I]have a formula, but it's not typically the story elements people think of. They know that there are certain things they have to include in a standard romance story if they're going to get it turned around in X amount of time. So they know they have to come up with, say, (these are not the exact examples) two compelling main characters, a starting situation, two or three plot complications, one to two additional characters to complicate things, a reversal of fortune, etc. Then they create those, assemble them in an outline and fill in the gaps. In screenwriting terms, the people I know -- who may or may not be representative of other writers -- are doing something similar to what screenwriters do when they follow the format in [URL='https://blog.reedsy.com/guide/story-structure/save-the-cat-beat-sheet/']Save the Cat[/URL]. All that said, craftspeople of all sorts follow formula. If you're making a table, you know it needs three to four legs and a flat top and it's not hacky to plan around that. And the people who are excellent at their craft can work within those structures to do something fantastic. But since they know what the parameters are they're working with, they can save a lot of time and perfect creating those elements quickly and well. The example in that link traces the Save the Cat method onto The Hate U Give, which is a very well done YA novel and a decent movie. So formulaic isn't necessarily the same thing as bad. [/QUOTE]

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