Your monologue was enjoyable to read!:)

Also, same here, Pangolin. I don't really write rom-coms (or any romances, for that matter) but it sounds fun to write one.

What advice do you have, Poinsettia (and would you care to share any that you have written)? 

@pangolin and Luna, thank you sm for your interest :) <3 (is it accepted to put two different emoticons next to each other?? probably not :/)

@pangolin, YES TRY WRITING ROMANCE IT'S FUN I PROMISE and I think your writing style would be very well suited to the genre?? From what I've seen it seems really pretty and you have a good capacity for humor and characterization and I just think it would blend very well with romantic themes :)

Yeah, ofc, I'd love to share! I've worked on several rom-com ideas so far - I still haven't completed any, but maybe someday when I can actually manage to produce something instead of just fiddling around... One is set in a fantasy world, and I'm planning to incorporate lots of worldbuilding and magic and other fantastical elements. The others are all realistic, except for one that's set in a royal court, sort of like in the Princess Diaries series (which I haven't read, but I learned what it was about and found the idea inspiring).

@Luna, my basic advice would be to read rom-coms! It gives you some idea of how to work within the genre and what exactly to aim for, although you can improve upon what you've read once you actually start writing (example: if you feel that the main characters tend to be rather flat, you can definitely write a rom-com of your own where the characters are better developed). Unfortunately I've found that some writers use a terrible lot of inappropriate language, so now I don't read their books anymore... if you're uncomfortable with that kind of thing, I'd recommend Love and Gelato and Love and Olives by Jenna Evans Welch, both of which are perfectly appropriate. Aside from that, I suppose the main thing to keep in mind is that the tone and mood should be light, and that humor is always important! Also, make sure that the protagonist's love interest is someone whom you would be interested in if you met him/her in real life. It might be difficult to really get involved in the romantic aspect of the story otherwise. (This is why writing rom-coms is really just describing all your daydreams that involve your crush...) Basically just focus on romance and comedy, with some subplots such as a complicated family dynamic, pursuing a particular dream or ambition, doing something to help others such as getting involved in activism, deciding which country to live in if your character is bicultural, taking part in historical events if you're setting the story in the past... 

And since you asked, sure, I'd be happy to share some of my writing! I'll hopefully get around to posting some in a few days :)

romance, or i guess the process of courtship, doesn't really interest me. which is why i tragically can't enjoy rom-coms. they feel too formulaic. this is also why most of the realtionships in my stories equate to: two people who like each other a whole lot and try to spend as much time together as possible. take Wren and Diana, their relationship isn't platonic, but it might seem that way at first, because that's what i care about in a relationship. that's what i emphasize. that isn't necessarily bad, not all stories need to feature a lot of romance, and i honestly think the terminal is better with less emphasis on it. 

although, if a relationship is really bad, i'll emphasize that. because i find it interesting, in a sick and voyueristic sense! :>

Anybody else doing the John Etsey Student Writing Competition?

One of the nicest things about writing is the way that it can be about anything you want. Suppose you're writing a really happy story where the main characters go to gorgeous expensive hotels, travel around Italy, and fall in love, all on an apparently nonexistent budget. "But real life isn't like that!" objects a realist.

You smile serenely. "Well, in this story, it is," you say.

"Are you sure?" persists the Skeptical Realist.

"Yes," you say simply. "Because I say so."

It's just so simple and easy and elegant. When you write something, you create a new world for the characters, with its own rules and expectations, and the characters can live in it and do things that would never be realistic in our world. A beach or a vineyard or a city or a suburban neighborhood or anything, can become a place where beautiful things happen and people can just enjoy life. And you don't have to go to great lengths to make it happen. As the author, anything you write is automatically valid.

Of course, you have to have the knack of making up unrealistic things that people still want to read about, and that are still appealing, or that have some point to them. But that's a whole other issue.

also wanted to say that after much pondering, I have a piece of writing advice: you have to enjoy what you're writing. I really think this is the only piece of advice that's helpful to all authors. Everybody's so different, and what helps one person write will just be really unhelpful for someone else. But (I think) if you're having fun with what you write, you can't go wrong. All the best authors seem to have been fascinated with what they wrote - Charles Dickens was obviously amazed by Steerforth and Betsy Trotwood and Miss Havisham; Michael Ende was spellbound by Momo; C. S. Lewis was thrilled by his fauns and dwarfs. Or at least, it feels that way. If authors are really fascinated by their places and characters, that fascination will come through.

Of course, there are different kinds of enjoyment - maybe you really like working out the details of the plot, or maybe you prefer to just see where the story takes you. Maybe you love going into the characters' backstories; maybe you actually just want to focus on the present. And I think that the way you enjoy your story, is what defines your voice as an author. It'll dictate whether you go into long-winded descriptions, whether your prose is lyrical or straightforward, whether your strength is characterization or themes or whatever. If what you write is just boring and it feels like you're pulling the words out of yourself, you won't be able to interest readers either, and no amount of fancy techniques will really show your style and voice. Because what you write will be just a collection of words. You have to feel that delicious thrill of being captivated by the words, the sentences, the characters, whatever is driving you forward, and then maybe you'll have to edit afterwards, and maybe it won't sell, but it'll be a good story. And most important of all, you'll have had a good time.