This week: Sports and Romance Stories Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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Romance Newsletter by Dawn
It is amazing how popular sports or characters who compete in sports are common in the romance genre. |
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There is one thing I have noticed over the last few months when it comes to reading romance. It is rather common for one of the characters to be involved in sports. Not just one particular sport either, though some are more popular than others. Romance novels have included: hockey, basketball, volleyball, American football, European football, baseball, lacrosse, rugby, etc. It does vary whether it's a professional player, college days or even just something they do recreational. It also doesn't matter if the romance book is the regular male/female combination, male/male or a different combination. In fact, I've notice that hockey, in particular, is very common for gay male romance. And I'm a little curious as to why, hence this newsletter for us to consider using athletic type main characters in a romantic story.
One theory is that for the athlete character is the use for the cover. Or at least, it certainly doesn't hurt to have characters who are in good shape that can be shown on the cover since the genre is known in particular for showcasing the guy without a shirt (or the girl showcasing her body). While not every cover goes that route. One could use a coffee cup and still have it be for a romance novel. However, it probably doesn't hurt with the cover page options with the fit character.
Which leads into the characters because we also know that describing the character is often used in stories. Readers like to know information about the character when they are reading and this goes beyond hair and eye color. Some of the writers have fun mentioning the way hockey players, for example, have strong legs and noticeable glutes. Then there are the abs, which some people find appealing. An athlete has a reason for maintaining a particular physique, though that also takes particular effort in diet and fitness in order to have those looks, with a touch of genetics.
Then there is a question of the other character. Are they both athletes? Do they play the same sport? If so, are they on opposing teams or the same team? Aside from athletes there are other options that would be around from trainers to the person stuck handling public relation issues and having to babysit the athlete always getting in trouble. They could be someone that dislikes the sport but due to a sibling or friend end up in contact and falling in love with one despite their misgivings. College level could involve characters like tutors and such. Charity events may be good reasons for connections as well when going for any option of athlete or not for the other important character(s) in the romance tale.
However, the sports can also provide conflict due to a number of various options. The big leagues involve an intense time constraint with practice, travel and everything else. There are even reality shows about dating a professional athlete, such as Basketball Wives. Not that we need to write the type of drama that is shown on reality tv but there is definitely reasons for drama. In the m/m novels, the issue of whether or not a character can be open/honest or out because of the game is a common situation since athletics aren't the most gay friendly places. However, there are some that find ways to let the character be out. There is one that has a hockey player who treats the straight players to a dose of their own medicine in locker room talk, which causes the team to enforce a rule of no "sex" talk about anyone, male or female, in the locker room after having to hear the lout, obnoxious guy talk about his "scoring" off the ice. It gave a funny team dynamic for that world of big, macho players. How teams deal with romantic partners, how the travel works or even if it's just teaching peewee football, how a coach and a mom might fall in love after squabbles over something.
There doesn't have to just be athletes either. I don't have any really where the character plays a sport, but instead have a story that includes a fan of basketball. Fans can be very particular and intense. When they watch games, there are rituals or superstitions that come into play. Those can also be used in a story to help create a realistic character. So, it's another option.
Now I'm curious what writers here on the site might do with a sports romance... I should get my contest back going and focus on sport prompts for a few rounds. hmmm. What do you think about athletes and romance? Want to write one?
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Have you written a romance that centers around a sport?
Last time, I wrote about the common usage of break ups in the romance conflict for many stories. Here is the comment sent in for that topic:
Comment by Elisa the Bunny Stik  :
I admit that as I read this NL I got stuck on the following line: "At the end of the day, the breakup is a common factor found within the romance genre enough that there are times when it feels overdone."
It made me wonder why the romance genre seems to be so restrictive; what the history is behind that; and if there's any chance of this changing. The older I get, the more I realize that I like to write storyline that involve love, but the things I want to do with those storyline end up veering far away from the genre.
- That is a good question. I'm not sure the source though my guess would be that it has something to do with the story focused on whether or not the relationship will work out. Having a break up makes it questionable. Sometimes, it makes sense for a story but it is also nice to have other options.
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Romance/Love: December 13, 2023 Issue [#12319]
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