Monday, August 20, 2012

Does the pace a reader reads affect their opinion of the book?

I am a romance writer and reader. I love it. I have a hard time getting into a book if there is zero romance in it. I have always been a romantic at heart and my heart swoons whenever I read a book or watch a romantic movie. I yearn for the happily ever after for the characters.

After an interesting chat on my Facebook page the other day, I found myself wondering something.

Often the timeline in romance novels and romantic movies is very short...sometimes as short as a week or a month. It seems perfectly logical to me for a couple to find love in that short amount of time (I did!) but I know many others are skeptical about it. They believe lust is a possibility, but not love. I once had a reader tell me my book was unrealistic because my characters fell in love after only knowing each other a short time. But in romance novels, there is a level of suspended belief that must come along. It's a fantasy...an escape from reality. While some parts are realistic, some are not. And while my love story happened fast, I know it doesn't really happen for everyone. (Though all the successful marriages I know, it happened the same way as mine. My mom and dad dated for years then got married...divorced a few years later. My dad met my stepmom and 6 months later they got married. It's been 30 years.)

But anyway, the real point to my post today.

I started to wonder..... Say a hero and heroine fall in love and find their happily ever after in a novel that takes place over the course of a week. Say reader #1 reads this book in only 2 day's time. So for them, the entire relationship happened really really fast. But what about a slower reader who takes a month to read the same book. Do you think it's more believable for that reader, since they read slower and the relationship sorta took longer, in their mind, to develop??

6 comments:

  1. That's a really interesting point!! I bet it does make a difference. I tend to devour books pretty quickly, although I tend to have 2 or 3 on the go at the same time.

    As another huge fan of romance, I'm all for the couple finding true love - doesn't matter much to me how long it takes - as long as they find that click! :)

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    1. I agree!!!! I think people can feel connections instantly....love included! :)

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  2. I'm not sure it makes a difference. A person has a life time to be used to their own reading speed. They've interpreted story plots quickly or slowly and have learned to enjoy them in their own way.

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    1. Interesting way to look at it! :) Thanks for sharing!

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  3. You make a good point. However, anyone who's reading romance for "realism" is missing the whole dang point of romance. LOL! We read romance to escape. Period.

    I don't care how fast a couple falls for each other, but I do get put off a bit when some characters are, erm, sexually erect the 1st time they see each other. It's a bit...ewww for me. I've gotta really know a character for a little while before I'm okay knowing what's happening in her panties! ;)

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    1. Agreed!!!! It is a total escape!! And yes....attraction at first glance, but excitement in the panties...not so much! LOL!

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