For every romance writer who currently has a mad-on for Nicholas Sparks because of his perceived arrogance, here’s a link to funny instructions on How to Write a Nicholas Sparks Movie on cracked.com. First, read this quote from The News-Herald Blogs, and then read the funny instructions. Well, I think they’re funny.
Quote from News-Herald Blogs:
“I don’t write romance novels.” His preferred terminology: “Love stories — it’s a very different genre … (Romances) are all essentially the same story: You’ve got a woman, she’s down on her luck, she meets the handsome stranger who falls desperately in love with her, but he’s got these quirks, she must change him, and they have their conflicts, and then they end up happily ever after.”
Mr. Sparks says he doesn’t write romance novels. I’ve never read one of his novels, but I have watched a couple of movie versions, and he’s right. He doesn’t write romance novels. He does write “love stories.” There’s no guarantee that a love story will end happily. Love Story didn’t. Bridges of Madison County didn’t. And neither do Nicholas Sparks’s novels.
Romance novels do end happily.
Wouldn’t it be nice if some “love stories” did? Otherwise, the love stories just get predicable. Don’t they?
Whether Mr. Sparks writes formulaic fiction is something I can’t address with any degree of authority…because I haven’t read his books. I have to admit, though, that having at least one character die at the end of the movie version of every story a writer pens does sound somewhat formulaic to moi.
The article on cracked.com points out several other “essentially the same story”isms. If you need a laugh, check it out.
So, why do you think Nicholas Sparks books get made into movies while the vast, vast, vast majority of romance novels don’t? Is it because people die in his books, so they aren’t “formulaic”? Is it because leaving the audience crying throughout a movie version of one of your books is cathartic for them? Is it because he’s a man writing books mainly intended for a female audience, instead of being a woman writing books mainly intended for a female audience?
I rather think it’s the latter. But then I’m jaded.
I read one story (can’t remember the name) and HATED it. I kept reading because I thought it had to get better since it was published and SOOOOO many people had high praise for him. Uh…I never picked up another book.
Now, to be fair I do LOVE the movie The Notebook, but I refused to read the book when a friend gave it to me as a gift. (I was kind and thanked her, of course. Just didn’t let her know I had no intention of every actually reading it.)
Lexi, I saw that movie in the theatre and really enjoyed it. But I rented Note in a Bottle and couldn’t figure out why one character had to die to make it a good movie. Saw Nights in Rodanthe on a movie channel and enjoyed it until – they got separated, wrote a ton of letters, and then he died. Now I don’t feel the need to watch any more of the movie versions of his books, because I’m pretty much assured by my own experience and also the cracked.com piece that the H/h will get separated somehow, correspondence of some kind will be involved, and then one of them or a major character will get killed or die, and the H/h won’t be together at the end.
Where’s the surprise? How they get to one of them dying? I guess.
Anything sad and tragic is going to be more popular and make more money than happy stuff. The question is, and to me, always will be, WHY??
I read The Notebook; it’s all I know of his stuff. Loved it, except for the part where they got old, lol. I loved it because reunion stories are my favorite and old loves, oh, sniffle, sniffle. 😉 But I never bothered to search out anything else he’s done, so I’m not sure what the obsession is.
When I first read this a few weeks ago, I was upset.BUT he’s right ~ he doesn’t write romance so we shouldn’t be made at him. All his novels have to have a character who dies to get to the moral or for hte others to move on. It’s not HEA and as a writer, I promised to deliver the HEA to my readers. Don’t waste your energy on something so silly.
I don’t read his books, and only saw one of his movies, about the note in the bottle. I didn’t think it was that good, and I hardly remember anything about it. I hate it that his books keep getting made into movies and not books by many brilliant writers that I know.
Hi Avery,
I don’t know about sad and tragic making more money than happy stuff. Raunchy comedies make a ton of money!
I love sad. Watched THE BURNING PLAIN tonight and adored it. Truly tragic stuff. And felt really *real.*
Hi Tonya,
I myself do not have a mad-on for Nicholas Sparks. I can’t, because I haven’t read his books. I got the cracked.com link from a loop and thought it was hilarious, however. I totally agree with you – he doesn’t write romance novels. So no harm in him saying he doesn’t. I think what a lot of romance writers DO take issue with is him saying romance authors essentially write formulaic books when he does as well (or, I should say, the movie versions make it LOOK like the books they come from are formulaic). So IMO he looks silly for making comments like that.
More power to him for what he does. But why call down other genres in the process?
Edie, I think maybe that once one book by an author has been made into a movie and becomes a smash hit, it’s a safe bet that Hollywood studios are going to want to continue putting out movie versions of that author’s books. Unless the author decides he or she doesn’t want Hollywood to keep making the films…and stops selling the film rights.
I’ve also got to say, if you re-read his quote in my post, when I think about my own romance novels, usually the heroine has just as much to learn, if not more to learn, than the hero does. Usually, SHE’S the one who has to do the most changing.