I’ve been dabbling in other genres.   My recent retooling of Two Hunters has led me to toy with Romance.  As a fantasy writer it is hard for me to read Romance without cringing.  No, not because I think mushy stuff will diminish my testosterone levels, but because of common technical differences between the two genres. 

Romance uses passive voice as a way to express emotion and as such the action is often told to the reader rather than shown.   The main character’s take on events of the romance story are often voiced by the main character literally.   So an ocean of adjectives and adverbs assault the senses when the protagonist is getting wispy.

You know what?   I think there needs to be more romance with a dude in the protagonist spot.  But I’d think some women would run from the book screaming if it proved an accurate rendition of a male’s deep thoughts on the matters of the heart.

The question is, can you write and engaging romance story with active prose?   I think so.   No time like the present I suppose.