By the Book: Alyssa's Book Blog: Plots

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Plots

A good story is a good story, no matter what plot a writer uses. That said, there are some plots I enjoy more than others.

Plots I Like

Unrequited love

Best friends become lovers

Beauty and the beast

Plain Jane heroines (see exception below)

Marriage of convenience (see exception below)

Coworkers who fall in love

Older women with younger men

Tortured character finds love

Plots I Tend Not to Like

I hate you, I love you, let's have sex

Secret babies

Marriage of convenience because of pregnancy

Matchmaking or meddling families

Inexperienced sex experts who want to practice what they preach

Plain Jane heroines who undergo makeovers and become bombshells

Now, don't misunderstand. I pick up every book and judge it on its merits, on how well the plot works. There are certainly books I've enjoyed with plots that fall into the latter category and vice versa. But when it comes to books I buy from new-to-me authors, I'm always drawn to plots from the former list.

Alyssa

Labels: random reading observations

1 Comments:

At March 20, 2005 10:38 PM, lost said...: Oh, my. My list almost matches yours. I'm not keen on Beauty & the Beast at all. And as for 'Older Women with Younger Men' - it depends. If the main issue is about the age gap, I'm not interested. Otherwise, I'm interested. :) Tortured character finds love - it depends on the definiton of 'tortured'. Here's a couple from my list that aren't on yours: rivals become lovers, and treasure hunts/quests.

As for your Plots I Tend Not to Like? A perfect match. :) A couple of additions: Beauties Who Pretend to be Ugly by Wearing a Pair of Glasses [and in historicals, Putting Ageing Make-Up on their Faces], and the 'Guardian and Ward' storyline. Oh, and the 'I Must Save the Weak and the Poor!' thing in historical romances. Gag me with a spoon.