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Questions about a future idea
It seems that while I’m working on my novel, I already have ideas for two other stories for the future, which is where my questions come from.
I read years ago that a love story is a story about a great love that has such a profound effect on both characters (by changing both for the better) but normally ends in sorrow with the death of one of them. Whereas, a romance isn’t usually as strong or life-altering and has a happy ending. My first question is: can a love story ever have a happy ending where the couple get together in the end? I want to write about an amazing, epic love between two people, but I want a happy ending.
I want this profound love to be between two men over a thirty-year period and part of the issues between them is because of who they are and their sexualities. I don’t want it to be a form of titillation for straight women - I know there’s a genre for this with well-built male torsos on the front of the book covers, but I want to stay away from that. I have read articles saying that people who aren’t LGBTQA+ have no right in writing about gay love stories, and here lies my second question: do I have any right to write about a love story between two men when I’m a straight woman? If I don’t, then I will bin the idea I have. I do want to do it in the right way and feel that it could be a great story that I want to tell. In the meantime, I also want to do a lot of research in the area by reading other books of this genre, but there doesn’t seem to be a genre for the type of book I want to write.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Comments
The other part though - I don't hold with the notion that you don't have the right to write something you are not yourself or haven't experienced. However, you do have the obligation for it to fairly represent the community you are portraying and not to fall into old tropes and stereotypes. So research is essential and possibly sensitivity readers from the community you are writing about.
I don't think that the author's sexuality comes into the equation. Whatever, that's private, personal, and not up for disclosure or conjecture.
If anyone knows of any similar books, please let me know. I’m currently reading Maurice by E.M. Foster and have ordered others from Amazon - that are modern - in order to research other books that deal with gay relationships.
I'm so grateful that everyone has been so supportive.
Have you seen The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel? There is a character in it who is looking for the man he had fallen in love with when he was young. The scene when the two men meet again is handled very beautifully and sensitively.
"In a meet cute for our times, Jay Mandal’s “To Dye For” follows two former classmates who bump into each other, and discover they like exactly the same thing—men! In Best Gay Romance 2015, Felice Picano gathers a sweepingly romantic collection of short fiction that is long on love."
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Romance-2015-Felice-Picano/dp/1627780920