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action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home4/sawpub/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114Dear Reader,<\/p>\n
What about romance? Yes, go ahead\u2014squirm a little, and get it out of your system. It\u2019s one of the trickiest topics in the world of books. One of the most embarrassing. And one of the most necessary to talk about!<\/p>\n
Because, dear reader, you are not a little girl anymore. Your books aren\u2019t little girl books. Somewhere along the way (oh, help! It was by the time you picked up middle-grade novels, wasn\u2019t it?) you started to find a new thread in your reading material. It was a thread that maybe embarrassed you\u2014maybe intrigued you\u2014but either way, had an unquestionable power, both over the story and over you, the reader. God made it that way. God made you<\/em> that way.<\/p>\n Because the thread was called romance. And it is yet another facet of navigating the world\u2014and books.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with some literary definitions. (Yes, girl, you can relax a tiny bit, and we\u2019ll cover some unemotional, technical stuff first!)<\/p>\n Originally, the word \u201cromance\u201d was a description of a tale of adventure\u2014a fabulous, improbable, fictitious tale of adventure, but not necessarily a tale about love.<\/p>\n Over time, the application narrowed to define a story built around the specific kind of love that God created to exist between a man and a woman, ultimately in marriage. And that leaves us with the two definitions of the word that exist in the world of books today.<\/p>\n When we speak of romance<\/strong> in literature we are referring to a plot device\/content label<\/em><\/strong> built around this concept of love between genders.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n By extension:<\/p>\n When we speak of a romance<\/strong> (or in the plural, romances<\/em><\/strong>) we are talking about a genre<\/em><\/strong> in which the main\/entire focus of the plot and content centre around this type of love.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Sounds simple? Well, going to Washington, D.C., and then discussing America\u2019s first president sounded simple, too! In point of fact, discussions about romance\/romances can get incredibly confusing (just as discussing Washington in Washington can!) because of this overlap of terms. In this post, I am mainly discussing romance (definition one)\u2014although most of the principles could also be applied to romances (definition two).<\/p>\n Yes, you want it to be black and white! Who doesn\u2019t? It\u2019d be so much easier if we could either open the door wide, or slam it satisfyingly in somebody\u2019s face. (Wow! This author is getting dramatic today.)<\/p>\n But I think we can all resonate with the longing for a clear-cut answer. Is romance\u2014in fiction\u2014a good thing, or a bad one? Does it get to come in, or should it stay out in the cold?<\/p>\n And the truly shocking thing that I\u2019m about to say, is that romance, as a literary tool, is morally neutral.<\/em><\/p>\n I was going to say romance, period, in or out of fiction, is morally neutral. But in light of the fact that it was specifically designed and blessed by God, I think we are compelled to go further than that, and say it is \u201cvery good.\u201d (Genesis 1:27-31<\/a>) But, like all very good things, it can be used in helpful and in harmful ways. Let\u2019s take a look at both, as they apply to the books we choose to read.<\/p>\nRomance vs. Romances<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Is Romance Good or Bad?<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Romance that Helps You<\/strong><\/h5>\n