I agree that we don’t have to, well, agree. I was more responding to the wording of comments like this because I didn’t find them fair to the people who commented with their differing opinion.
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I agree, especially since there are a lot of stories like this on the app. Since there are so many, most would sum up the whole genre to be along the lines of problematic. Therefore, to some, it deserves that reputation.
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Maybe you’re taking me the wrong way then. I’m not trying to call people out or act like they’re awful for saying what they said. I just don’t agree with that. It’s a discussion they’re entitled to their opinion as much as I am. I’m just saying I think it goes deeper than that and I don’t think it’s fair to invalidate some of our feelings. I do think those comments are more noticeable to romance authors. Just like a comedy authors would notice comments about comedy, or horror, or action. Why would you notice it if you don’t write in it?
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I’ll come back and reply properly later, but I just want to clarify the reason I’m talking directly about “popular authors” in some questions is because I wanted to give a variety of questions for a variety of people (at different places/areas/reads, etc in the app) to answer. (I know I’m bad at questions and I’m sorry for that. 
) That is all.
Thank you all for the replies. 
The forums represent a small portion readers overall. If everyone was really against romance stories, it wouldn’t be the most popular genre. I don’t think you’re wrong that some of us would like to see more promotion of stories in other genres, but a) stories in other genres often feature romantic subplots so it’s not necessarily an aversion to all romance and b) it doesn’t mean we think romance writers don’t deserve any credit or don’t put a lot of effort into their work.
I would never want to discourage someone from writing but I would always want to encourage them to think critically about what message their story sends, especially if there’s a lot of feedback about how harmful the tropes or cliches they’re using are. But for harmless cliches I’m not interested in, I just don’t read them. No harm, no foul.
But authors of other genres also hear about how much others hate the genre they write in. Just may be more apparent for romance writers because the genre is bigger and their are more authors in it, which means proportionally they’re going to receive the most feedback, both good [v obvious on instagram] & bad (can be v obvious on the forums). None of that means there’s anything inherently wrong with writing or reading romance.
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Maybe later 
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And that’s probably true. Obviously, like I said, the romance comments are more apparent to me. So I’m sure there are comments about other genres we just don’t see. And like I said, this is an opinion I formed based on feelings/emotions.
Also, I would to like to clarify, none of what I’m saying applies to constructive criticism. That is a good thing that authors need and the forums should supply. And I agree, we need to hold each other accountable for what we write and messages we give. I will never disagree with that.
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I definitely like it but it just really depends on how the author writes it.
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I don’t see a reason to be jealous of them, it’s great that they’re up there.
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I don’t think the anger would subside mainly because I think people would still read romance the most compared to the other genres despite other genres being featured more.
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I usually write romance as a subplot so I don’t think I could really say anything about this.
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Nothing to say about this either.
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I don’t think I would change anything, I don’t see an issues with any of the stories unless they’re displaying things that shouldn’t be on episode or spreading a wrong message.
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For sure.
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Definitely not, I feel like the bad reputation it gets is sometimes because maybe one or two stories on trending was written terribly and I guess people started to assume that all stories on trending were like that. I’d just say that it’s not fair on the romance genre to be represented by just those one or two badly written stories that managed to get on trending.
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Possibly?
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Nah, I think it’d still probably be discussed quite a lot even if they were on or not.
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Well I think this is highly likely, people wouldn’t like seeing negative comments about their stories naturally.
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I don’t want to say people are hypocritical but I’m struggling to find a different word right now.
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I will say I think acting as if other genres / authors of said genres get treated the same really isn’t fair though(not that you’ve said that!). And it just makes me think of how I recently read part of this story by a popular comedy author. I stumbled upon it and was curious so I decided to check it out. There was some content that bordered on racially insensitive (at least to me) and made me feel uncomfortable 
. But as far as I can see this author is still being raised up on high.
I agree we need to call out the bullshit in romance, but we also need to do it for all genres. And before anyone says:”But we do!” No, clearly if certain authors aren’t also being called out it’s not quite the same. At least in my opinion.
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Okay, but I love me a good slow burn romance. 
I agree with this.
Thank you! This is really what I’m saying. I think people lump romance together without even meaning to at times which is why it’s frustrating for people who either aren’t writing the same cliche stuff or do but do it in an original way.
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I’m sorry but my opinion isn’t a “willful mischaracterization.” This is a thread where I put my opinions. Thank you.
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I agree more realistic love stories would be nice!
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This is also what I’m talking about. None of us are saying anyone is being cruel or intentionally mean to romance writers. We are not at all being bullied. But there is a stigma on the forums. I know the forums are a really small part of episode, but for someone who’s starting out you may not realize that.
But as someone people have pointed out, other genres go through their own problems too. And I will never invalidate their feelings or experiences either.
Edit to add - I think a lot of this is coming from the K&T contest. When it was announced there was a ton of negatively about it being romance. I agree I was nervous about the stories that could come out of it, but I also wanted to give people a chance to prove they’re better than that.
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I agree with this!
No, but I completely get you, because there’s been times I’ve been afraid of being judged for what I write/the genre. And it’s easy for people to brush it off as “well the rest of the app likes it,” but like the forums is kind of where we’re (at least I thought) supposed to be able to have a sense of community towards each other. And I don’t always see that when it comes to romance. 
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I’ve never gotten why they’re popular either. 
I think it is too. I mostly asked this because it’s something that tends to get tossed around some and I was curious to see if it held true for anyone. That’s all. 
I get this! My question/topic really wasn’t to suggest that only romance is being talked about but rather that it’s the one that gets the most of it.
I’m sorry if I made you think that. I truly wasn’t meaning for anything I said to come across that way. With that being said, I stand behind my opinions. 
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Yes, that’s what I meant. 
And I feel bad for them too. Especially because I was that not long ago 
.
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Then I feel like the question should be: Have you ever felt jealous towards trending authors. Because, while not common, it’s possible to trend in other genres (especially fantasy/drama) albeit, still with stories with a heavy romance subplot.
Anyway, actually thinking about it, I have- when I first started writing on the app. It’s hard to get reads here and I think it can be easy to look at the stories that trend and think “Why is that story doing better than mine?” lol.
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Exactly. I was actually genuinely anxious about even making this thread because it feels so whiny when I really don’t mean/want it to be.
I think this is important too. It’s easy to say other genres get the same treatment but it really does seem like romance gets the brunt of it which can be really discouraging to newer authors. At least it was for me.
I definitely agree with this.