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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!randvax!edhall
From: edhall@randvax.UUCP (Ed Hall)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Romance novels
Message-ID: <2388@randvax.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 7-Apr-85 14:55:20 EST
Article-I.D.: randvax.2388
Posted: Sun Apr  7 14:55:20 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 10-Apr-85 03:37:42 EST
References: <1471@decwrl.UUCP> <2572@nsc.UUCP>
Organization: Rand Corp., Santa Monica
Lines: 24

> There are worse tortures than reading romance novels. Try writing them
> someday. For those that don't know, every publishing house has a
> 'standards' manual that defines what characters should look like, act like,
> what chapters to have which actions (actions being defined rather strictly)
> happen, number of pages per chapter, etc... Each publishing line is
> different, of course. Some sitck to swooning and cooing, others prefer
> bodice ripping and sweaty palms. What they are ALL missing  is any
> imagination-- they are all minor variations of the same themes. One
> stylebook, from a publisher who shall remane namelss, ran 182 pages. This
> was for a novel that was to run 350-370 pages. (No, you won't find the name
> of chuqui in the publishing ranks.... )
> 
> chuq

Romance novels are *so* cookbook, I've often wondered if some bright
programmer couldn't come up with an AI program that wrote them.  It
would just randomize a few dozen parameters, plug them into the style
manual, synthesize sentences and paragraphs (admittedly, this is the
hard part), and, presto!  A romance novel!

(OK, let's turn up the sweaty palms on this one...)

		-Ed Hall
		decvax!randvax!edhall