Writing Nowadays–Scripted Romance

Elizabeth Browning wrote, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways,” and people take that as a metaphor.

But seriously–count them. Please!

I’m coming off yet another poorly-written romance novel simultaneously catching up on the TV show ONCE UPON A TIME, and I recently re-watched BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. All of them are supposed to twang with heart-rendering romance, yet they all fall flat. What the heck is going on? Let’s take a look so we can all avoid the same problem.

In all three cases–novel,...