You can tell your editor that people are attracted to human beings that are a work-in-progress, not a finished and shiny result. :D From one disgruntled romance reader directly to his/her ears.
In fact, after 60,000 words, those flaws HAVE to be resolved, or the happily ever after ending won't work.
I feel like, though, that they DON'T have to be completely resolved. Like, the major flaws that inhibit the relationship from occurring should be resolved, but it's okay and normal if the some of character's flaws continue even after the romance is in progress. It's part of having fully-fleshed out characters. And I don't just mean "personality" flaws that are also seen as benefits, like "he talks too much" or "she's too bossy." Those obviously are never going to change, but it's okay if the two people at the end of the story aren't quite "settled" and "perfect" yet. I'm probably spoiled for this because of fandom, but I feel like I identify better now with characters who aren't settled and perfect even at the end of the day. Because I'm not.
the typical alpha male, as you describe, has to be someone you want to fall in love with, whereas in fanfic, people seem to gravitate toward heroes we can help fix--people who are seriously flawed.
"heroes we can help fix" is a perfect way of describing a lot of the more popular "types" that people write fanfic about, especially the male characters. We do love our woobies, especially if they come with floppy hair. I also like that about female characters too; I liked it about Buffy, and I like it about Sarah Connor (Terminator), and I although I'm on/off with BSG, I know there are lot of Starbuck fans on my flist.
Funny enough, one of the classic romantic novels, Wuthering Heights, had Heathcliffe as an extremely "flawed" main character, but instead of embracing that, me and my entire AP English class thought he was a scary abusive stalker psycho. My teacher was like, "None of you found him dark and attractive?" And we were all... "...No. Serious no."
no subject
In fact, after 60,000 words, those flaws HAVE to be resolved, or the happily ever after ending won't work.
I feel like, though, that they DON'T have to be completely resolved. Like, the major flaws that inhibit the relationship from occurring should be resolved, but it's okay and normal if the some of character's flaws continue even after the romance is in progress. It's part of having fully-fleshed out characters. And I don't just mean "personality" flaws that are also seen as benefits, like "he talks too much" or "she's too bossy." Those obviously are never going to change, but it's okay if the two people at the end of the story aren't quite "settled" and "perfect" yet. I'm probably spoiled for this because of fandom, but I feel like I identify better now with characters who aren't settled and perfect even at the end of the day. Because I'm not.
the typical alpha male, as you describe, has to be someone you want to fall in love with, whereas in fanfic, people seem to gravitate toward heroes we can help fix--people who are seriously flawed.
"heroes we can help fix" is a perfect way of describing a lot of the more popular "types" that people write fanfic about, especially the male characters. We do love our woobies, especially if they come with floppy hair. I also like that about female characters too; I liked it about Buffy, and I like it about Sarah Connor (Terminator), and I although I'm on/off with BSG, I know there are lot of Starbuck fans on my flist.
Funny enough, one of the classic romantic novels, Wuthering Heights, had Heathcliffe as an extremely "flawed" main character, but instead of embracing that, me and my entire AP English class thought he was a scary abusive stalker psycho. My teacher was like, "None of you found him dark and attractive?" And we were all... "...No. Serious no."