I would like to read a “Reverse Plain Jane” theme romance. I usually buy any romance with “Plain Jane” in the title. I love the theme and authors tend to do a very good job with this theme.
In the typical Plain Jane theme the heroine starts life as plain. She may even be cruelly called plain by her mother. Betty Neels may do this better than anyone. (I can’t read her books without wanting to jump into the book and rescue the heroine.)
The plain heroine often loves someone “out of her league” who she thinks would not give her the time a day. Such an attitude is a sure way to have people shy away from you. So the Plain Jane builds a self-fulfilling fatalism into her belief system.
The key to the Plain Jane theme is that the heroine is a superior human being who is worthy of love. The hero comes along, well out of her league, and has an extended social or business relationship with the heroine. He could be a doctor and she his nurse. As the hero gets to know the heroine and her goodness, she becomes more and more beautiful in his eyes. As she begins to perceive that the hero might actually be interested in her, she makes attempts to become more attractive. Often this is a dress or “make-over” she can no way afford. Thus while the heroine is becoming more beautiful in the eyes of the hero, she is also becoming physically more beautiful in the eyes of all around her. Her friends can see something is going on and they like it. With the heroine becoming more beautiful in reality the hero becomes more protective and jealous of other men. This motivates him to declare his love before she is taken.
This is such a strong theme I am surprised there are not more titles being produced.
Example of: The “Reverse Plain Jane” Theme
Caveat: This example is only to show how the theme could be done. I don’t expect that any real romance author would want to write this story as I have it. But I do believe a real romance author could employ the “Reverse Plain Jane” theme and do an excellent job doing so. I know I would enjoy reading it.
The heroine starts life as a “beauty” because her mother is a “beauty pageant” mother and the poor heroine has been preparing to be a beauty queen since she was five years old. This has left her rather vain and uninteresting. She has had lots of cosmetic surgery all her life. It took a lot of money to make her look the best she could look.
The heroine in college falls for a tall, slim, intelligent guy who helps her in Chemistry class. She is smart enough to know she should get a smart guy to be the father of her children. Hero may be a nerd but he is handsome. While she comes on to the hero, she is the last person he’d want for the mother of his children. Hero rejects heroine and it is very hard for her to deal with.
Years go by. 9/11 happens and hero joins Marines and has lots of combat experience. His body develops, he now looks the part of the Alpha Male hero. The heroine has had only tragedy. Her mother died of cancer. Her short marriage ends badly. She has problems with the breast implants and has a mastectomy. She no longer makes any effort to be the beauty she once was. She is a college graduate and has become a physical therapist.
Hero comes back from war with leg injuries. Heroine is his PT. Her name has changed and she looks plain. Hero does not associate her with beauty queen she once was. She hardly recognizes him and is not overjoyed when she finds out who he is. Hero rejected her once and she was never one for Alpha Males anyway. She always wanted to be the center of attention and fawned over.
After months of heroine’s help in PT, the hero comes to love her. Hero feels that he as found a good person of substance with a sharp mind. He wants her now but she is not sure she can trust him. He thinks she does not want him because he is “damaged goods”. He will limp for life. She also considers herself “damaged goods”. In their growing love for each other and their past life experience, they both grow to become fully human and fully alive to a degree that they would never have achieved on their own.
I think there is room for at least one “Reverse Plain Jane” Romance.
Thanks,
Vince
“Romances are the emotional vitamins of the soul.” Vince
The reversed Plain Jane
Again, I have to ask if you're so sure that these story ideas of yours are best sellers, and what the typical romance reader wants to read why are you posting them online for anyone and everyone to take and develop without giving you the credit you seem to crave. Keep the ideas to yourself, write a zillion and one best sellers and keep the romance readers of the world happy.
Sandi
Sandi
The Born Readers
Outside of a dog a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. Groucho Marx
re: a creative challenge...
I like the plain Jane theme a lot too, especially when it's handled with a bit of subtlety. I tend to prefer the ones without a huge makeover, though--I like it when the heroine decides to accept herself for who she is and that she's pretty in her own way.
Cindy Dees did a nice example of this with The Medusa Prophecy...the heroine saw herself as unattractive because she was so much taller and stronger than a lot of men (traits that are actually assets, but I can see why they'd inhibit her in the romance department).
Your idea of the Reverse Plain Jane is an interesting one. I think the trickiest part would be to make us care about the heroine if she starts out so shallow. It could be fun to see how a great author goes about doing this. Certainly there are authors who manage to make jerk heroes likeable through character growth during the course of the book.
The reversed Plain Jane
Hi Sandi:
I don't think these ideas would be best sellers any more than any one romance novel is a best seller. They are just themes that I would like to see done. Wouldn't you like to read some themes that have not been done many times before?
I heard a leader once say that you can get a great deal accomplished in this life as long as you allow others to take credit for it. I would love for some authors to use something I wrote here and get a best seller or possibily some kind of romance award. I am not going to write these stories myself and I don't expect any real romance author to do so either. What I hope is to point out the need for more creativity in themes. I hope an author will read one of my ideas and say to herself: "That's not a bad idea but that's not how to do it the way romance fans would enjoy."
If the writer creates the story, I can sit back and get to a read a story that is different from the typical and enjoy it like everyone else. And I bet it would be so different coming from a real romance author that the only thing I could recognize was the theme and nothing else in the story.
BTW, you didn't tell me what you thought of the story idea. Do you think you would like a well written version of this story if it was written by your favorite author and you didn't know where the idea came from? I actually thought it was better than some of my other ideas.
Thanks for your comments. I'm trying to learn.
Vince
“Romances are the emotional vitamins of the soul.” Vince
Plain Jane stories
Hi Vince.
You know, in Susan Wigg's historical trilogy about the chicago fire there's a reverse plain jane story of sorts... It's more of a spoiled brat discovers her true worth story, but I see similarities to the reverse plain jane theme, and that trilogy is among my favorite reads in the past few years.
Personally, while I'd tweak your premise some, (as all authors would, since they've all their own voices, likes and dislikes) there are some decent bones to your story idea.
Add some SPICE to your life.
Great Point -- You Saw Problem RIght Off!
Hi Lady_Amalthea:
Your comment about writing a more sympathetic heroine gets right to the point. If I wrote this story, I would probably spend months writing the story up to time the heroine becomes a PT. The whole time she would be unsympathetic. The story would have no chance of being published.
Your comment made me think how a real romance writer would approach the story. She would probably start the story with the heroine being a PT and being told by her boss that she is being assigned the “Beast from Hell” – the wounded Marine who has chewed up three PTs and sent them home in tears. Right away the heroine is sympathetic. All the backstory of the heroine’s past would come out, little by little, naturally and for maximum dramatic effect as the story unfolds.
I think this shows that no matter how good a story idea might be, it will take a real romance writer to make it work. There is just too much to know. Writing isn’t just one skill. It is many skills. That’s why it is such a pleasure to read a well written book.
Thanks,
Vince
“Romances are the emotional vitamins of the soul.” Vince
Do You Know Name of Susan WIggs Trilogy
Hi Lorie-eHarlequin:
I have only read one Susan Wiggs book “The Lightkeeper” and loved it. She also has the best book cover art. Do you remember the name of her trilogy?
I have an idea that most, if not all, my theme ideas have been done somewhere before by someone. I just haven’t read any of them yet. But if you know of one that has been done, I really want to read it and see how it was executed. Thanks, Vince
“Romances are the emotional vitamins of the soul.” Vince
Susan Wiggs Trilogy.
Hi Vince. They were The Firebrand (which made me cry in spots, and is NOT easy to do), The Mistress (Which had me laughing more than once) and The Hostage, which is the reverse plain Jane story.
Each of those books is a stand alone, but is best read as a series.
I've read a number of Susan Wigg's books, and I intend to hunt up more of her backlist. She's got a wonderfully vivid voice.
Add some SPICE to your life.
The series w/Firebrand is
The series w/Firebrand is one i have waiting in my tbr and am very much looking forward to reading one day...it's that so many books, so little time keeping me from it....
Kathy D
re: making the heroine likeable
Vince, I like your idea of beginning with a short scene of the woman in her `nice` persona, then going back to the beginning when she was shallow. I know I as a reader would stick it out longer with a book if I knew the heroine was going to change...often I`ve stopped reading a book only to have people tell me later that the characters get better as it goes on. So that sounds like a great way of giving us a taste of the character growth before it actually occurs.