Am I Writing A Problem Novel?
hello everyone!
i’m a student currently working out the details of my first novel (just for hobby and creative purposes!). i’ve had this idea for a while now to explore two people experiencing grief while also finding connection in being able to understand each other’s pain. i’m beginning to prepare the character arcs and the story arcs and i’m worrying that i’m creating a problem novel.
whenever i write short stories i typically stick to the romance genre. however for this story, i wanted to have some romance between the two main characters but i obviously don’t want the romance to overshadow the main roots of the story. i want to focus a lot on mental health and how grief doesn’t always happen in the traditional ways we see grief. at the same time i want my characters to find their escape through falling in love with (and supporting) each other.
i’m doing a lot of research on what grief looks like as well as taking in some aspects of mental health from my own life experiences. i’m just stuck on if this idea actually works or not. sorry if my post isn’t super clear, this is my first time using this subreddit! anyways, thank you for taking the time to read this! <3