Question: How much serendipity in a rom-com?

Open Forum question from J:

I have a question about the level of serendipity used in a romantic comedy. I am writing a romantic comedy and I am coming across sections where I could use serendipitous moments and they seem to fit well but I wonder where to draw the line. Out of all the genres of screenplays do romantic comedies get away with the most abuse or use of serendipity? Thank You I just started coming to this site a couple weeks ago and find myself a regular now.

When it comes to this genre, I bow before the rom-com guru of all gurus Billy Mernit who is so into these type of stories, he has a blog called “Living the Romantic Comedy”. It is a most excellent resource, so I would strongly encourage you to do some word searches there on “serendipity” and “coincidence.”And that’s the rub, isn’t it: When does a light and frolicsome moment of serendipity suddenly transform into a clumsy and artificial example of coincidence? Worse, if abused, as you note, then don’t we run the risk of a reader flinging our script across the room as they scream, “WRITER’S CONVENIENCE!”

So let me trot out this idea:

* It’s serendipity if it feels like an event that occurs naturally within the confines of the story universe, the result of living, breathing characters making their own choices.

* It’s convenience if it feels like an event that occurs unnaturally outside the confines of the story universe, the result of a living, breathing writer forcing their characters’ choices.

Therefore any time you, as a writer, leave your footprints behind in a scene because the events that transpire feel artificial and forced, not intrinsic to the character or the dynamics of the story world you’ve created, that isn’t serendipity, that’s writer’s convenience.

But it’s not just in the details of the particular happenstance itself; it can also be due to the accumulation of events.

Somewhere along the line — I don’t know how and I don’t know when — I picked up an unwritten rule in Hwood: You are allowed one coincidence per script. Now I happen to know successful movies that have more than one coincidence, but as a rule, a pre-pro screenwriter should only allow themselves one coincidence per script (unless they have a damn good reason to do otherwise). Because confronted by two or more coincidences, a reader will be back to flinging your script across the room screaming, “Writer’s convenience!” again.

Having said all of that, if there is a genre where a writer is cut the most slack in this area, it probably is the rom-com. Why? Perhaps it’s because part of us wants to believe that there is destiny involved with love and so that part of us is more likely to accept multiple coincidences per story; in other words, we don’t see writer’s convenience, we see serendipity. Perhaps we just want to see the star-crossed lovers end up together and we’re willing to suspend cynicism or even rationality when judging a rom-com’s plot.

So what am I saying? Three things. First, any time you write a moment of serendipity in a rom-com, do your best to avoid having it point back to the writer as being a case of convenience. Second, try like hell to only have one big coincidence per story. And third, go talk to Billy Mernit. He’s the expert in this area.

What do the rest of you think, especially you fans of rom-coms? Is there more room for serendipity in that genre than others? Why? When does serendipity become writer’s convenience? How do you avoid writer’s convenience?

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