How to Write a Romance Novel: 11 Tips for a Passionate Bestseller

How to Write a Romance Novel Header Image

The longing to love and be loved is inherent in the human heart. Perhaps that’s why the romance genre continues to be the best-selling genre in fiction today. 

If you want to try your hand at writing a romance novel, we salute you! Not only is it a tough genre to break into, but it’s also an invitation to explore the depths of human emotion.

How to Write a Romance Novel in 11 Easy Steps

Here are some of the steps for writing a romance novel: 

1. Choose a subgenre.

Yes, you’ve decided to write a romance novel, but did you know you still have plenty of subcategories to work with? Suffice it to say, if you do want to dip into this genre, you should make sure you read plenty of romance novels in the different subgenres to get a feel for what you want to write! Here are some examples: 

Contemporary romance

The Romance Writers of America (RWA) defines contemporary romance as stories set from the 1950s to the present, with the focus on the romantic relationship between the main characters. Of course, as the years pass, the time distinction will tend to blur, as the 1950s can soon be considered historical romance, and “contemporary romance” will refer to stories set in the 1980s and later.

A good gauge would be if your story includes features that are accessible and relatable to adult readers in this generation, chances are, it’s contemporary romance.

Historical romance

Historical romance is a love story set in a specific time in history. As the time period is an important element of the story, this genre requires thorough research to make sure the setting is realistic and true to history.

Some telltale signs of a historical romance are dated settings and language, as well as positions in society that may no longer exist in our modern day, such as dukes, barons, emperors, or even pirates.

One important sub-subcategory of the historical romance subgenre is Regency romance, set during the British Regency era. Because this has grown in terms of volume and demand, some readers, agents, or publishers specifically look for “Regency romance.”

romance novel subgenres image
Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay

Christian or inspirational romance

These stories normally have faith or religion as a major driving force in one or both of the main characters’ choices. These normally focus on character growth alongside the development of the romance, such as family dynamics, reconciliation in different relationships, and clear moral standards. These books usually shy away from sex scenes, and if any exist, may only be implied.

Romantic thriller

How about a love story with thriller or suspense elements? Or a thriller with love brewing amidst all the heart-pumping encounters? These types of stories might involve a drug ring, a murder plot, or any of the other components that make thrillers a page-turner, but coupled with a relationship developing and getting threatened in the process.

Paranormal romance

Paranormal romance features one or more supernatural elements in a love story. Think Twilight: part of the appeal of this series is the idea of a vampire falling in love with a mortal, and vice versa.

Related subgenres are sci-fi romance and fantasy romance. These include sci-fi and fantasy elements, respectively, but which play a major role in the development of the romantic relationship.

Erotic romance

Erotic romance includes more steamy scenes than a regular romance, but less than the erotica genre. The sexy scenes are typically an important part of the plot, which differentiates it from other romances that might include a few bed scenes here and there, but those are not integral to the storyline.

Romantic comedy

These lighthearted stories, also known as “rom-coms,” are meant to be humorous and usually don’t have as many or as intimate love scenes as regular romance novels. They tend to feature more “slice-of-life” type storytelling, making them very easily relatable and easily readable for your readers.

2. Choose a Target Age Group

In addition to the subgenre, you also need to decide which age group you want to target: 

  • Middle grade: This audience may be too young for a full-blown romance novel; topics like crushes and first kisses may work. 
  • Young adult or YA: This is the most popular age group subcategory, and usually features teenagers or young adults as its main characters. 
  • New Adult: This covers the next age group after YA, at about 18–25 years old. Up until about five years ago, this used to be a very popular category, following the coming-of-age stories of the main characters. 
  • Adult: Adult romance is usually seen as permission to include more steamy scenes, so novels written for this age group leans more towards erotic romance than its younger counterparts.

3. Decide on the type of romance development you want. 

Do you want your leads to go from enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, or something in between? This decision will set the tone for your whole novel. 

Try to steer clear of the illogical “they-fall-in-love-just-because” premise, because it doesn’t offer much room for compelling conflict. 

During this stage, you might want to look at some of the most common tropes in romance: 

  • Friends to lovers
  • Second chance at love
  • First love
  • The married couple on the brink of divorce
  • The knight in shining armor rescuing the trapped princess
  • Reunited lovers
  • Love triangle

While you don’t want to overdo a common stereotype, don’t be afraid to use some of these tropes and give them a new flair. 

romance novel meet cute moment image

4. Create an outline.

Generally, fiction writers fall anywhere between two extremes: pantsers or plotters. Pantsers refer to writers who prefer to “write by the seat of their pants,” or spontaneously. Plotters start a novel by plotting, to various degrees, what happens in the book.

If you’re a beginner writer, you may not necessarily know yet what works best for you. We recommend creating an outline. The depth of information that goes into your outline will depend on what you’re comfortable with. Some writers benefit from outlining tools, such as the Snowflake Method.

5. Develop your characters. 

Although a romance novel will typically center around a budding love story, pay careful attention to character development. Remember that compelling characters are what make for a memorable book. 

This includes planning some, if not all, of the following details:

  • Their childhood
  • Their past experiences
  • Their past romantic experiences, if any
  • Their fears and motivations
  • Their likes and dislikes

You can check out our post on creating character profiles to learn more about planning out these details.

6. Plan the “Meet cute” moment. 

In a romance novel, the “Meet cute” moment refers to the first time your soon-to-be-lovers meet on the page. It doesn’t have to be the first time they ever met, especially in the case of two people who already know each other from before the book opens, but it is a defining moment, as it’s the first time your readers see them together. 

Whether you’re a pantser or a plotter, it helps to get these major turning points decided from the get-go so you know what you’re building up towards.

It doesn’t have to be a love-at-first-sight moment, either. If your storyline follows the enemies-to-lovers flow, it might be hate-at-first-sight. 

For example, in the classic romance Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Elizabeth Benett and Mr. Darcy’s first meeting includes Elizabeth forming a less than friendly—perhaps even hostile—opinion of the man she felt was extremely proud. 

Remember that you will likely refer back to the “meet cute” moment throughout the book. It can be when one of the characters reflects back on the first time they met, or something else along those lines. 

7. Decide on a compelling inciting incident.

The inciting incident is the part of any novel that starts all the action. You need to choose an event that pushes your characters off of the ordinary and challenges them to make changes. This works very closely with the conflict that you throw onto your main characters.

8. Decide what keeps them physically together, and emotionally apart. 

romance conflict image

A great way to build conflict between two people you’ve destined to become lovers is to ask yourself: What is it that will keep them physically together?

After all, it’s hard to develop any romantic feelings if two people don’t ever meet again, but if they don’t fall in love at first sight, you need to have some plausible reason why they keep meeting, even if not by choice. 

And then, while they keep meeting regularly, what is it that keeps them from falling in love right away, or admitting their feelings? Is there anything in their past that keeps them from giving in? Did she have a difficult experience with an ex-husband? Or, is he actually still married? 

If you haven’t gone into these details during the character planning stage, now is the time to think about them. The more logical the conflict is to your readers, the more realistic your story will be. 

9. Choose the turning point. 

The turning point will form the climax of your story. Decide how you want your characters to reach the point of falling in love and confessing their feelings.

10. Make sure the love scenes serve some purpose. 

Because sex scenes are pretty much expected in most romance novels (though not so much in a romantic comedy), make sure that they serve a clear purpose. This can be to propel the plot forward, or to show an aspect of your protagonist’s character. Don’t write them just for the sake of having them there. 

11. Decide on the ending you want. 

Do you want a Happily Ever After (HEA) or a Happy For Now (HFN) ending? Remember, you are writing a romance novel, and romance novels typically end on these happy notes. 

Someone may well argue, “Well, Romeo and Juliet ended in both their deaths!” Actually, William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was not really a romance, but a tragedy. 

Writing a Romance Novel 

Writing a romance novel can be a rewarding experience, especially as you explore the different facets of human dynamics. 

Once you’ve completed your manuscript, it’s time to take the next steps of finding a romance book editor and perhaps an agent to help you get your work published in this bestselling genre!

Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments below!

 

If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:

The post How to Write a Romance Novel: 11 Tips for a Passionate Bestseller appeared first on TCK Publishing.

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