Writing Romance: How to Write a Romance Novel

The first step to writing a romance is to become familiar with the genre by reading it. Assuming you’ve already been doing this, what’s next?

Find Your Niche

It’s difficult to feel inspired if you don’t feel passionate for the subject matter. What Subgenre do you most enjoy reading? Most likely, that is what you will enjoy writing as well.

Select Your Setting

The romance genre focuses on offering an escape to the reader, so nailing the setting is vital to your book’s overall success. Often, books in this genre become a series, so choose a setting your readers would like returning to—think cozy, quaint villages with a fun place for the characters to meet often, like a coffee shop where the baristas know their regular orders. Consider tossing in some gossiping neighbors who are annoying but somehow still lovable. And most of all, make sure the setting is immersive and feels real so your readers can imagine themselves being a part of the story.

Choose Your Archetypes & Tropes

Because romance is character driven, you need to choose solid Archetypes who can come together as a strong couple. Emotional depth and vulnerability are key aspects for your hero, who often projects confidence to hide these things. Your heroine, often with troubles of her own, comes in and somehow manages to break through this barrier, changing the hero for the better and creating a romance the reader roots for. The heroine should be just as strong as the hero, each with their own motivations and flaws and each lifting the other up to reach greater heights. Think of the bad boy and good girl, who unite in a manner that helps her loosen up a little and him find honorable motives. They each must have a solid character development with a background that explains why they are the way they are, as well as a firm character arc that shows positive transformation from start to finish.

Once you’ve chosen your archetypes, you’ll also want to select from the tried-and-true Tropes in the romance world. Choose wisely, as these tropes should help to drive the story forward, push the characters to grow, heighten the tension or conflict, and contribute to the emotional/physical intimacy between the characters. Will they be stuck in a hotel room with just one bed, fake their relationship only to fall in love for real, or have a belated love epiphany about a close friend who’s about to get married?

Lock in Your Heat Level

Intimacy doesn’t necessarily equate to sex—think electric touches, passionate kisses, and deep emotional connection. However, there must be a level of deep intimacy between the characters for their love to be believable. You can choose to write explicit sex scenes, no touching/kissing at all, or anywhere in between, but whatever Heat Level you choose, be sure you build up to it so your readers anticipate it and long for it.

Don’t Neglect Secondary Characters

Secondary characters help to round out the story and provide a bigger world for your novel—think arch-enemy competing for the same love interest, friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, etc. Be sure to keep your protagonist as the most interesting character . . . but if your secondary characters draw enough intrigue of their own, they could potentially become the main character in your next book!

HEA or HFN

If your book will be a standalone or the only one about these two characters, you must hit all Four Beats—the meet-cute, falling in love, fleeing from love, and fighting for love—by the time you write The End. If you are writing a slow-burn romance with a series of books, you can drag this out a bit, but by the time the series ends, you still need to have hit all four of those beats.

No matter how difficult the journey, your main characters need to end up together for it to be considered a romance novel. Remember, the number one rule for romance is that you must include either a happily ever after (HEA), or at the very least, a happy for now (HFN). If you don’t, you may be writing a different base genre with a romance subplot. Bottom line: If you are writing a romance, give your couple a happy ending, period.

More About Romance

Want to learn even more about the romance genre? Check out these other Tips for Writers articles in the Writing Romance series:

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