How to Write a Romance Novel

Romance is one of the hottest genres in the fictional world and is the top-grossing category with tens of millions of readers worldwide. Seriously, they can't get enough. If you've decided to dip your toes in the waters, welcome, you're in great company! But buckle up, you're in for a wild ride.

Contemporary, dark, fantasy, oh my! So many choices, so little time…

It's tempting to write what you want, but this is where things get a little hairy. Romance readers are picky and they're not afraid to tell you about it. If your book is missing one of the critical elements, you'll have some angry readers on your hands. Just take a look at BookTok where opinions run strong.

That said, once you've nailed the formula—and your voice—the sky is the limit. 

Read, Read, Read

To know reader expectations, you must first be a reader yourself.

One of the best ways to understand what goes into a romance novel is to read, read, read—especially in the subgenres you plan to write. 

Before I got over my fears (imposter syndrome, anyone?) and wrote my first romance novel, I devoured thousands. In fact, I read more than 200 books last year alone (don't ask me where I found the time, I still don't know).

Another thing you'll notice, many seem formulaic. There's a reason for that: it's what readers expect. That doesn't mean the books are boring or predictable, though some certainly can be, subjectively speaking, of course. 

Can you step outside these formulas? Absolutely. As long as you don't forget the fundamentals. 

Choose Subgenres

Getting up close and personal with your story.

You can't have a romance novel without a subgenre, which gives readers more information as to what the story is about. It shouldn't be confused with a trope, which is the overall theme of your book. More on that in a minute. 

So what are the most popular subgenres today? 

Historical - Take Me Back to the Past, Please!

Historical romances are those set in—you guessed it!—historical times. This can be just about any time period, including a regency, Victorian, or medieval backdrop with accurate representations of those eras. However, a book set in 1980, for example, would not be considered historical.  

Fantasy - This World is Not Enough, I Need More.

The fantasy subgenre has taken off in the past few years, especially with top-selling books like "A Court of Thorns and Roses" and "Fourth Wing." It involves elements of a different world and tons of world-building. Plus? You get to develop your own races and worlds; what could be more exciting than that?

Young Adult - Ah, to be Young Again.

Young adult romance focuses on teenagers navigating through first loves and relationships. It's written with a younger audience in mind, generally 12 to 18, though some YA may be classified as for readers 18 and older. 

Contemporary - A Dose of Realism 

Contemporary romances take place in the present day with modern settings as the backdrop. The relationships deal with modern problems and can involve a number of tropes. It's the most popular type of romance as of the time of writing. 

Western - Fall in Love in the Wild, Wild West

Western romance is a type of historical romance, but in its own subgenre. The stories are often set back in the Wild West period and showcase cowboys, frontier life, and the challenges people faced during that time. 

Dark - Toeing that Morality Line, Are We? Good Girl.

Dark romance is categorized as a romance involving darker elements, sometimes psychological in nature. Taboo themes tend to run rampant throughout these novels, but not always. And you'll find one or more characters toeing the moral line, or sometimes, outright stepping over it without a care in the world. 

Comedy - What Is a Romance Without Laughter?

This one is pretty self-explanatory, the goal is to make the reader laugh while falling in love. The relationship between the main characters often isn't full of angst and tension, but there's no golden rule saying they can't be. We all love a little angst.

Monster - When You've Had Enough of Humans

Orcs, gargoyles, and lizard people, oh my! Monster romance seems to be all the rage right now and all it takes is a quick search on Amazon to see people aren't just reading them, they're loving them. Some authors can't crank them out fast enough to satisfy their readers' thirst (it's me, I'm the reader!). 

Paranormal - Supernatural Entities Need Love, Too.

Shifter romance anyone? Perhaps you fancy a love story with a vampire? You'll find all of that in paranormal romances, which include a lot of speculative fiction, supernatural, and paranormal elements. These tend to have more world-building involved than your contemporary romance novel. 

Thriller/Suspense - Love (and Mystery) Around Every Corner

Whodunnit? Characters in a thriller or suspense have to face all kinds of mysteries as they navigate their way through a relationship. There's a subplot focused on thriller or suspense elements, such as solving a murder, a kidnapping, or trying to escape the clutches of a bad guy. 

This is, of course, not a comprehensive list of the subgenres, but most will fall into one of the above. 

Determine Your Tropes

We're all a little trope-y over here. 

After you've identified your subgenre, it's time to drill down into the tropes. What's the difference, you ask? It's a valid question and one all romance writers (including me) question at first. 

Tropes are different from the subgenre in that they define the overall story arc. Most readers have their favorites they gravitate toward and authors have their favorites to write.  

Some common romance novel tropes you might see are: 

• Friends to lovers
• Enemies to lovers
• Surprise pregnancy
• Secret baby
• Forbidden love
• Second chance

Each of these has its own unique relationship aspects the main characters must overcome. Take the friends-to-lovers trope—which coincidentally was the first romance novel I ever wrote—where friends explore a relationship and fall in love (sometimes unwittingly). You could take this even deeper and make it a childhood friends-to-lovers story where the love interests have known each other since they were kids. Spoiler alert: I might've done this. 

But, let me let you in on a little secret: romance novels can have more than one trope! Further expanding on the friends-to-lovers category, you could have the female main character discover she's unexpectedly pregnant. Or perhaps, they dated when they were teens or young adults and now have a second chance. 

It's okay to combine tropes, just don't go trope crazy. The next thing you know you end up with a 250,000-word romance novel or worse, a disjointed one because you tried to do too much. 

Create Compelling Characters

Nobody falls in love with mediocrity. 

Your characters are important. Say it with me. Your. characters. are. important. 

Think of the most recent romance novel you read and how the characters impacted you. Did they make you laugh? Cry? Want to throw your book across the room? All of the above?

That's the emotion you want to elicit. All of 'em.

You can have the best story in the world, but if your characters don't resonate with the readers, they will be more likely to DNF (do/did not finish) your book. Take the time to build up your characters from the ground up. I would argue that you need to make this your strongest focus.

Create a Backstory

Though fictional, your characters must have a backstory, even if it remains mysterious for the majority of the story. What drives the character? What flaws or traumas do they have that might cause conflict later in their relationship?

Develop Character Arcs

The character arc is how the character develops over the story. Ideally, both main leads in your romance novel will have one, but sometimes, it's just one and that's okay. An example would be the main male character having a commitment phobia because his past partner cheated on him. Over time, he has to address and overcome that fear in order to keep the woman he's head over heels for. If your characters remain stagnant, it will likely cause reader friction. 

Physical Descriptions Matter

As a reader, I want to envision my characters. As an author, I see them already, so I give them robust physical descriptions so my readers can, too. 

You don't need to go into depth about every single feature, but you should describe their notable ones—and this will vary—for the reader. Do they have a unique birthmark? A feature that stands out? A scar from a fight or a war wound? The sexiest black curls you've ever seen in your life that you just want to run your hands through?

Envision Their Psyche

When you're developing your characters, keep their psyche in mind. Questions to consider: 

• What kind of person are they? 
• What life events shaped them? 
• Do they have traumas? 
• Are they addressing these traumas, and how do they impact the story and relationships?

Don't Forget the Secondary Characters

Secondary characters are a must. They drive the story and give the protagonists outside relationships. It's through these relationships the reader learns more about the character than they would during interactions between the love interests. Why? Because oftentimes, these secondary characters are important parts of the lead's life. 

Worldbuilding is Important

Invite your readers into your fictional world and they'll feel right at home.

There's a bit of a belief that unless you're writing a fantasy or historical romance there's no need to build up the world your characters live in. I'm here to tell you it matters.

Get your readers invested. Let them imagine where your characters live and the places they frequent on a regular basis. Make them part of your world.

Some questions to keep in mind when you're doing your worldbuilding: 

• Where do they work?
• What are some important landmarks?
• Where does the story take place? Is there historical relevance to the town (typically in small-town romances)? There could also be significance to the characters.
• What are some events that take place there? And, how can you work those into your story?

Granted, your worldbuilding will be much more intricate with fantasy and dystopian novels, but no matter what subgenre and tropes you use, take the time to create your characters' homes. 

Get your readers invested and you'll have the makings of creating a series. And a series means more success for you as an author.

Choose the POV

Your characters' voices matter.

First person. Third Person. Past. Present. Limited. Omniscient. 

So many choices, which is right? The one you want to be. It's that simple. 

There's a bit of a debate about whether first- or third-person is better and some readers have said they like one more than the other, but this is truly a personal choice. Whatever is more natural for you is often the best way to go. Just keep in mind that you can't please everyone. 

Make writing a strong story your focus.

First Person 

First-person point of view puts you directly in the character's head. You hear their inner thoughts and struggles and experience it—when well written—along with them as if they're speaking to you. 

Third Person

Third-person POV is more using pronouns such as he, she, and they, to tell the story. It takes away a bit of the insider info, but the narration should smooth that over. 

There are different types of third-person POVs, too. 

Limited

Limited perspective is when the narrator of the story has access to just a single character's perspective, providing limited information. 

Deep 

Deep POV is when the narrator is in the character's head, giving you a strong look at their emotions and actions. 

Omniscient 

People often confuse deep and omniscient, but they are different in that the narrator is not in the characters' heads. They are providing more of a wide overview of the story from everyone's perspective. You do lose the intimacy of deep with omniscient, but it works for some! If this is your preference, give it a go.  

Past or Present Tense?

This is another conundrum authors face and one that readers also have strong opinions about. Some feel present tense is too much telling and not showing, while some believe past tense takes them out of the story. Like choosing between first- and third-person perspectives, the key is to write what feels right for you.

Single or Dual POV

Over the past several years, dual POV has become the benchmark. Readers want to know what's going on in both main characters' heads, not just one. It's absolutely fine to just write from one character's perspective if that is how you envision your story being told.

Meet Cute 

"You had me at hello." ~ Jerry Maguire

Every romance novel has a meet-cute, that moment the characters cross paths for the first time. It can be explosive, monumental, or honestly, I know it sounds boring, but just an ordinary meeting. For many people, it takes time for attraction to grow, so an ordinary meeting is completely normal. 

You want to explore the driving factor behind how they meet and how they feel when they do. Do they like each other or is it insta-hate?

Make it memorable. 

The more memorable it is, the more your readers will want to share. Ideally, you want that meet cute to happen as close to the beginning as possible. 

Build Up the Relationship

You + me = I love you (eventually)

After the meet-cute comes the building up of the relationship, even if they hate each other off the bat. The relationship between your two love interests is the backbone of the story, put the time into it. But make it believable. While there are shows like "Married at First Sight," reality is more complex.  

Let your readers see your characters falling in love. Let them see a guarded character's walls falling away, letting someone else in for the first time in a while. This is part of the beauty of readers getting invested. The more you get them invested, the more they'll be excited to keep reading and seek out more of your work. 

Conflict

Scheming exes, overprotective siblings, a king orc coming from another realm to claim you as his. What could possibly go wrong? 

The conflict is a major part of the story. We don't want our characters to meet, fall in love, and live happily ever after. 

Give us aaaallll the tension. The angst. The feels. 

Make your characters work through relationship barriers and come out stronger on the other side. Tension also lends to the character arc and gives them a way to grow, to develop as a person. 

Your readers need to believe it.

The conflict does not have to lead to the all-too-common third-act break-up. It can, but it's not a necessity. In fact, many are tired of this structure and want to see the two love interests finding a way to get through an obstacle together, rather than apart.

Spicy vs Sweet, Open Door vs Closed Door vs Fade to Black

Alexa, play Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On."

Do you want to fan yourself while reading? I'm of the mindset that I want all the steam. I want the down dirty details. But not everybody does. And that's okay.

The way you write will depend on a number of factors, the first of which is your comfort level. If you're not comfortable writing sex scenes, it will show. There are plenty of readers who like a sweet, clean romance with no mentions of anything other than kissing, then there are those who want all the spice. You can't please everyone, so write true to yourself.

Steamy and spicy stories tend to have a higher explicit content when it comes to sex scenes. They happen in an open-door way; the reader reads about the experience. 

Closed door and fade-to-black are terms that imply sex is happening, but the details are left completely out.

Don't Forget the HEA (or HFN)

And they lived happily ever after. The end. Or is it?

There's a golden rule when it comes to romance novels. They must end on a HEA (happily ever after) or an HFN (happy for now). It's written in stone in the romance novel Commandments. Don't break it.

HEA means that the characters spend the rest of their lives together, happily so. There's often mention of a proposal or marriage in an epilogue or a reader magnet (bonus epilogues or chapters you get by signing up for a newsletter). 

A HFN ending means the book ends with the characters together, but no mention of any future together. They're living in the moment. 

If you do not include one or the other, you will be on the receiving end of some very passionate readers who will make their displeasure abundantly clear. Plus, it won't actually count as a romance novel, and that's what this is all about.

Final Note: 

But wait, there's more!

I know this seems like a lot of information to take in, but trust me, get the story on paper first. Then, you can go back and refine it for these elements over and over (and over and over…) Romance novels are works of art and there's a place for yours on the shelves, too. 

If you can dream it, you can write it. And if you get stuck (and even if you don't), Sudowrite's tools can open up a whole new world to you as an author.