On Writing Romance

by Leigh Michaels

  And sometimes it does both. The heroine often has a best friend because it's a good way to show her as likeable, but the existence of that character also lets the author tell some of the story in dialogue between the two friends, which is usually a more interesting storytelling method than simply stating the heroine's thoughts.

  While the rules exist for good reason, it's important to note that there are very few that are sacred. Heroines aren't required to have a best friend to confide in. While it's unusual to have a hero with a criminal past, such a character can still be likeable and sympathetic. Though the majority of romances are told in the third-person point of view, there are a few first-person stories. A hero or heroine who falls in love while still married is rare, but not impossible.

  If you are aware of the reasons behind a rule, you can often find a way to break it successfully. You say you want your hero to rob a bank? To actually do it, not just be suspected of it? Then figure out how to make him look like a good guy despite his criminal tendencies, and go for it.

  IN REVIEW: Choosing the Right Category

  As you read your collection of romance novels and construct your list of rules, make note of what subgenre each book falls into. Is there a particular subgenre or type of book you find yourself most attracted to? Of the books you've selected, which stories do you most enjoy? What subgenres do those stories fall into?

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  Selecting and Researching Your Story

  Now that you know more about the romance genre and you've been introduced to some of the different subgenres, types, and lines of stories, it's time to start making some choices about your story. What kind of book do you want to write?

  SELECTING A PROJECT

  Is your book going to be historical or contemporary? Short or long? Category or single title? Paranormal, futuristic, or straight romance? Sensual or sweet?

  Having trouble deciding? The first and most basic truth about writing is that a writer should write the story he wants to write. That usually means you should be writing the kind of book you most like to read. The act of writing, for most people, is not fun. At best, it's not consistently enjoyable. Good writing — writing a story readers will want to read — is hard work. It is difficult enough to construct a readable story without adding the burden of spending time with characters you dislike, a plot you find dull, a sensuality level you feel is bland (or shockingly explicit), or a time period you think is boring.

  Yet people frequently try to write romances of a type they don't personally enjoy because statistically those types of books enjoy the best sales. The problem is that, even if they finish the story, their lack of enthusiasm will show, and their first reader — the editor — is likely to be the last reader as well.

  You will have far more success on a personal level, and when you submit your work for publication, if you're writing a story you love, even if that story doesn't follow all the rules or fall into a distinct genre or subgenre.

  There are hundreds of books that everybody knew would never sell, because everybody knew readers simply weren't interested in that kind of story. Except nobody told the readers they weren't interested, and when publishers took risks, they discovered there were indeed readers — sometimes hundreds of thousands of them — who loved those impossible books. (Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear — a romantic story set in prehistoric times — is perhaps the best example.)

  Not every book will be a bestseller, of course. But books written with love stand a much better chance of being shared with readers.

  As you consider the kernel of your story idea, here are some questions to consider:

  Is this a story you can write? Do you have the experience, insight, understanding, and voice necessary to address this story to this audience? If not, can you acquire those skills?

  What are your qualifications? Do you possess the skills to write authoritatively about the subject, background, or time period you've chosen?

  What drawbacks will you face in writing this story? Where can you find the additional resources and information you need to make your story believable?

  If you want to write a medical thriller with two doctors as your hero and heroine, but you've never worked in the medical field, the challenge will be enormous. You can do it — but only if you are willing to check every word your medical characters say to each other, and even every thought they have, in order to be sure they're accurate and realistic. Are you willing to put in that much time and effort?

  At the same time, don't choose what seems easiest if you don't like that type of story. Writing for young adults isn't easier than writing for mature readers, so unless you spend enough time with young people to understand how they think, writing a young adult romance is probably a waste of time. If your heart lies in historicals, you shouldn't choose to write a contemporary just because it sounds less difficult. It won't be easier if you'd rather be in Regency England or the Old West.

  How can you shape your story to make the drawbacks and challenges more manageable? For instance, if you really want to write that medical thriller but you don't feel confident evoking the doctor's point of view, consider whether you can make your most important character a layperson instead. That way you can still use the medical setting, but you'll have a somewhat easier job creating dialogue and story because not every character has to think and act like a trained physician.

  THE MARKET

  Deciding which romance subgenre or category your story falls into can be a challenge. There are many kinds of romances, and each has its own special combination of elements. Some feature pure fantasy; others focus on glitz and glamour; still others involve grit and realism. The best way to figure out where your story fits is to read the books being published today.

  Look especially at the newest authors, those whose first books are on the shelves right now, because that tells you what kinds of stories editors are most likely to be seeking from other new authors. (You can often spot the newer authors by reading the bio page, which often list the titles of previous books.) Here are some questions to consider as you select the appropriate market for your book:

  How big is your project? The more serious the topic or the more downbeat the main characters' overall experiences, the longer the book will need to be in order to solve the issues and create a realistic happy ending. If your hero has killed somebody, or your heroine's been raped, you'll need more room to develop the story and show the characters growing, healing, and overcoming the emotional baggage they're carrying.

  The lighter and more humorous the story line, the shorter the book is likely to be. It's not easy to carry a humorous tone through an entire work, and the longer the story goes on, the more difficult it becomes.

  Does your story have a universal appeal? Appealing to readers in foreign markets is becoming more important as the global economy grows. As established markets become saturated, publishers are increasingly aware that the strongest potential for future market growth lies abroad.

  That means they're looking for stories that will make sense to readers in other countries. Some topics, like American politics and pro football, don't translate well, while other kinds of themes and problems (money, kids, property, honor) are pretty much universal — they could occur anywhere. If your story is one that can only happen in the United States, how can you make it more appealing to foreign readers and therefore more valuable to a publisher?

  Can you shape the story to better fit today's marketplace? If you want to write a complex book but the word count publishers are looking for seems too short for your story, can you trim some secondary plot lines or restrict the number of characters? If your story is too short to meet the publisher's guidelines, don't pad it with detail or extra people. Think about additional complications for your main characters, ones that would strengthen the conflict and story.

  What is the story's hook? The hook is the grabber that seizes the readers' attention and makes the book stand out from others on the bookstore shelves. It can be a story
type (Cinderella, marriage of convenience), a setting (a town where it's Christmas all year around), or a hint about why the hero or heroine is different (“From special agent to ex-con”). The hook is usually mentioned in the back cover blurb, sometimes as a tag line (“The bridesmaid and the best man”; “Caught by a tycoon”; “Their perfect divorce is falling apart!”).

  What specific angle will hook readers into picking up your story rather than one of the hundreds of other new titles released in the same month?

  PLANNING THE PLANNING

  With a better understanding of the challenges you'll face in writing your story, and with at least a tentative decision on what form it's going to take, look a little more closely at your particular project and do some planning.

  But how much planning should you do?

  Some authors know their entire story before they begin to write. Some start with the main characters in mind and let the story happen as they go along.

  Some know all about the problem and plot but discover the characters during the writing process. Some know the ending they're writing toward but nothing much about the story up to that point.

  Some authors outline every chapter and/or every scene. Some write detailed summaries of the story, picturing every major event. Some authors keep a notebook with a page for each major scene or chapter, adding notes as they write in order to remind themselves of what needs to be brought in to the next parts of the book. Some analyze each scene with a spreadsheet. Some use a simple list of major plot twists, revising it from time to time with more details or new directions as the story progresses. Some write single ideas or incidents or lines of dialogue on slips of paper, then sort the pieces into what seems a logical order, resorting now and then as the story unfolds.

  Some authors write a very sketchy first draft and then rewrite the entire book, fleshing out characters and incidents. Some write scenes and chapters as they come to mind, in no particular order. Some start with page one and write straight through, turning out a nearly finished story.

  What's the right way? Any of the methods outlined above — or perhaps something entirely different. The right way for you is what works for you, and only by trying out a number of methods can you discover what, for you, is the most efficient, supportive, and helpful.

  Don't be surprised if you can't see your entire story at once, because envisioning the whole book before writing a single word is a talent few authors have. Very few books are fully planned in advance. That's what second drafts are for — smoothing out the rough edges, adding the necessary foreshadowing and details, and tying up the loose ends.

  Many people find that writing detailed outlines or summaries before starting a book is very difficult. Most prefer to leave their characters some latitude to develop and act in surprising ways. In addition, many authors find that planning so extensively eliminates a great deal of the joy of creating a story, turning writing into a mechanical process. Others feel secure in starting to write only after the story is completely outlined so they know exactly what happens in each chapter.

  Whatever your style may be, some planning is essential in order to keep the rough edges and loose ends from overwhelming the story. Without an idea of where you're going, your story is apt to meander and end up fit only for the trash pile.

  Writing a book is an enormous project, and keeping in mind from one month to the next precisely what Harry's supposed to tell John in the beach scene is nearly impossible. Worse, unless you write down the terrific idea you had about how to follow up on the beach scene, you're apt to forget it entirely when you get to that place in the story.

  So whether you use a full synopsis, notes, a sketchy outline, a time line, a spreadsheet, a notebook, or a blackboard, find a way to organize your thoughts. Otherwise you'll waste a great deal of time — paging back through chapters or searching computer files to find the detail you're looking for, waiting for inspiration to strike, or doing massive revisions.

  WAITING TO WRITE

  Planning ahead keeps you from spinning your wheels, speeds up your writing process, and eases your work in polishing after you've finished the first draft. But you can do too much planning. The biggest folly of beginning writers is waiting to start writing until they have the story completely in mind, until their research is all finished, until they have large chunks of time to devote to the process, or until they're in the mood or inspired to write.

  You'll never have your story completely planned. And if you wait to start writing until you know you've got everything just right, you're apt to hit a stone wall by page ten and never get any further.

  Doing a certain amount of research before setting up your story is both necessary and wise, because it helps ensure you don't construct your plot on an impossibility or a false assumption. But beyond that, it's difficult to predict what information you'll need, so start writing and look up facts as you need them.

  Waiting until vacation time rolls around so you can devote entire days to your writing is like staying off your bicycle for fifty weeks in a row and then spending the next fourteen days riding across the country. You'll be stiff, sore, and unhappy — and unlikely to look at the bicycle with any fondness in the future.

  Many people believe that the best writing is done in a fit of blinding inspiration, in the middle of the night and on a completely unpredictable schedule. In fact, writing is a craft, and inspiration comes most often to those who are sitting in an appropriate place, waiting for it. Readers can't tell which pieces of a story were written in a brilliant creative frenzy and which were put together one painful sentence at a time. After the book is finished, you may not remember which sections came easily and which were like pulling out your fingernails.

  If you write regularly, even for just a few minutes at a time, you'll be in practice, your story will stay fresh in your mind, and you'll be in shape to take advantage of bigger blocks of time when you find them.

  If you write just one page a day, you'll have a novel-length manuscript at the end of the year. Plan ahead so you can avoid the obvious pitfalls, but don't wait to start writing your story. Planning is a great way to not write.

  RESEARCHING YOUR STORY

  “Write what you know” is good advice. When you stray too far from the familiar, you become more likely to incorporate errors into your stories — and most of the time you won't even know it, because you won't have the background to recognize where you've gone wrong. So it's important — without going overboard — to familiarize yourself with some specifics of your story's setting, culture, jobs, ethics, etc. before you start to write. You can't always write what you know, so you have to know what you write.

  But what about science fiction? Or time travel? How can anyone know about worlds and beings that don't exist or concepts that are only theoretical? What about historical periods? You can't go back to the Wild West to watch what happened, though you can read firsthand accounts written by people who were there. But for more distant times, for which there are few or no records, how can you know how people lived, what they thought, what they ate, what they wore? What if your heroine is the princess of a fictional country? Can only a princess write that story?

  Readers pick up romance primarily to experience the love story, but most of them also want to learn something about a place or a job or a time period. What they learn, they expect to be accurate.

  And readers come to the story with knowledge and experiences of their own.

  If what you say disagrees with what they know to be true, you'll lose credibility — and you'll probably lose the readers as well. Once readers catch an author in an error, they find it difficult to trust anything else the author tells them.

  That's true whether the author gets something wrong (like calling Chicago's North Michigan Avenue the Golden Mile, when the natives refer to it as the Magnificent Mile) or just misses the obvious (like setting her story right under an elevated train track, calling attention to the proximity of the El, but never having a train rumble by and rat
tle the windows).

  Your firefighter hero would know the difference between carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide — so if you get it wrong, your readers will know that you couldn't be bothered to get your facts right. If you don't take the time to learn the distinction between a duke and a baron, between Lord Lancashire and Lord Robert Lancashire, then the readers of your Regency will think you're not smart enough to know the difference — or worse, that you think they're not smart enough to know the difference. Your millionaire rancher can distinguish between cows and heifers, bulls and steers, geldings and stallions — so if you have him mixing them up, your readers won't trust anything else you say about ranching.

  Accurate research isn't important just for credibility. A few years ago I spent a couple of days in a medical library looking up case studies on carbon monoxide, so I could strand my hero and heroine and have them realistically sickened, but not permanently damaged. Not long after the book was published, I got a letter from a reader who had thought she was suffering from the flu until she read the story, recognized my hero's and heroine's symptoms in herself, and got treatment — just in time. Two days in a medical library was a peanut-size price to pay for saving a life.

  In other words, do your research.

  But where do you look, and what are you looking for? When you're drafting your book, you usually need two types of information — general facts you can use to shape your characters and story events when you're in the early planning phase, and more specialized information to ensure believability when you're in the writing phase. Let's take a close look at the various research options associated with each phase.

  General Research Strategies