Are you wondering how to write a fantasy romance novel? We’ve put together a list of 11 top tips below that will help you..
1. Choose your fantasy subgenre
Why it helps
It always pays to remember the fact that the first word in “fantasy romance” is “fantasy”. This means that deciding what elements of this genre you want to include is paramount. Choosing a fantasy subgenre as a starting point helps you and your reader to be able to understand what tropes they may expect and can be a key factor in whether someone chooses to pick up your novel.
How to use it
There are a whole host of fantasy subgenres out there for you to choose from. For example, you could go classic with some high fantasy, or keep things closer to the modern day with urban fantasy. Based on your original ideas, you might be able to see a fantasy subgenre that already works well with your story. Otherwise, it may be that choosing your subgenre helps with the decision-making process for other parts of your novel.
2. Build your world
Why it helps
One of the primary things that sets fantasy romance apart from the main romance genre is the fact that the world-building aspect of crafting your novel is essential. This is because many of the key fantasy elements are strongly embedded within this process.
How to use it
Think carefully about how you are going to create your setting. The first thing you’ll want to keep in mind is your fantasy subgenre, as this will play a pivotal part in how you shape your world based on the tropes associated with it.
Once you have done that, there are a few questions you can start to ask yourself. For example, is magic going to play a part, and if so, how is it used, and who can use it? Are there going to be fantasy races as part of the world? What are the power dynamics at play within this world, and how do your characters fit into this hierarchy? There are so many things that you can play around with here to make this fantasy world your own.
3. Consider the obstacles
Why it helps
No relationship is ever smooth sailing all of the time, and those featured in fantasy romance novels are no exception. What makes this genre so popular is the twists and turns within it and the obstacles that the lovers need to overcome in order to be together.
How to use it
A good way to map out how you are going to create a chronology of your narrative or the key places where you wish for it to go. From there, you can then look at where you want to place the obstacles and challenges.
When it comes to what exactly these obstacles are, you can take cues from things such as your characters’ personalities and quirks, as well as the current setting at that moment in time. For example, a character could face an obstacle due to their social status, or perhaps a war or revolt in a city leads to the lovers being separated.
4. Build your lovers
Why it helps
It’s very hard to write a fantasy romance novel without including two characters that fall in love! Creating the perfect couple is one of the key ways to ensure that your story is a success, keeping the reader engaged and invested in their love story.
How to use it
The characters you create are completely up to you, but some tips and tricks to help you build them include things such as creating a polar opposite between your two romantically involved characters, which could even be something as simple as a personality clash.
5. Show, don’t tell
Why it helps
This tip is one that is important for most story writing, especially when looking at the romance genre. You’ll want to avoid “telling” your reader how a character feels explicitly, but instead build this through “showing” them various actions and pieces of information that help them to be able to put two and two together.
This helps to bring your readers along on the romantic journey and allows them to immerse into the story, even so far as to imagine themselves in the place of one of your characters!
How to use it
For example, a character’s body language can help highlight how they might feel about someone or something. This can be incredibly powerful, especially when another character is trying to figure out what another might think and feel about them as the reader will feel just as clueless as the character.
6. It’s all about the pacing
Why it helps
Although some famous love stories can tend to be a whirlwind romance over a couple of days (we’re looking at you, Romeo and Juliet), most of the time creating a romance in this way can be pretty unrealistic and in some cases actually cause your reader to lose interest!
Therefore, it is important to think about the pacing of your romance to make sure that it is not a massive rush.
How to use it
There are plenty of ways in which you can fix this issue, such as making your romance a slow burn across the course of your novel, or by creating multiple obstacles and pitfalls that could stand in the way of the romance developing, such as opposition to the romance, or even the enemies to lovers trope. So long as you remember to take a measured approach to the romance in your story, you should be fine!
7. Finding the right balance
Why it helps
Often when writing a fantasy romance novel the element of romance can tend to take hold. This can make it hard to break away from documenting the relationship between the two romantically involved characters in favor of other plot details.
However, you need to remember that this is a dual genre, and your reader is going to want to know more about the fantasy element of your storyline. After all, if they just wanted a straight romance then they would pick one of those up instead!
How to use it
To strike a good balance, consider reading back over your story or your chapters and start to highlight and mark out which parts are pure romance, which focuses on the fantasy element, and what parts meld in between.
By sectioning your story out in this way you can start to see areas that might be imbalanced one way or the other, and you can go back and adjust the ratio of fantasy to romance accordingly.
8. A happy ending
Why it helps
One of the key elements of a fantasy romance is that the story will have a happy ending. This could be something such as two characters getting married, or a major conflict being resolved such as a war.
If one or both characters die, then the novel isn’t a fantasy romance at all and starts to move into tragedy territory. Your reader wants to feel warm and fuzzy at the end and not bawl their eyes out!
How to use it
Now, although you should always aim for a happy ending, there’s nothing stopping you from adding heart-wrenching moments at other points during your plot. For example, there could be a few close calls that threaten the characters to keep your readers on edge and wondering if they will indeed get the happy ending they expect.
You could also aim for a resolution more in line with the concept of “happy for now” (HFN) as opposed to “happily ever after” (HEA) in order to keep a layer of uncertainty that can feel more realistic or even set the foundations for a potential sequel to your novel.
9. Think about intimacy
Why it helps
The genre of fantasy romance opens up all sorts of romantic pairings, including ones we would never see in real life! This means that if you are planning on including certain romantic scenes you might need to think about how these will pan out in a way that is feasible and not too weird for your reader to handle!
How to use it
When it comes to your characters showing affection to one another or getting physical, you’ll want to think about various factors such as any differences in size, body structures, extra appendages such as wings or tails, and so on.
Another thing you could look at is how characters of different fantasy races might show affection, allowing you to create unique customs that might seem strange but in actuality are really heartwarming moments!
10. Study common tropes
Why it helps
When first starting to write or plan out your fantasy romance novel, it sometimes pays to do some research into the key tropes that underpin the genre. Although it might seem like a big no-no, actually adhering to or incorporating elements of the tropes can help to add familiarity to your reader and cement your story as a fantasy romance.
How to use it
There are plenty of tropes that are easy to remember, such as enemies to lovers, or a forbidden romance. However, there are plenty more uncommon tropes that can help you to gain inspiration for your story. Here’s a large list of romance tropes for you to go through, and some fantasy ones for good measure.
11. Grow your characters as well as their romance
Why it helps
Although the primary purpose for some characters is to fall in love with one another, if this is all that their personality revolves around then this can become pretty stale for your reader and leave them less invested! Therefore, you need to make sure that your characters have personal growth as well as romantic growth.
How to use it
Make sure to consistently review your characters as you write your story and set out your plot. If you see no change in them, then it’s worth looking back and evaluating what moments would be best for their character growth. Places that often fit the bill for this include areas where characters encounter obstacles and barriers, as often they will need to adapt or face hardships to overcome them that can affect their persona.
Do remember to keep in mind though that although personality and character growth is strongly advised, your character shouldn’t have a complete personality transplant. After all, your reader needs to be able to identify with them all the way through the course of the novel! With each character you create, think about what the core elements of their character are, and what will not change no matter what.