A romance novel could propel you towards the path of fame because this is one book genre that never goes out of fashion. Readers seem to get perverse pleasure when they read about the emotions and feelings of others. They love to delve deep into the characters and match their feelings with their own.
Contrary to popular belief, even men read romance novels. This genre is not limited to women alone. Otherwise writers like Danielle Steel wouldn’t have sold more than 800 million copies. Having said this, women far outnumber men when it comes to reading romance. This is because they tend to be more interested in the lives of others, especially on the romantic side.
Writing a romance novel though is different from feeling romantic. You may feel all lovey-dovey inside, but putting your ideas into 200 pages is easier said than done. There are some tried and tested formulas that you may try out and make sure that you make the reader feel. Read on to learn how to write a romance novel.
Characters
The importance of characters is more pronounced in romance novels than in any other genre. Ideally there are two central characters, a man and a woman, who fall in love with each other. Now here is a challenge that needs addressing. Do you write a point of view story from the woman’s perspective or the man’s perspective? Choosing the woman is perhaps a better idea because your readers will be predominantly women.
Here are a few tips that you may use related to your characters.
• Don’t make your characters perfect because they can be boring.
• Add some features to your central characters – kindness, protective nature, optimism, generous and well liked.
• Don’t mind making your characters drop dead gorgeous. This always sells.
• You can add sophistication to your characters, especially the men. This tends to increase their appeal in the minds of your readers.
Conflicts
No romance novel is complete without conflicts. You may want to end with “happily ever after”, but there has to be a twisted path to it. To achieve this, you should put your characters through tests of integrity and should they falter, make them accept that they did something wrong. Add a lot of suspense so that your reader turns the pages thick and fast. Add obstacles to the plot and let the characters solve them. This will increase their celeb appeal.
Sex
Can a romance novel survive without descriptions of physical intimacy? It can… But then, sex often sells and the challenge for you is to portray sex as passion. Otherwise your novel will be reduced to a corny porn novel. This is the fastest way for you to lose your respect as a romance author.
Writing style
Any romance novel thrives on relationships and the more vividly you describe relationships, the more successful you are. Descriptions of exotic places, dark locations and uninhibited passion tend to work wonderfully well in romance novels. Add catching dialogues to your work and there you go.
You need not be a total romantic at heart to be a successful romance novelist, but you cannot afford to be dry as a bone. Before you start penning your first romance novel, kindle some passion in your life and soak in the feelings. This may help when you write.
Image credit: EMILIE RHAUPP on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Profile_Pic_Moumita.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Moumita Goswami is a full-time homemaker and a passionate writer. She stays in Pune with her husband and daughter. After giving up working, she started writing about five years ago and can now be seen using her computer keyboard almost all the time. An MA in Psychology from Calcutta University, Moumita has spent time in Kolkata, Delhi and now Pune. For Moumita, writing started as a sudden chance but she soon discovered her likeness for it. And now she has developed a passion for writing and hardly any day passes without her scribbling a few lines. She dreams of publishing her own book one day and is working towards it.
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