Writing ROMANCE
Writing romance is different from other genres. To start with, how can you show tension & conflict on the first chapter, when the story has barely begun? And are happy-ever-after endings out of fashion? Or is romance out of fashion? Who reads romance? What are agents looking for in romance? Which romance authors are getting deals and why?
These are some of the themes, I’ll be posting about here soon. Meanwhile… have a look at this blog from Now Novel. Plenty of food for thought.
Watch this space!… and join in the discussions.
I was really interested when you said ‘Writing romance is very different from other genres‘ because I thought romance is often part of other genres. So I wondered how exactly we are defining romance. The dictionary has: a feeling of exciting and mystery associated with love. Is that enough?
Romance is a genre in itself and is also part of other genres, but in that last case the novel is called “a romantic novel” and not “a romance”. A romance has at its centre a romantic relationship betwen two protagonists and must have a hapy-ever-after ending or at least a happy-for-now ending. A romantic novel may have at its centre another story, with the romance in a subplot, or be about a relationship that does not have the HEA or the HFN endings described above.
This distinction is the source of many arguments. I once said that the novel Me Before You by Jo Moyes was a romance, and almost got beaten up by the romance mob of the RWA (Romance Writers of America) because in that novel the guy comits suicide and leaves the protagonist heartbroken. Not an appropriate ending for a romance, apparently.
I’ll look for some links about romance definitions and will add them here when I find them. (I may be gone for a while…)
Just found this definition that explains the difference between romance and romantic novel:
In a romance, the relationship is the plot, and point, of the story. In a love story or romantic novel, there is a different story point and goal to be achieved, something besides love is at stake. The romantic relationship is a vehicle and/or complication to this story focus.
Coo
About a year ago, I read an interview with a top London agent that gave this answer when asked what kind of novels were agents mostly looking for: ROMANCE he said. Surprise! Surprise!…
Because romance is still the most read genre and it seems there is a shortage of good romances out there. Doesn’t surprise me. If writers’ groups are anything to go by, everybody is writing fantasy & crime.
So… what is a good romance? was the next question. And the agent said it was a well-layered love story in a unique and distinct voice, with some kind of social commentary, just like something a modern-day Jane Austen would write. Now, that shouldn’t be difficult.
But it is… it is.
Sorry for the delayed reply to this thread’s discussion. This agent’s definition of a ‘good romance’ definitely sounds like something I realise I’d want to read.
I would not have called myself a ‘romance’ fan, nor a writer of ‘romance’… but actually maybe I am a fan of this genre, and I think my aspirations for my current WIP fit this remit, too!
I will post an excerpt soon for scrutiny (from those of you kind enough to offer some), to see if you think it’s on these lines….