These days, the market is flooded with “How To” books, and the romance writing field is no exception. If you’re like me, you want something short, easy to follow, and to the point. Romance novels have their own requirements. Readers know how the story should unfold, and stepping out of the box won’t help you here. You can always choose to write a story with a different structure, but you’ll need to call it something else. A family story, Chick Lit, Saga, Thriller, etc… If that’s your story, go for it. But if your target audience is the typical Romance reader, write a romance they’ll love.
I recently downloaded a little non-fiction book by Gwen Hayes. She writes what she calls “kissing books,” and says she’s “saving the world … one love story at a time.” Her romances are on my list of books to read next.
I highly recommend the book, “Romancing the Beat: Story Structures for Romance Novels,” or “How to Write Kissing Books.”
Ms. Hayes knows her genre, and she knows how to write. Her instructions are clear, concise and to the point. She explains the what, gives you the why, doesn’t stray from her topic, and does it all in a minimum number of pages. My kind of book! Who has time to read, much less try to follow, a voluminous tome?
Quite emphatically, Ms. Hayes insists that all romance novels have one theme: “Love Conquers All.” She goes on to explain that your external plot can be varied and probably should be, but a book without the love conquers all theme is not a romance.
About a third of the way into the book, she takes each phase, act, and beat of the three-act structure as it applies to the romance novel and breaks them down in such a way that you can use it as a guide for your own stories. I recently used her book to do just that with a short story I’d been struggling with. The story ended up being one of my favorites! I can’t think of a better recommendation for a “How To” book.
If you want to write romances, get this book! If you’re anything like me, you’ll want to buy the paperback and keep it near your writing space. It may just become one of your most frequently referred to guides on your own journey to the write romance.
Look for the short story referred to earlier in my book of short stories, “What’s Green Beer Got to do with Love, and other short stories,” coming in the first quarter of 2018. Subscribe to my email list and you’ll get a .pdf of the book to download free of charge when it is released. Limited time offer, so subscribe now!
If you’re already subscribed, you’ll get an email with the .pdf sent to you automatically before I make it available to the general public.
Happy Holidays! Happy Writing! Happy Reading!
Books photo credit: Photo by John Salvino on Unsplash