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    Writer's Guide to Romance Writing
    Writer's Guide to Romance Writing
    Writer's Guide to Romance Writing
    Ebook103 pages1 hour

    Writer's Guide to Romance Writing

    By Natasha James

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Writer's Guide to Romance Writing is intended to writers who want to write romance novels but struggle with it. The book provides you with detailed instructions on how to create: 
    - an engaging, conflict-driven, and passionate romantic plotline 
    - a hero the reader will fall in love with 
    - a likable heroine 
    - believable and interesting antagonist 
    - great secondary characters 
    - complex conflict 
    - love scenes that can satisfy any reader 
    - good-sounding dialogue 
    - and much more 
    This book is a great help for any writer.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBelisama Publishing
    Release dateMay 27, 2015
    ISBN9781516346912
    Writer's Guide to Romance Writing

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      Book preview

      Writer's Guide to Romance Writing - Natasha James

      Introduction

      Romance is one of the best-selling genres in fiction. About half of all books sold (both paperbacks and ebooks) are romance novels. This is not a surprise, as romance novel can offer something to everyone. Do you like to read about history? Do you prefer contemporary fairy tales with a happily ever after? Do you like to read about medics? Would you like a short 55,000-word story to read tonight? Would you like something to read on holiday and prefer it to be around 100,000 words long? Romance novels can offer all of it to you!

      Romance novels are very popular with readers. A lot of them have read so many romance novels that at some point they begin to feel that they have stories to tell too. They decide to become romance writers. If you are one of those people and are just making your way into the romance writing business, then this book is for you.

      Experienced romance writers and those writers who are looking to change their genre to start writing romances can also find a lot of useful information and advice here.

      Romance writing is a tough job, but this book is here to help you.

      It will show you where to get your ideas, how to do your research, and how to find a place and time for writing. Then the book tells how to create a loveable heroine, a hero to fall in love with, and memorable characters. Next the book covers the ins and outs of writing your plot, detailing the structure of your storyline and how long each segment of the story should be. Both internal and external conflicts are explained in detail. Closer to the end the book tells you about the essential elements of a good dialogue. Love scene writing is also covered here.

      As you can see, this book has everything you need to know to write a successful romance novel.

      Shall we begin?

      Chapter one

      Before you begin to write

      What is a romance novel?

      There have always been stories about people falling in love with one another. Romantic love has drawn the interest and attention of numerous generations throughout the whole world.

      However, the romance novel as a fiction genre emerged in the middle of the 20th century. Despite that it is a popular belief, the romance novel is not just a story about two people falling in love with each other. It is much more.

      The romance novel is a smart and diverse genre of fiction. It can be contemporary or historical; it can be a thriller, mystery, or suspense; it can be paranormal; it can be sweet or extremely hot; and so on.

      As every other genre of fiction, the romance novel has its own rules. To be honest, there are only two rules that every romance novel should obey. The rest is up to author’s imagination.

      These rules are:

      The center plotline is a love story. The main plot centers around two people falling in love. There can be as many secondary plots as the author wants, but the love story should be the main focus of the story.

      Happy ending. In a romance novel, the main characters who struggle for their relationship to work are rewarded with unconditional love and emotional justice.

      Key elements of a romance novel

      In addition to the above stated rules, there are a few key elements that all romance novels have in common. These are:

      Sympathetic hero and heroine

      Critical situation

      Conflict

      Romantic encounter

      Resolution

      Happy ending

      Tie these elements together with threads of events, humor, excitement, mystery, love, emotion, and many more, and you will have a good romance novel.

      Reading

      If you want to join the elite of published authors, you need to become an avid reader first (if you are not one already). You need to read for various reasons: in order to find out the latest trends in the publishing world, to see the scope of competition on the market, to find new plot ideas, and so on.

      Some authors prefer not to read anything while they are working on a manuscript. This is understandable, as they do not want to be influenced by other writers. You may feel the same. But you should read a lot between when you finish one novel and you start your next manuscript.

      Read like a writer

      The next time you read a book, do it as a critic, not as a reader. As you read, look at every aspect of the story: the plot, characters, pacing, turning points, and so on. Try to notice all of it. Make notes as you go.

      Look at the sentence structure. Are they long or short? Which words did the author use? Is there a lot of narration or a lot of dialogue?

      How did you find out about the heroine’s past? Was it in the form of narration or was it in the form of dialogue?

      When you read a book that you like, think about what makes it work for you. When reading a book that you do not like, think about what does not work for you in this book. When you learn to analyze novels written by other writers, you will be able to spot mistakes in your own writing and correct them in time.

      As you read, try to write down all the events/scenes of the

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