1. Do decide the type of romance you want to write.
You may have the entire story panned out in your head but if you forget to decide on which type of sub-genre you want to write in, you may have failed before even beginning to type the first word. There are several types of sub-genres in romance; historical, contemporary, fantasy, erotic etc. Chose one and map out the world in your story around it.
2. Don’t switch the genre mid-way.
No reader likes to find out that what they thought was a fantasy romance turns out to be a contemporary one. The tendency of running away with ideas and plots is always there but stay on track. Imagine putting a cellphone in a historical romance. Would that work? Unless you are writing a story about a time travelling man who goes into the 19th century and falls in love with a woman…oh wait!
3. Do create characters that people can relate to.
What makes a good romance novel is its characters. They are what readers relate to and root for. Be sure to make characters as realistic as possible. They must have flaws for them to be human. Real people are not extremely good or extremely bad. They are a mix of both. It's this grey area that makes writing about them exciting and unpredictable.
4. Don’t make the characters too good to be true.
If there's anything that irks readers then it is characters that are just too hard to imagine as being real. A few of those are running through your mind for sure. The point is, if you make a character who is beautiful, smart, funny and clever then pair them up with the most masculine, agile, handsome and intelligent man in the world; it will not work. No one can identify with these characters. No one!
5. Do add secondary characters that push the plot forward.
Secondary characters are just as important to the story as the protagonists. They could be in the form of the hero's or the heroine's best friend, mother, father, boss etc. These characters help to add the other elements like conflict, support or obstacles to the storyline. The best friend could be the one to introduce the two characters. Or the mother could encourage the hero to take a chance at love. The secondary characters help to flesh out the story.
6. Don’t give too much information about the secondary characters.
Romance is one genre in which the focus is solely on the main characters. Sure as mentioned before, the secondary characters are important. But it is important to remember that they are supporting elements to your main storyline. Too much information about them will either confuse the readers or distract them. No one really wants to know the entire back story of the heroine's best friend unless it's absolutely necessary to the plot. Do we really care if she loves the color blue as opposed to red?
7. Do make your characters fall in love in a plausible way.
Making your characters fall in love is not as easy as it seems. If your try too hard then it may feel like they are being forced to love each other. There has to be the undeniable attraction underneath, their hate for one another, friendship with each other and so on. The most common way of getting your characters to fall in love is to put them in situation where they are compelled to spend time together. He gets chosen to be her guide while she is on a vacation in Ita…again!!
8. Don’t make your characters fall in love instantly.
As interesting as love at first sight sounds, in actuality it is a hard one to pull off as not being too hackneyed. Try not to go from your characters crashing into each other and declaring their love for one another. Readers want to root for them to get together. That happens only when you get connected to the characters. Give them room to fall in love.
9. Do show true love and affection.
The most important part of a romance is the display of affection. Affection and love should be displayed in tune with the characters' personality. A hero bringing flowers is too generic. But a hero getting something specific to the heroines' character is more believable.
10. Don’t show inexplicable love and affection.
A major turn-off in terms of love and affection is showing too much of it. Yes, the main theme of a romance novel is the romance between the main characters but showing an unreasonable amount of it is puke inducing. We want the characters to love each other but having them repeatedly proclaim their love to each other is not fun.
11. Do show appropriate amount of intimacy.
Of course, no romance novel will be complete without a few steamy moments between our protagonists. Be it describing a kiss or something more, romance novels need a bit of everything. The trick to writing a steamy scene is to leave something for the readers' imagination. To show enough and not show everything is a tricky balance to achieve.
12. Don’t show sex in every chapter.
Unless you are aiming to write an erotic novel, showing too much sex is pointless. If it doesn't move the plot ahead in any manner reading about it over and over again can get too frustrating. Although recent sales of a certain novel show….never mind! The point is that romance can be displayed in ways that are not limited to just sex. Don't overdo it.
13. Do put obstacles.
Sure, we want our protagonists to have a happy ending but getting there should not be easy-peasy. Readers want the protagonists to go through a moment of crisis where they get a chance to develop as characters to root for. The heroine could be engaged to someone else while falling in love with the hero. Or the hero could have to deal with a death and be emotionally disturbed. Things like these keep the readers wanting the main characters to overcome the odds to be together in the end.
14. Don’t add unnecessary sub-plots.
The main story of romance does need subordinating storylines and plots but adding them for no purpose other than to increase the number of pages leaves the reader wondering where the story is headed. If the heroine is starting a job then something about that job has to affect the plot. It could be a cause of discord between the main characters. But to have her start a new job and not mention anything about it later is a pointless addition.
15. Do show believable conflict.
No love story is complete without conflict. It's facing these conflicts that make the characters bond with each other. After all, what is life without a few ups and downs? The word you are looking for is 'boring'. Readers want the story to be exciting. So add a little conflict in there. It could be someone who opposes the love. Or some calamity that forces the two to be apart. Not only does it make your story interesting but it also keeps it moving forward.
16. Don’t show conflict for no apparent reason.
While putting obstacles to the happy ending is much needed to develop the story, putting unnecessary conflicts between the two is awful to read. The most clichéd of the bunch is misunderstanding. For e.g. adding a situation where the heroine misunderstands the hero's closeness with another woman is tired and overused. The same is true vice-versa. The readers will see through such a conflict as being frail and useless to the plot.
17. Do resolve conflict in a way that it seems natural.
As the story reaches its end, the conflict that's keeping the main characters from getting together needs to be resolved. How else will we reach our much desired happy ending? But the toughest bit is to overcome it in the most natural possible way. This is a very critical moment. It's the turning point of the story. Make the main characters work towards a realistic solution to the problem. This makes the reader believe in the couple's love for one another and the will to do anything for it.
18. Don’t kill the conflicts.
Killing the conflict literally is the worse way to resolve it. If there's anything that will make you stand out as an amateur writer is simply killing characters because you don't know what to do with them. Remember, you added them for a reason. So, when it's time for them to depart from the story, do it with dignity. For e.g. if the heroine's fiancée is killed in an accident, there is no way that the heroine can forget about the man and think about a future with our hero. Don't do that.
19. Do give the story an appropriate ending.
At the end of the day, even while reading a romance novel, it is the ending that sticks to a readers mind. The story should have an ending which is rightfully deserved by the main characters. You have made them fall in love despite their differences, had them work through conflicts and crisis; your characters deserve an ending that is worthy of having gone through all that.
20. Don’t end the story abruptly.
Bringing the novel to an abrupt halt will leave the readers with a bad taste in their mouth. Don't go from having the hero mourn the loss of a loved one to showing the two main characters married to each other with children. The transition period is a must. Show the heroine helping him overcome the sadness and eventually opening up to life and a happy ending. Only then will you have a novel with true romance.
If you are a sucker for romance and can't do without rooting for your favorite couple to have a happy ending then check out the romance section on Wattpad here.
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