Do you have a book in you? If you feel you might, that’s why I have this series of author interviews and why I created the Spirit-Led Authoring Course. This segment: Writing Compelling Romance
Have you decided you’d like to write romance? Are you looking for tips on what makes a compelling romance? USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer Youngblood offers valuable advice: “I’ve heard it said that romance is the only genre where we know what’s going to happen. We know the guy and the girl are going to get together.” What remains a mystery is how that’s going to happen. Every love story is unique because every person is different. In this short clip, Jennifer discusses the importance of crafting unique characters.
Additional Tips for Writing a Compelling Romance:
1. Get in Touch with Your Own Emotions
Reflect on your own experiences of falling in love. Remember those emotions and infuse them into your story. Connecting with your readers on an emotional level will make them feel like they’re living vicariously through your characters.
2. Make the Setting Intriguing and Research It Well
Consider where and when your romance takes place.
- Historical Settings: Victorian era, Civil War America, Revolutionary War, Great Depression, the Wild West.
- Regional Settings: Southern romance, Alaskan Tundra, New England, Hawaii.
- International Settings: Spain, France, Russia, Japan.
Research the setting thoroughly and integrate little-known facts to transport your reader to another time or an exotic location. If you can visit the location where your story takes place, all the better. For example, in my novel, An Uncertain Justice, I visited the old courthouse where a trial in the story took place. I walked over the creaky wood floors, sat on the hard wooden benches, looked up at the old wooden ceiling fans and understood how hot this courtroom would have been in the 1920’s setting. This experience helped me weave my first-hand experience into the story. If you haven’t lived in or visited the setting you’re writing about, consider interviewing people who have.
3. Integrate Description into Action and Dialogue
Rather than pausing the narrative to describe a setting or character in detail, weave descriptions into the action and dialogue.
Examples:
- Maria’s long legs ached as her blue cross-trainers slapped against the wet pavement. A three-mile run stretched her limits. She looked forward to reaching her brownstone on the next street.
- John raked a hand through his wavy auburn hair and released a sigh of frustration. He must have missed a turn. He pulled his silver Bronco over to the side of the two-lane highway. The road barely had a shoulder, so his passenger side tires were off in the grass. He scanned the horizon, hoping to see any indication of civilization. All he saw was desert – cacti, creosote bushes, sagebrush, and sand for miles in all directions.
4. Create Well-Rounded and Realistic Characters
As Jennifer mentions in the video, characters are key to a compelling romance novel. Consider using tools like the Myers-Briggs Assessment Types or the Enneagram to develop personality styles for your characters. Research how these personalities interact:
- Compatibility: Where will they see eye-to-eye?
- Conflict Zones: Where will they most likely have conflict?
Integrate these traits into the story to create tension, conflict, and challenges for your characters to overcome.
By following these tips and incorporating unique characters, emotions, intriguing settings, and realistic interactions, you can craft a romance that will captivate and resonate with your readers.
To learn more about writing, publishing and marketing your inspired fiction or non-fiction book, please consider enrolling in one of our Spirit-Led Authoring courses.
Happy writing!
Marnie Pehrson Kuhns is a best-selling author, consultant, musician and Certified SimplyAlign Method™ Practitioner who blends decades of business acumen with spiritual wisdom, nature observation, and music to mentor you past barriers, fears, and doubts to find greater peace, love, joy, and fulfillment in daily life. Her motto is “let it be easy.” Her practical, down-to-earth style helps her clients and students accomplish their goals and aspirations in a graceful, fulfilling way. Whether you’re trying to write and publish a book or stay spiritually connected while you deal with the challenges of life and career, Marnie is a resource to you.
Marnie is a bestselling author with 33+ fiction and non-fiction titles ranging from historical fiction and romance to business and inspirational titles. She blogs about nature, creativity, inner peace, and spiritual topics at www.CreationGirl.com and lives and works alongside her husband Dave at Spirit Tree Farms.