Table Of ContentVanessa Grant
Create a bestseller
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• Plan and plot, from spark to finish
Learn how to write about brain sex
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SdfCounsel Press
2nd Edition writing series
“ It’s by far the best writing book I’ve ever read. Five stars for Vanessa.”
— The Writer’s Markets Report, National Writer’s Montly
Writing Romance is a kind of how-to-do-it-yourself romance writer’s
workshop under one cover, and will reward the serious reader by
helpful, practical advice so necessary to successfully break into
print in the romance field. Highly recommended!
— Midwest Book Review
“Writing Romance is a thoroughly professional guide to a business that
generates close to $1 billion a year.”
— Canadian Book Review Annual
As luck would have it, now anyone can benefit from Grant’s
romance-writing know-how. In Writing Romance, she coaches you
on everything from naming your characters to getting an editor to
read your finished manuscripts.
— Amazon.com
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WRITING ROMANCE
Vanessa Grant
Self-Counsel Press
(a division of)
International Self-Counsel Press Ltd.
Canada USA
Copyright © 1997, 2001 by Muse Creations Inc.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means —
graphic, electronic, or mechanical — without permission in writing from the pub¬
lisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
Printed in Canada
First edition: 1997; Reprinted: 1997, 1999
Second edition: 2001
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Grant, Vanessa.
Writing Romance
(The writing series)
Includes index.
ISBN 1-55180-353-4
1. Love stories — Authorship. I. Title. II. Series: Writing Series
PN3377.5.L68G72 2001 808.3'85 C2001-911158-4
Self-Counsel Press
(a division of)
International Self-Counsel Press Ltd.
1704 N. State Street 1481 Charlotte Road
Bellingham, WA 98225 North Vancouver, BC V7J 1H1
USA Canada
CONTENTS
PREFACE v
PART 1: PLANNING YOUR ROMANCE NOVEL l
1. Ingredients of a Successful Romance Novel 3
2. Beginning Your Story 13
3. Character-Driven Plotting 18
4. More about Characters 33
5. Conflict and Struggle 39
6. Territory: The Bridge between Character and Conflict 50
7. Where on Earth? 55
8. Planning and Plotting 61
PART 2: READY, SET, GOl 67
WHAT YOU NEED TO GET THERE
9. About Computers 69
10. Research 77
11. Priorities, Goals, and the Garbage Can 89
PART 3: FROM SPARK TO FINISH — 101
HOW A STORY GROWS
12. Where Do You Get Your Ideas 103
13. Writing the Book 113
PART 4: DEVELOPING POWER IN YOUR WRITING 121
14. A Unique Voice and Picture for Each Character 123
15. Sensuality in Your Love Story 138
16. Suspense and Story Questions 150
17. Pacing and Time 160
18. Viewpoint and Emotional Intensity 168
19. Telling, Showing, and Transitions 181
20. A Strategy for Revision 189
PART 5: SELLING YOUR ROMANCE NOVEL 197
21. Preparing for the Marketplace 199
22. Going to Market 204
APPENDIXES
1. Yesterday's vows — book notes 215
2. The category romance market 224
3. Resources 229
INDEX 237
SAMPLES
1. Hero's personality and development 23
2. Hero's relationships and roles 26
3. Heroine's personality and development 27
4. Heroine's relationships and roles 29
5. Manuscript format 203
6. Query letter 208
7. A synopsis by Judy Griffith Gill 210
IV WRITING ROMANCE
PREFACE
The love relationship between a man and a woman is one of the most
important in adult life. Because it's so crucial to our lives, romantic
love features in almost all our fiction, and in ballads, poetry, movies,
and dreams. Half of all paperbacks sold are romance novels, stories in
which hero and heroine struggle to overcome the obstacles to ro¬
mantic love. Because people care about love, they want to read about
it, and they want to write about it.
I read the chaste romances of the 1950s as a lonely child, fanta¬
sizing a romantic hero who would cherish me. I fantasized myself
writing a romance novel, too, and when a virus kept me in bed for a
month at the age of 12, I started writing my first love story. It
foundered on page 50, but I never forgot the excitement of bringing
characters to life.
I grew up, married, and had children, but the urge to write never
left. I read everything — romances, mysteries, and science fiction. I
fantasized different endings to the books I read, and whenever I
couldn't find anything good to read, the urge to write my own book
would return.
V
I wrote three unpublished novels while living on a lighthouse sta¬
tion when my children were babies. After leaving the lighthouse, I
wrote articles for local newspapers and regional magazines, then
commentaries for the cbc [Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]
radio. Because that didn't pay well, I became an accountant and a
college instructor, but still fantasized myself as a novelist.
Finally, writing nights in 1983 while teaching business at a com¬
munity college, I wrote Pacific Disturbance and sold the completed
manuscript to Harlequin Books in 1984. My career as a romance
writer had begun!
When I was asked to lead a weekend workshop for beginning
writers in 1990, I discovered how rewarding it is to share what I've
learned with others who also dream of writing about love. I accepted
more speaking engagements, lecturing on topics from characteriza¬
tion to pacing, from goal setting to conflict, rewarded by the enthu¬
siasm of developing writers with eager questions.
I accumulated a filing cabinet full of lecture notes and a growing
realization that it was time to organize these notes into a book. By the
time Ruth Wilson of Self-Counsel Press suggested I write this book, I
was eager to start the project.
Have you ever thought about writing a love story? Have you ever
read a romance novel and wondered if you could write one? Do you
have a story you want to tell, but don't know how to begin? Have you
ever wondered if a newcomer can break into the romance market?
In this book, I try to answer the questions developing writers
have asked me over the last eleven years. What makes a successful
love story? What does a successful romance need? Are there any no-
nos? How and when should you write about sensuality? When can
you break the rules? Is it okay to write about controversial issues?
Where do ideas come from?
I discuss how you can use your own fears and dreams as story re¬
sources. I look at the process of getting from idea to finished novel,
and at characters, motivation, conflict, tension, and plot. I talk about
keeping track of details, what to do if you get stuck, how to develop
power in your writing, and how to market your finished romance.
This book has been enriched by a number of people I want to
thank. Romance writers Daphne Clair, Carole Dean, Robyn Donald,
Kate Frieman, Judy Griffith Gill, Grace Green, Naomi Horton, and
Vi WRITING ROMANCE
Kathi Webb contributed items which appear in some of the figures
and samples. Literary agent Carolyn Swayze contributed "An Agent's
Ideal Writer," and I also want to thank her for being my ideal literary
agent. Katherine Orr, vice-president of public relations at Harlequin
Enterprises, contributed current Harlequin and Silhouette guidelines
and permission to reprint them. Ruth Wilson, former managing edi¬
tor at Self-Counsel Press, contributed enthusiasm and perceptive sug¬
gestions, the best gifts an editor can give a writer. Most of all, my
husband Brian contributed 25 years of love, support, and belief in my
dreams.
Because over 95 percent of romance readers are women and the
romance genre is primarily women's literature, I've often used the fe¬
male pronoun in this book to refer to readers of romance. It's impor¬
tant for romance writers to realize they are writing primarily for
women. For romantic fantasy to be successful in a novel, it must em¬
power its women readers by affirming values of love and relationships.
Ask yourself why you want to write romance. Is it for the money?
Is it because you want to see your name on the bookshelves? Or is it
because you're excited by the thought of having characters and love
come to life under your fingers as you type on your keyboard? Are you
choosing to write romance because half of all books published are ro¬
mances, or because you believe in love? Above all, published romance
writers believe in the power of romantic love.
Read a lot of romances. Ask yourself what makes each one excit¬
ing, romantic, or fulfilling. Watch how people behave when they're in
love. Look for the problems that make happy-ever-after difficult for
lovers. Read this book, then begin writing your own romance.
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