This book is for everyone who has ever read a romance novel and thought, ''I could write that!'' Considering that over half of all mass-market fiction sold in North America is romance novels, generating more than $1.2 billion per year, writing about love can be big business!From plot and characterization to editing and selling your manuscript, this reader-friendly book shows you how to realize your creative dream and make money, too.Writing Romance is written by the author of 30 romance novels. This new edition has additional chapters on how to write novels in niche romance subjects, such as erotica and Christian romance.The book features many examples from published works and a helpful resource section.The writer sits at her desk, her auburn hair catching the late-afternoon sun, her chocolate-brown eyes focused far, far away. For as long as she could remember, she'd spent Sundays at the beach, wearing the same bikini she'd worn in high school and looking even better now than she did then. Each of her companions was more compelling than the last one; her life was an ever-changing cast of ... romance novels. The stories were exciting and alluring, each fulfilling its promise to whisk her away. After having read so many romances, then, why was she having so much trouble writing her own? Because she didn't have Vanessa Grant, published by Harlequin 25 times over, to attend to her queries about plot, conflict, character development, and love (not sex, please) scenes. 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. She's got ideas about story development (''Try dumping your character into your worst nightmare''), setting (''If you're not an expert on your setting, it's wise to have your character new to the setting as well''), suspense (it's created by unanswered questions), and more. If you find that your characters are running amuck, try out Grant's garbage-can test. Pretend to throw out your novel. Then, Grant says, ask yourself what one part of the story you would pick out of the garbage, if you could pick out just one. You might be surprised by what you hold on to. Grant peppers her text with helpful examples from the pages (and preparations) of her own books. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
PREFACE xvPART 1: PLANNING YOUR ROMANCE NOVEL 11 INGREDIENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL ROMANCE NOVEL 31. Your Romance Novel 32. Ingredients of a Successful Romance 42.1 A story question 42.2 An empowering story 42.3 A sympathetic heroine 42.4 A hero she can love 52.5 An interesting initial conflict or problem 52.6 An emotionally intense core conflict 52.7 A plot 52.8 Appropriate sensuality 62.9 Archetypes 62.10 Crisis and satisfying resolution 62.11 An emotionally satisfying ending 73. Can a Successful Romance Deal with Controversial Issues? 94. Your Own Romance Novel 112 BEGINNING YOUR STORY 141. The Story Spark Where Do Ideas Come From? 141.1 Writing about your fears 141.2 Myths and fairy tales 151.3 Reversing stereotypes 151.4 Eternal favorites 16vCONTENTS2. What If 173. Getting Ideas 193 CHARACTER-DRIVEN PLOTTING 201. The Character-Driven Story 202. Character Free Will 213. The Plot-Character Relationship: How It Works 223.1 The people 223.2 Where does plot come from? 233.3 Impatience 233.4 Believing in your story 244. Breathing Life into the Story Spark 245. Breathing Life into the Hero 255.1 Personality and development 255.2 Relationships and roles 276. Next Comes the Heroine 276.1 Personality and development 306.2 Relationships and roles 317. About Motivation 318. Putting Characters Together 334 MORE ABOUT CHARACTERS 371. Wounded Characters and Heavy Baggage 372. Your Best Friends as Characters 383. Using Real People Creatively 394. Techniques for Getting to Know Your Characters 404.1 The character journal 404.2 The character interview 414.3 Brainstorming a character 415 CONFLICT AND STRUGGLE 451. Conflict Is a Struggle 451.1 Internal conflict 451.2 External conflict 461.3 Your characters must experience both internaland external conflict 47vi Writing romance2. With Strings Attached 483. Conflict of Love 504. Opening versus Developing Conflict 505. Adversity and Conflict 516. How to Create Conflict 517. Common Goals and Related Conflicts 527.1 Romantic love 527.2 Keeping or winning possessions 527.3 Keeping secrets 547.4 Gaining achievements 547.5 Territory 547.6 Opposites attract conflict 558. Learning to Be Nasty 556 TERRITORY: THE BRIDGE BETWEEN CHARACTERAND CONFLICT 571. Primitive Urges and Danger Buttons 572. Your Territory 583. Characters' Territory 594. Territorial Plot Development 595. Looking for Territorial Conflict 607 WHERE ON EARTH? 621. What Do You Need to Know about Your Setting? 621.1 The atmosphere of your setting 621.2 The impact of setting on your characters 631.3 How do your characters feel about the setting? 641.4 What makes your setting exotic? 641.5 Playing it safe 652. Writing about Setting 658 PLANNING AND PLOTTING 681. Plotting by Stimulus and Response 702. Diagram of a Plot The Romance Hero's Journey 72Contents viiPART 2: READY, SET, GO! WHAT YOU NEEDTO GET THERE 759 ABOUT COMPUTERS 771 Do You Need Your Own Computer? 772. Capturing Inspiration 783. Expanding Your Horizons 793.1 Templates save repetitive typing 803.2 Macros help with revisions 803.3 Software and the Internet help gather information 804. Selecting a Computer System 824.1 What software will you be using? 834.2 New software to consider 844.3 What hardware do you need? 8610 RESEARCH 881. Researching Settings 891.1 When love returns 901.2 How to write about a place where you've never been 912. Researching Historical Novels 933. Researching Occupations and Lifestyles 934. Researching Motivations and Issues 945. Research Sources 965.1 People 965.2 Courses and seminars 985.3 Books and magazines 986. The Internet 986.1 World Wide Web 986.2 Libraries 996.3 Newsgroups 996.4 Mailing lists 1006.5 Growing with the Internet 10011 PRIORITIES, GOALS, AND THE GARBAGE CAN 1011. Priorities and Goals 1011.1 The single most important thing 101viii Writing romance1.2 A place to write 1031.3 Writing in circles 1032. Writer's Block and the Garbage Can 1052.1 Doubt and confusion 1052.2 The ebb and flow of writing 1062.3 Getting started 1072.4 Listening to yourself 1082.5 The garbage can test 1092.6 Creating a warm fuzzy album 1112.7 Protecting the embryo 112PART 3: FROM SPARK TO FINISH HOW A STORY GROWS 11312 WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR IDEAS? 1151. From Spark to Idea 1162. Development and Standstill 1162.1 Why is Jan in a Mexican market? 1172.2 Who is the hero? 1172.3 What's their problem? 1172.4 The garbage can test 1183. Finding the Hero 1194. From Idea to Plot 1194.1 Growing characters 1194.2 Incompatible dreams 1214.3 Going deeper 1214.4 What's my conflict? 12413 WRITING THE BOOK 1261. Keeping Track of Details 1262. Stalling Point 1292.1 Brick wall 1292.2 Remaining sensitive to characters 1302.3 Everything is disposable 1323. Story Sparks 132Contents ixPART 4: DEVELOPING POWER IN YOUR WRITING 13514 A UNIQUE VOICE AND PICTURE FOR EACH CHARACTER 1371. The Need to Know Who's Talking 1372. Speech Patterns 1383. Voice: Verbal and Nonverbal 1393.1 Showing emotion with body language 1403.2 Studying body language 1404. Men, Women, and Brain Sex 1414.1 Men should talk like men 1414.2 Gender differences 1434.3 Men and women in love 1434.4 Keeping score 1444.5 Different how? 1444.6 Brain sex implications for writers 1454.7 Intimacy for men and women 1475. Other Factors That Distinguish Characters 1505.1 Occupation 1505.2 Relationships and roles 1505.3 Culture and education 1525.4 Behavior and emotional state 15215 SENSUALITY IN YOUR LOVE STORY 1541. A Sensuality Level for Every Taste 1551.1 The inspirational romance 1551.2 The traditional romance 1551.3 Contemporary romance appropriate sensuality 1561.4 Contemporary romance high sensuality 1561.5 Erotic romance red-hot sex! 1571.6 Other worlds, other times 1571.7 The romantic suspense 1571.8 Your novel 1582. Well-Motivated Lovers 1582.1 Why make love? 1592.2 Choosing physical intimacy 159x Writing romance2.3 Swept away by passion 1623. Furthering the Story Objective 1644. Your Characters' Feelings 1655. Once Again, Darling 1666. Romance and Safe Sex 16716 SUSPENSE AND STORY QUESTIONS 1681. Rules of Suspense 1691.1 Don't answer the overriding story question untilthe end 1691.2 Don't answer an individual story question beforecreating a new one 1691.3 Let new questions continue to emerge 1712. The Beginning: An Opening Hook 1713. The Middle: Problems and Conflict, Resolution Hidden 1744. The Black Moment: When All Seems Lost 1765. The Resolution: Something Sacrificed to Gain aHappy Ending 17617 PACING AND TIME 1791. Whose Time? 1802. The Pacing Formula 1803. Scenes and Sequels 1814. The Ebb and Flow of Pacing 1834.1 Speeding the pace 1834.2 Slowing the pace 1845. Pacing Is about Feelings 1846. The Pacing Rule 18618 VIEWPOINT AND EMOTIONAL INTENSITY 1881. Whose Eyes? 1881.1 First person viewpoint 1881.2 Third person viewpoint 1891.3 Omnipotent viewpoint 1891.4 Author intrusion 1891.5 Mixed viewpoints 190Contents xi2. Guidelines for Viewpoint 1902.1 Limit your viewpoint characters and shifts 1902.2 Limit your writing to what your viewpointcharacter can sense 1902.3 Avoid head-hopping 1912.4 Give clear signals when you change point of view 1912.5 Be careful of mirrors and physical inventories 1922.6 Through other eyes 1932.7 Don't get between your character and the reader 1943. When to Change Viewpoint Characters 1953.1 Choose the viewpoint character who has mostat stake 1953.2 Change viewpoint when necessary to explainmotivation 1953.3 Skip nonessential scenes 1974. Viewpoint and the Writer's Camera 1985. Viewpoint and Pacing 1996. Emotional Intensity 20019 TELLING, SHOWING, AND TRANSITIONS 2031. Telling versus Showing 2032. How to Show 2053. A Place for Telling 2064. Getting from Here to There 2074.1 The break transition 2084.2 The word picture transition 2094.3 The concept transition 2094.4 The narrative bridge 2104.5 The appropriate transition 21120 A STRATEGY FOR REVISION 2121. Plot and Sequence 2122. Motivation 2133. Setting 2144. Character Voice 2145. Suspense 214xii Writing romance6. Pacing Revisions 2157. Point of View 2168. Grammar and Style 2169. A Critic for Your Completed Manuscript 21810. Finding a Mentor 219PART 5: THE MANY FACES OF ROMANCE 22121 ROMANCE SUBGENRES 2231. Contemporary 2242. Traditional 2253. Erotic 2254. Ethnic 2265. Historical 2266. Inspirational 2287. Intrigue and Suspense 2298. Paranormal 2299. Time Travel, Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Futuristic 23010. Issue Books, Victims, and Survivors 23111. Chick Lit 23112. Women's Fiction 23213. Mixing It Up 23322 WRITING HISTORICAL ROMANCE ANDROMANTIC SAGAS 235Jo Beverley on Writing Historical Romance 235Tessa McDermid on Harlequin's Everlasting Love 23923 WRITING INSPIRATIONAL ROMANCE AND ABOUTCONTROVERSIAL ISSUES 241Terry Zahniser McDermid on WritingInspirational Romance 241Mary Jo Putney on Writing about Controversial Issues 24524 WRITING ROMANTIC SUSPENSE ANDPARANORMAL ROMANCE 246E. C. Sheedy on Writing Romantic Suspense 246Gail Crease on Writing Paranormal Romance 251Contents xiii25 WRITING EROTIC ROMANCE 253Bonnie Edwards on Writing Erotic Romance 253Kathleen Lawless on Turning Up the Heat 255PART 6: SELLING YOUR ROMANCE NOVEL 25726 PREPARING FOR THE MARKETPLACE 2591. Choosing Your Market 2591.1 Series romances 2601.2 Single-title romances 2602. The Marketplace 26327 GOING TO MARKET 2651. Do You Need a Literary Agent? 2652. Selling Your Novel Directly to a Publisher 2672.1 Invitation to submit 2672.2 Query letters 2682.3 The book synopsis 2683. Submission and Response 2794. About Money 280APPENDIX: YESTERDAY'S VOWS BOOK NOTES 283SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 295INDEX 303SAMPLES1 Hero's Personality and Development 262 Hero's Relationships and Roles 283 Heroine's Personality and Development 294 Heroine's Relationships and Roles 325 Manuscript Format 2646 Query Letter to a Publisher 2697 Query Letter to a Literary Agent 2708 A Synopsis by Gail Crease 2719 A Synopsis by Judy Griffith Gill 274xiv Writing romance
