You Can Write a Romance in 5 Simple Steps

by Suzanne Lieurance, the Working Writer's Coach


Romance writing is a billion-dollar-a-year industry with hungry readers gobbling up as many as forty new romance novels every month. So why not try your hand at this fun and fascinating genre?

Just follow these 5 simple steps:

1. Become inspired.

Read, read, read romance, so you understand the many subgenres of this distinct genre. You’ll also gain inspiration from the stories you read that will help you develop characters, settings, and story lines for your own romances.

2. Research.

Each romance subgenre has distinct guidelines, so researching these genres will help you write more marketable romances within the subgenre(s) you wish to write.

3. Get organized.

Part of the fun of writing romance is collecting and organizing materials that will help you write your stories. Use a loose leaf binder to create a project notebook for each of your romance novels. This notebook can be used to keep track of any pictures you tear out of magazines (for inspiration for your setting or characters), notecards with research information, the outline for your story – just anything that pertains to the novel you’re working on.

4. Write.

Create a regular writing schedule so you get your manuscript started and finished within a reasonable amount of time. You probably won’t be able to write for hours every day. But that’s okay. The main thing is to write on a regular basis, even if it’s just for 30 minutes to an hour a few times a week.

5. Publish.

Once you’ve completed your romance novel, you’ll want to see it published. There are several different roads to publication. You can self-publish your story. You can find an agent who will sell your story to a publisher for you – or you can find a publisher yourself.

For more details about each of these 5 steps, read my book, Write a Romance in 5 Simple Steps from Enslow Publishers.

Suzanne Lieurance is an author, freelance writer, certified professional life coach and writing coach, speaker and workshop presenter. She has written over two dozen published books and hundreds of articles for newspapers, magazines, and other publications. Let her help you launch your career as a romance author - at the beach. Find out more at www.beachbookblowoutflorida.com.