What is the difference between a love story and all others? In a romantic novel, the plot is based on the passion of the main characters for each other. Cut it off, and there’s nothing left of the book. The purpose of the love story is to create a wonderful illusion among readers: they love and are loved. How to write to reach such an effect? This is what we will try to explain.
What You Need to Know Before You Start
A few years ago, the organization American Romance Writers of America conducted an interesting study. It turned out that love stories make up about a third of all art books. In 2005, 64.6 million Americans read at least one women’s novel. Fans of this genre are people from 15 to 75 years old, and half of them are in the age group from 25 to 54 years old. Surprisingly, it is a fact: men make up 22% of readers of ladies’ novels. Many of them subscribe to receive books by mail but arrange everything under the name of their wives – so as not to disgrace.
Romance novels, as a rule, are published in series with a general design. Some publishers make up the entire series so that each book has the same number of pages, this reduces the cost of printing, packaging, and delivery as the novel-writing process is not overall hard. Books with some unifying features are selected: it can be mysticism, eroticism, office romance, detective story, European women dating, etc. But love remains the main storyline.
Preparation for writing. If you have found yourself thinking, “I want to write a novel” – the first step towards your future book has been already made! Now you can proceed to the next tips concerning how to write a novel about love.
Read more books in this genre. In case of loss of strength and interest, read other people’s books. This will give you inspiration, and you will read other people’s books not as a reader but as a writer. You immediately see where the author is stretching the book, you feel when they are tired. Admire other people’s maneuvers, write down beautiful phrases. Constantly learning something is one of the steps to writing a novel that will captivate and win public love.
Choose from which person the narration will go. Many begin writing a novel in the first person. There is a problem with switching to other heroes. There are several unobvious points:
* You can write in the first person, then suddenly switch and write in the third person. The reader will understand and accept this.
* You can write in a third person and switch to the first person.
* You can always write in a third person.
* You can write in the first person immediately on behalf of all the main characters. But one must have enormous experience to do this skillfully.
Develop setting. The first chapters are an exposition: the world is outlined, and figures are placed on a chessboard. How to write a good novel? It is desirable to show all the main characters in the beginning, including the main heroes and characters. And even the main villain. The reader should not be surprised at where they came from but how cleverly you disguised your enemies as friends and vice versa, how inconspicuous and unpredictable the main villain was.
Approve the plot. To learn to write a novel, you should make various attempts and have a person whose opinion you trust. Better if they correspond to your target audience, for example, if you write for teenagers, you can ask your younger brother or a cousin to approve your plot. Check whether the books are read seamlessly and easily.
Determine the number of characters. No more then a few main characters are recommended, for example, 1 or 3. Among them, there still will be a leader that the readers will associate themselves with. If we talk about a romantic novel, there should be two main lovers and someone on the side in case of a love triangle.
How to Force Yourself to Write?
Getting straight to writing is like climbing a slope of a glacier. Feet glide, fingers redden, freeze, blood oozing from wounds. Then, from the depths of the subconscious, all your nervous disorders are declared guests and sit around the table. And you just sit wondering, “How do I write a novel?”
A famous writer, Anne Lamott, gives the next advice, “I breathe slowly and deeply – and finally I notice a five by eight-centimeter photo frame, which I specially set myself on the table to remember about small doses. The frame reminds me: you need to write a piece. Small as a frame of five by eight. That’s all for today. Right now, for example, I’ll write only one paragraph about the place and time of action.”
Tell yourself softly and affectionately, “Today I will write about a river at sunset or about the first date. That’s all.”
How to Write a Romantic Novel: Main Steps
Learning how to write a novel can take years or even your whole life, but you should start sooner or later if you want to become skillful. These simple pieces of advice will be your light at the end of the tunnel you should use to arrange the writing process.
1. Alias
Feel free to launch a new brand – there are so many of them that no one will suspect anything. But remember: the pseudonym should be dizzy, like a queen’s smile.
2. Information about the author
If you have come up with a name, that is not enough. Information about the author can be submitted in two versions: sincere and official. Check whether the name in the author’s information matches the name on the cover. One of the steps to writing a novel for a beginner is to add a few words about yourself as you would like to be presented to readers.
3. Name
In the case with romantic novels, it can consist of a noun and definition:
Angel: silver, personal, rebellious, lost, vicious, fallen, for Emily.
In the arms of sunset, forever yours, prince, Viking, pirate.
Star: midnight, wild, jade.
4. Main character
The name of the heroine should hint at her divine (royal, alien) origin. Optimal names: Angelica, Angelina, Angelica, Angela, Angela, Angel. What to write a novel about? Of course, about her love for a brave, beautiful and one of a kind.
5. Appearance
Mandatory attributes of the heroine: a storm of shiny luxurious hair, matte smoothness of the skin, perfect oval of the face, silky hips. The appearance of the hero: think about the film adaptation. Best of all, “A thin, oblong face that looks great in front of the camera from any angle.”
6. The plot
In learning how to write a novel step by step, this is, probably, the easiest one. There are two sets of roles: a) Cinderella – Prince; b) The Monster – Princess. In the course of the action, Cinderella becomes a princess, then again Cinderella – back and forth, back and forth, many times. The monster turns into a prince only once – when he falls in love with a heroine.
8. Style
The narration style consists of adjectives, nouns, and verbs. Adjectives: mysterious, strong, long-awaited, unique, tart, hot, scorching, frantic, sweet, sinful. Nouns: flower, fragrance, innocence, prince, kiss, passion, ecstasy, hurricane; hair, lips, hips, bosom, smoothness, flesh, chest. Verbs: run away, find, meet, snuggle, hug, melt, thirst, bite, go in. Naturalism is forbidden, euphemism is welcome.
As you can see, writing a romantic novel is pretty easy. To properly understand the style and form of narration, you can, once again, read more books of the genre, and you are promised a success!