Writing Romance

Tips for writing Romance stories.

Romance is a fun genre to write, but it can sometimes be a little tricky.  While it sometimes seems like an easy genre to write, it's really not.

Kissing:
Don't just say the kiss was nice. How was the kiss nice? Why was the kiss nice? What did it feel like? When you're writing a kiss scene, make the words connect to the reader. Give them such a vivid scene that they can almost feel the kiss themselves.

It's easy to say he kissed her, but it's harder to describe how he kissed her. Was it gentle? Was it sweet? Was it rough? Hook us in to the scene. Make us feel what they're feeling. Let us know how they're feeling about the kiss. What does the kiss mean to them? Is it their first kiss? Is it the best kiss they've ever had? Let us know. It'll make the scene more interesting if the kiss is described.


Relationships:

part 1) Rome was not built in a day. Nor are relationships. In a story, try to give relationships time to develop. If you're writing a love story starting from before they met, then give them time to meet and fall for each other. Love at first sight is very difficult to do and is nearly impossible to write well.

Try to avoid skipping too much time. Skipping time is fine, but tell us what happened in that time. What did they learn about each other? Why are they starting to care for each other? What do they think of each other?

Slow and steady wins the race. A relationship that occurs slowly, but that is built up well will succeed in a story. Rushing can destroy a story. I've read a few that were brought done by the rush.

part 2) If you're starting a story from the middle of a relationship, give us some history. It's good to say what's currently going on, but it's also good to tell us where the relationship stemmed from. Give us a little relationship history. Why did they fall for each other? What is it about the other person that they really love? How did they meet? Was it awkward? Was it sweet? Was it unique? Was it romantic?

Make the relationship meaningful. Tell us if they've had their ups and downs. Make what they've accomplished in their relationship special.

Once again, descriptions are key. How do they feel when they're with the person? How does that person affect their life? Does the person take their breath away? Describe in detail the feeling that're behind this relationship.


Love:

Try to make 'I love you' mean something. If they've known each other a week, 'I love you' means nothing. This goes along with the rushing. After having the characters in a relationship for a while, those three words can be used well. But characters in a very new relationship shouldn't be tossing around those words. It makes the romance seem unrealistic and rushed. Take your time and use the words sparingly and you won't have to worry about a messy story.


Overview:

Overall, take your time and describe away. Romance can be very difficult to write well, but it's not impossible. I've read countless romance stories- good and bad- and I know that the good ones are the ones that don't rush. Emotions are laced throughout the story and they take their time to describe.

Don't let dialogue overpower your story. If you mix dialogue and description, you're bound to have a great story on your hands.