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 romantic love. Because people care about love, they want to read about it, and write about it.

I read the chaste romances of the 1950s as a lonely child, fantasizing 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 twelve, I started writing my first love story. It foundered on page fifty, 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.

I wrote three unpublished novels while living on a lighthouse when my children were babies. After leaving the lighthouse, I wrote articles for local newspapers and regional magazines, then commentaries for CBC radio. Because that didn’t pay well, I became an accountant and a college instructor, but still fantasized myself a novelist.

Finally, writing nights in 1983 while teaching business at a community 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 characterization to pacing, from goal setting to conflict, rewarded by the enthusiasm 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’ve tried to answer the questions developing writers have asked me over the last six years. What makes a successful love story? What does a successful romance need? Are there any no-no’s? How and when should you write about sensuality? When can you break the rules? Is it OK to write about controversial issues? Where do ideas come from?

I’ve discussed how you can use your own fears and dreams as story resources. I’ve looked at the process of getting from idea to finished novel, and at characters, motivation, conflict, tension, and plot. I’ve talked 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, Kate Frieman, Judy Griffith Gill, Grace Green, Naomi Horton, and Kathi Webb contributed items which appear in the illustrations. 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, Managing Editor at Self Counsel Press, contributed enthusiasm and perceptive suggestions, the best gifts an editor can give a writer. Most of all, my husband Brian contributed twenty years of love, support, and belief in my dreams.

Because over 95% of romance readers are women and the romance genre is primarily women’s literature, I’ve often used the female pronoun in this book to refer to readers of romance. It’s important for romance writers to realize they are writing primarily for women. For romantic fantasy to be successful in a novel, it must empower its women readers by affirming values of love and relationship.

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 romances, or because you believe in love? Above all, published romance writers believe in the power of romantic love.

Read lots of romances. Ask yourself what makes each one exciting, 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.

To Order

Trade orders call 1-800-663-3007.

Outside North America, call 604-986-3366

Excerpt from Writing Romance by Vanessa Grant, 1^st edition © 1997 Vanessa Grant.
(Cover Art © 1997 Self Counsel Press.) ISBN 1-55180-096-9.
Reproduced by permission of Vanessa Grant and Self Counsel Press.