Rhoda Baxter - How to Write Romantic Comedy: A concise and fun to read guide to writing funny romance

Writing Romantic Comedy

by Jane Lovering and Rhoda Baxter

Chapter 1: Whats so funny about love?

L aughter is a great thing it lifts your mood, burns calories, helps reduce pain [1] and reduces your blood pressure in the long run. And everyone loves a good love story. So if you can combine the two, youve got to be onto a winner... right?

Romantic comedy (or rom com) is a hugely popular genre. At its very basic level, its a romance, with funny bits. Its easier if you think about films rather than books because the mish mash of marketing terms that have been used for romance novels with comedy in have muddied the waters somewhat. You have a girl or a boy (or a non-binary person) meets a boy or a girl (or a non-binary person), they are usually in some sort of conflict, they flirt a bit, they realise theyre falling in love, they may even get together, then things go horribly wrong, they overcome whatever it was that was holding them back and finally, finally , they get a happy ending.

For it to be a romance, you must have a happy ending. It doesnt have to be Happy Ever After, Happy For Now will do. If you dont have a happy ending, my friend, you have not written a romance.

For it to be a comedy, it has to be funny. Thats where this book comes in.

Different types of romantic comedy

Were going to call it rom com from now on, because, frankly, who has the time for antic and omedy. They dont even rhyme. Well leave them here to amuse themselves for a while.

Where were we... oh yes. Here are few examples of rom coms. This list is here to give you an idea of the breadth of the genre.

TL;DR - If its got romance and comedy in it... you can probably call it a rom com.

Bridget Jones Diary by Helen Fielding- the book that sparked the flame of chicklit. Its an epistolary retelling of Pride and Prejudice, written in the form of a diary. It hit the zeitgeist of the early 90s and millions of young women identified with the main character.

The Secret Dream World of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella - the successor to Bridget Jones. A story about a compulsive shopper who somehow ends up writing a financial advice column. This is the book that embodied the ditsy, accident prone, designer shoe obsessed heroine that became synonymous with Chicklit. Unusually for a chicklit heroine, Becky Bloomberg (the Shopaholic) went on to star in a whole series of books.

Living Dangerously - the first book by Katie Fforde, who went on to be one of the best known romance writers in the UK. Katies books have lovely Cotswold settings and have a very comforting air about them, even when they tackle serious subjects. These are probably veering closer to light (as in not dark) womens fiction

Afternoon Tea at the Sunflower Cafe by Milly Johnson - This is Rhodas favourite by this author - who is another star of the UK rom com charts. Her books are regional romantic comedies. The books are heartwarming and funny and excellent reads wherever youre from, but if you know the region (Yorkshire) they are even funnier because you recognise the quirks that people have.

I dont Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson - a very popular book book about a woman juggling marriage, career and motherhood. The first book to become popular which had a heroine who was older (in her thirties - gasp!). It is also more about keeping love alive than falling in love itself, so its technically not a rom com, but gets classed as one anyway. It hit the zeitgeist in the late 90s/early 2000s and millions of young mums identified with it (possibly the same ones who identified with Bridget Jones when they were younger...).

To All The Boys Ive Loved Before by Jenny Han - trope driven YA rom com. Notable in that it is a book about a half Korean heroine, written by a Korean author. Its so much fun. Also notable because it got turned into a film by Netflix and everyone was talking about it for a while.

Shaun of the Dead - okay, not a book. Its a film. Its mentioned here because its a zom rom com and you dont get many of those.

Rachels Holiday by Marian Keyes - this is one of those books that modern rom com authors cite as the book that made me want to write. Its about addiction and is dark and deeply moving, but also has jokes in it. This is what Jane and Rhoda both like to write. :-)

Chapter 2: The Comic Premise

L aughter is the way we react to a joke. Its a very old response, wired deep into our animal brains. No matter what language we speak, we all laugh. [2] Its a social signal to say Im all right, its a way to show we belong to part of a group, its an exercise in power, its all of these things and more.

Laughing is a social activity. We laugh more, louder when were with other people. Sometimes, if someones giggle is contagious enough, we will all laugh when theres no joke at all. But reading is a solitary activity. As writers, we cant really replicate the social side of things, but we can use humour to produce laughter. If were really lucky, we get readers complaining that they laughed out loud on the bus and got funny looks.

One popular theory is that laughter is a modified fear response. When we perceive a threat, our body responds, putting us into a heightened state of tension. If that threat is suddenly removed, the drop in tension released a burst of endorphins, and we laugh.

When we tell a joke, we are trying to replicate this in the mind of the reader (or listener).

Every joke has at least two components - the set up and the punchline. The set up is where the joker (not The Joker, hes creepy, I mean the person telling a joke; that joker) builds the scenario, leading you towards one conclusion. Tension builds in your mind as you work out whats changed. Tension builds up in your minds and body as you anticipate where the story is going to go and predict ending to the story. You lean in. And then ... BAM! The punchline subverts the expected ending. It switches track and takes the story an entirely different direction. There is a split second where your brain analyses the information youve just had and realises that it still applies to the new situation introduced by the punchline. The difference between what you expect and what you get makes you laugh. Pleasure centres are stimulated and you get that lovely little endorphin hit. A little like youve escaped from danger.