Vanessa Grant - Writing Romance in the 21st Century: Plotting and Planning

Copyright 2019, Vanessa Grant

Cover art design by Angela Oltmann

Published by Muse Creations Inc.

This book contains some revised content

previously published under the title Writing Romance

in 1997, 2001, and 2007 by Self Counsel Press.

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This book is dedicated to all those wonderful readers and storytellers who contributed their wisdom, feedback, and experience to this book

...and to Brian, my friend, lover, partner, and co-adventurer for over 40 years With love, always.

Praise for Previous Editions ...

Essential for all aspiring romance writers.

Jo Beverley, NYT Bestselling Author

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It is by far the best writing book Ive ever read. Five stars for Vanessa.

The Writers Markets Report, National Writers Monthly

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Writing Romance is a kind of how-to-do-it-yourself romance writers workshop under one cover, and will reward the serious reader by [offering] helpful, practical advice so necessary to successfully break into print in the romance field. Highly recommended!

Midlist Book Review

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Writing Romance is a thoroughly professional guide to a business that generates close to $1 billion a year.

Canadian Book Review Annual

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Authors Note

The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace. Mahatma Gandhi

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T HE 21 st Century is an exciting time for authors. There are more books being published than ever before. The romance genre has expanded, and a variety of strong, romantic sub-genres have appeared, including young adult, sweet traditional, contemporary, sexy, erotic, urban fantasy, futuristic, and LGBTQ+. Storytellers and writers are writing about a broader, more diverse world.

Despite these changes, the heart of romance remains unchanged. 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 two people struggle to overcome the obstacles to their romantic love. The need to love and be loved is embedded deep in our DNA and our brains. We are stronger together when we love and are loved, forging bonds for a lifetime. Because love matters, we dream about love, fantasize about love, and tell stories about love.

Whatever sub-genre of romance you want to write, and whether romance is the primary focus of your story, or a sub-plot for your mystery, science fiction, fantasy, historical or futuristic novel, the 21st century is calling for you to write about love realistically.

Read romances. Ask yourself what makes each one exciting, romantic, or fulfilling. Watch how people behave when they are in love. Look for the problems that make happy-ever-after difficult for lovers and explore how these problems can be overcome. Read this book, then start planning, plotting, and writing your own romanceand dont forget to have fun while youre doing it!

Vanessa Grant

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1: A Successful Romance Novel

We live our lives within a single viewpoint. We never get out of it never really live in another persons head and heart. So if we are to make our fiction as lifelike as possible, shouldnt we present the story from a single viewpoint, too, letting the reader experience the story just as [they experience] real life? Jack M. Bickham, Writing and Selling your Novel

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A SINGLE VIEWPOINT

T HE READER WHO OPENS a romance novel is looking for someone to identify with, someone with whom they can share a journey of love. The fictional characters you create to star in your storys leading role will be the lovers through whose eyes, ears, mind and heart your readers experience the story.

If youre having a challenge deciding which of your lovers to choose as the primary protagonist, I recommend following the advice given by Jack Bickham in his book Writing and Selling Your Novel.

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P ICK THE PERSON ...

• who will be at the center of the action;

• who will have everything at risk;
• whose struggle toward a goal is the fuel driving the story;