Do you want to write a romance novel? Here is the formula.
All romance novels follow the same format. The only differences are the location, the careers of the main characters and the sub plot such as a murder or a mystery.
The Location
Determine where the story takes place. If it is an actual place, make sure the location and the surrounding country are accurately described. If you make up a place provide enough details to make it seem real, such as weather, businesses, driving conditions, homes, people, etc. Use different details if it is a large city rather than a small town. It could be a suburb of a large city, but make it realistic. Give your characters a reason for living in that particular place. It could be their family home or perhaps a haven from some unpleasant experience.
The Characters
There must be a man and a woman who meet in either normal or unusual circumstances. The man is attracted to the woman, but she doesn’t respond to him. Her reason could be a bad past experience, the death of a partner, or some other event that makes her reluctant to enter into a new relationship. This is not revealed early on, but later when she begins to have feelings for the man. In the beginning he perhaps seems to be out of her class, or he is overbearing, maybe seemingly uneducated, abrupt, and bossy. Think of a movie star who fits the category and describe him in great detail, hair, eyes, lips, physique, posture, and clothing. The woman must be attractive, if not stunningly beautiful, sympathetic, independent and strong. She has been alone for some time, possibly tragically.
The woman cannot avoid meeting the man wherever she goes.
She begins to find out more about him and her opinion of him starts to change.
The woman may even encounter some form of danger and the man comes to her rescue.
She is grateful and they end up in bed. Graphic sex scene(s) is/are compulsory. However she doesn’t think she should have done that and regrets her action.
Your function is to create all the characters, give each of them a background, appearance, personality, family, and hopes and dreams.
The Sub Plot
There is a murder or mystery affecting the woman. The man wants to help her, but she doesn’t want him in the picture. The man has had an experience in his past that he would rather not reveal, but prevents him from developing feelings for the woman other than sexual. At this point there is a lot of derogatory dialog. Dialog must be crisp, crackling, clever, snappy, trading insults.
The murder/mystery gets more complicated. Introduce clues, more information, sometimes misleading. Other characters are introduced along the way. They may or may not be connected to the murder/mystery.
Suggestions: Friends, neighbors, policeman, city official, business people, etc.
You must invent the murder/mystery and solve it believably. Think in real terms using likely conclusions for the murder or mystery. Make sure you keep the locale in mind. Conditions such as weather, environment, and political conditions should be considered. If your plot involves the police, do not have them do something that is not normal for that occupation.
As the story continues the murder/mystery moves along until there is a solution.
The relationship between the man and woman changes and she discovers that the man is worthy and she really loves him. They live happily ever after.
In order to be a successful romance book it must contain all of the above plot lines in great detail. If you are going to write a book it must be long enough for the reader to want to spend time with it. An average romance novel runs about 400 book pages.
Get a good paperback romance novel and dissect it for clues as to how to direct your efforts. As a serious author, you might want to create a pen name. Using 3 names, such as Margaret Marchand Major, is a good idea. You want to sound professional, serious and classy.
