Beyond the Beats: How to write a romance novel readers can’t resist
Happy Friday!
It’s been quite a while since I popped in with a blog post, but I’m back today with some hugely exciting news!
It’s the release day of my nonfiction book Beyond the Beats: How to write a romance readers can’t resist. This book is packed full of information especially for romance authors, including how to get the most impact out of storytelling macro storytelling elements such as character, plot and conflict, as well as closer-level techniques such as description, dialogue and pacing. To celebrate its release, I’m giving you all a sneak peek at the introduction. Enjoy!
Order your copy of Beyond the Beats today!
Do we really need another book for romance writers?
I know there are a million and one resources out there for plotting romance novels. You know as well as I do that not all of these resources are gold. Some are better than others. I have searched high and low for quality resources to recommend to my editing clients—but I’ve found that most of these books fell into one of three categories:
Only skimming the surface of structure and storytelling techniques, leaving my clients with a very vague idea of how to create a compelling story.
So dense that my clients would never have the time to devote to fully understanding the concepts.
Or so technical that even if my clients did take the time to pick them up, they wouldn’t get the full benefit because the content is geared toward an audience that already has a deep understanding of story structure and writing craft.
And so it became my goal to create a book that would thoroughly, but concisely, walk romance writers through the story elements that will take their book from a good book to the book that readers can’t put down.
I want you to write the book that readers finish, then immediately start flipping back through. The book they recommend to all of their friends. The book that they are willing to pull back to the top of their never-ending To Be Read pile, even though they’ve already read it three times. This is the success I want every one of my clients to achieve, and it’s what I want for you too.
I have endeavored to provide this in such a way that it can be put to practical use for authors who do not have months or years to devote to learning the ins and outs of story craft before embarking on their writing journey. This book is not meant to be a shortcut, but it is meant to provide a method of evaluation and guidance for writers looking to improve their storytelling skills while taking into account the marketability and quality of their work.
I don’t want you to come away with a list of rules that you must follow in order to attain success as a romance novelist, but I want you to understand the trends and conventions that make a best-selling author and allow you to fulfill the expectations of romance readers. You don’t need to “write to market” in order to find success in the romance genre (that’s a book for another day), but if your desire is to reach readers, and therefore make money through your writing, then you need to understand how to appeal to readers. Understanding reader expectations and genre conventions will be critical to finding success, even if you choose to bend or break some of those so-called rules. You can subvert expectations in a way that makes your story feel fresh and compelling without completely ignoring the basic premise your reader expects when picking up your romance book.
Here are some of the topics we’re going to explore:
• Guiding principles of the romance genre
• Basic structure and storytelling elements of romance, including character, conflict, and of course, romance
• Content expectations
• Ways to enhance and improve your storytelling using writing elements such as dialogue, pacing, description, and POV