My authors often tell me how much fun writing romance is (editing it is certainly a joy!). After all, who wouldn’t want to make a living escaping into their own carefully crafted happily-ever-afters? But it’s not without its challenges. Some of our fantastic Harlequin authors have written upwards of 150 romances, and they would be the first to say they face plenty of obstacles, even this far into their careers. But while each book will challenge you in new and exciting ways, there are some obstacles we often see new romance writers facing. To help you tackle them, we’ve put together a list of the five most common and our top tips for overcoming them.
1. Finding the perfect pace
Getting the pacing ‘just right’ is one of the most common obstacles writers face, especially when it comes to romance. If the pace is too quick, then parts of the book will feel rushed and unsatisfying. But, equally, if the pace is too slow, then you risk losing your reader’s attention and reducing the impact of the story. It’s a delicate balance, so it’s important to carefully consider the placement of the key scenes in your story. If all the major developments occur at the start and end, for instance, then you risk the pacing dropping in the middle section of the story. You want to ensure readers are compelled from start to finish! That’s not to say, however, that the pacing needs to be maintained at the same level throughout. Using pacing effectively often means fluctuating the narrative speed depending on the scene or stage of the story you’re writing. For example, you might want to begin with a fast-paced opening to grab readers’ attention, and then allow the pacing to slow after a key development has occurred to let readers sit in the moment.
The speed of the central relationship development is another key pacing consideration, particularly in the romance genre. You want the romance to feel organic and convincing – and, in most cases, instalove will not! What this looks like will depend hugely on the story and characters you’re writing about. For example, if they have a shared past you may be able to bring them convincingly together earlier in the story than if they’re strangers at the outset. It’s just important to consider the trajectory of the romance and what pace you want for your couple, ensuring the tension is sustained throughout the story. When will the attraction be sparked between them? When will deeper feelings begin to develop? When will you introduce the first moment of intimacy? When will moments of conflict occur? How will you take readers on a rollercoaster of highs and lows with your couple?
Top Tips:
- One of the best ways to get ahead of pacing problems is to plot out the story before you start writing. How many chapters do you foresee? Where will you place the key moments and scenes? You of course don’t need to stick regimentally to the plan, but this will give you a visual overview of the story and allow you to pinpoint where the pacing may slow or feel rushed, so you can get ahead of those potential issues.
- Keep an eye out for filler scenes! If it’s not adding meaningfully to the story or actively driving the plot forwards, then consider if the scene is really needed.
- Dialogue dialogue! Too much text without dialogue layered in can slow the pacing and become dull to read. Watch out for getting caught up in your characters’ internal POVs at the expense of letting us see them interacting with the world around them.
2. Untangling an overcomplicated plot
Naturally, you want to make your story interesting and unique. Sometimes, though, you might find yourself falling into the trap of overcomplicating the plot. Remember, you don’t need to throw the kitchen sink at it! An overcomplicated plot can risk confusing readers, reduce the impact and intensity of your central story, lead to plot threads not being explored satisfyingly, and will ultimately overwhelm the romance.
One of the most common ways a plot can become overcomplicated is with regards to the protagonists’ backgrounds and emotional conflicts. A strong conflict doesn’t necessarily mean that your character has faced lots of tragedies or hardships. It’s about how effectively you use the experiences they have had. You want to introduce conflicts that have clearly shaped their view of love and relationships, and will create impactful conflict between them and their love interest in the front story. What you don’t want is too many barriers that your character will have to overcome before they’re ready to claim their HEA. If there are loads of threads to their conflict, then you won’t be able to explore them all in enough depth to create the emotional intensity you’re after.
Top Tips:
- Mapping out your characters’ key emotional conflicts and what journey you want them to go on throughout the story will really help! This will make it clear whether the conflicts need further development, to ensure there’s enough tension and resistance in the story, or whether you’ve introduced too much into their backstories.
- Consider the number of secondary characters you’ve included. If you introduce too many minor characters, then you might find the plot becomes more difficult for readers to follow, and you may risk distracting them from the all-important central romance.
- Is too much happening? Having your characters jump from one active, dramatic scene to the next can mean there’s a lot for your readers to follow and absorb, and the central romance can get lost as a result. Whatever is happening around your couple – whether that’s high stakes medical drama, Viking battles, or a hunt for a killer – the romance should be the focus of the story. Remember to leave yourself enough space to organically develop the connection between your protagonists!
3. Keeping it consistent
Another common obstacle you might face in your writing is ensuring consistency in the portrayal of your characters, the timelines, and minor story details. All of these elements will factor into the believability of your story! Inconsistency, however, will draw readers out of the story and force them to focus on the physical words on the page, instead of being swept up in the escapist world you’ve built. For example, imagine you were reading Pride and Prejudice and Lord Darcy’s name was suddenly spelt Lord Dracy. Or you were immersed in Romeo and Juliet, and the brooding, dramatic, impulsive Romeo suddenly became pragmatic and sensible, deciding he’s too young to understand true love? These inconsistencies are jarring because they’re so at odds with the world the writers have created – they don’t make sense in context.
Top Tips:
- Create character profiles! Jot down the key information about your protagonists – their appearances, personality traits, backstories, quirks etc. Anything that makes them who they are! Whether you plan this in detail before you start writing, or record these details as they form on-page, keeping a record can be an immensely helpful resource to support the consistent portrayal of your characters. This of course doesn’t mean that your characters can’t change and grow throughout the story – they absolutely can! But they should also retain some inherent traits that make them distinct, otherwise your characters might start blurring together.
- No matter how much you love a piece of dialogue or a particular scene, if it doesn’t feel like something your character would realistically do or say, then don’t include it!
- Map out a rough timeline before you start writing, to keep you on track. Or, if that feels too restrictive, when you’re reviewing your manuscript it can be helpful to highlight the time references, so you can go back through the story and ensure they all align.
- Internal consistency is key! When writing fiction, you’re free to supersede the laws of the universe and create your own world where anything goes. However, it’s crucial that your story stays consistent to whatever rules you create for your fictional universe. For example, if you’re writing a story about witches, but your witches can’t fly, then you need to stick to that (unless the fact that one character can fly is going to be a storyline in its own right!).
- Consistent labels – make sure your character names, place names, and any terminology specific to your story is consistent throughout. Again, making a list of the key details can be a helpful reference point if you’re struggling with this (can you tell I like lists?).
- Lastly, if your story is based in the ‘real world’, rather than a fictional universe, then you also want to ensure a certain degree of factual accuracy is maintained so that your story is consistent with the world you’re writing about. If you’re writing a Regency romance, for instance, then you’ll want to ensure the historical details are as accurate to that era as possible, to fully immerse your readers in the time period. Of course, some level of creative license is expected, but doing your research will make sure the story feels authentic and believable.
4. The telling trap…
Whilst it’s important for us to understand the protagonists’ backgrounds, large amounts of exposition can slow down the pace of your story. It can be tricky to strike the right balance between providing enough context so readers can empathize with your characters, without summarizing their backstories upfront in a way that feels unnatural. If you reveal everything early on, then you’re also leaving the reader with nothing to discover as the story progresses!
You don’t always need to spell it out for readers. Let them do some of the work and infer a lot of the information they need to know about your characters from their behavior, reactions, and interactions with the world around them. Consider ways you can layer the context into the action, showing readers who your characters are without having to tell them directly. This will keep your readers in the moment as much as possible! For example, instead of telling readers that a character is distrustful of commanding, alpha-type men, perhaps you can demonstrate that through their standoffishness and suspicion towards such a character on the page?
Top Tips:
- Consider whether the piece of backstory you’re explaining to readers is crucial to the current scene you’re writing. Would your character really be thinking about it in that moment? And if so, how would they be thinking about it realistically? It’s very rare that people summarize their pasts in their heads, so it can feel unnatural if your character does so. It also tends to be a little dull to read! If it’s not essential information, nor would it be a natural time for your character to reflect on it, then there might be another opportunity to introduce this information more effectively.
- Avoid reporting key scenes second-hand – you’ll be cheating your readers out of experiencing that moment unfolding! Let readers see these developments playing out on-page, rather than learning about them after the fact.
- Another common pitfall is micro-level telling, which most often occurs when writers are describing their characters’ appearances and personality traits. Rather than telling readers that “they have dark brown hair, blue eyes, and a tall athletic frame”, try to show them this information by layering the descriptions into their actions. For example, do they “lift a heavy box effortlessly”, or “easily reach a shelf high up on the wall”, or “run their fingers through their chocolatey brown hair”?
5. Creating internally motivated conflicts
Lastly, a common obstacle that’s more specific to Harlequin submissions is not relying on external conflicts to drive the tension. One of the hallmarks of a Harlequin romance is the emotional intensity, so we want to see the romantic conflict being driven primarily by your characters’ internal, emotional barriers. External influence can absolutely play a part, can be used to ignite your characters internal conflicts, but they shouldn’t be the main source of the tension. Rather than scheming exes, disapproving families, and long distance tearing your couples apart, think about what unique experiences your characters have had that might cause them to resist their developing feelings for the other protagonist in your story. How will they help one another overcome their emotional conflicts and fears, so that they’re ready to claim their HEA by the end? Have they been hurt before? Do they have a fear of abandonment or rejection? Have they faced too much loss already to risk more? Do they think they don’t deserve love for some reason? There are endless ways you could build your characters internal conflicts – so get creative!
Top Tips:
- To help you build strong internal conflicts that develop throughout the story, plan out the emotional arc for both of your protagonists. It can be useful to map out their whole lives – what is it that shaped each of them into the person they are now? What emotional obstacles will they have to overcome to be together? This will help you to write emotionally-driven turning points in the story that develop the romance.
- The reader needs to see what motivates the characters to act the way they do, so always ask yourself why. With this focus, your story will automatically have more emotional depth, and it will help you avoid inconsistencies in your characters’ personalities and actions.
- Avoid misunderstandings and miscommunication being the core of the conflict – they can play a part, where appropriate, but shouldn’t be the basis of the tension between your protagonists. If the conflict could have been avoided by a simple conversation, then you lose a lot of the emotional impact you’re looking to build.
We hope our top tips arm you with the tools you need to deal with some of these obstacles as they arise. Just remember, none of these challenges are insurmountable, and tackling them is part of what makes writing – and reading! – romance so fulfilling.
Follow the full roadmap:
#1: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting Your Romance Novel
#3: 5 Types of Harlequin Romance Novels
