Romance novels are hugely popular with readers, but for some reason the genre isn’t without its critics and naysayers. If you’ve encountered any snobbery about your preferred reading genre or, worse, the romance novel you’re planning to write, we’re here to cheer you on and overturn any lingering snobbishness harbored against this beautifully feel-good genre!
Among our community of writers at The Novelry we find romance is perennially popular. We run a regular Romance and Up Lit writing workshop, and we’ve hosted live writing classes with bestselling authors including Sophie Kinsella, Rosie Walsh, David Nicholls and Beth O’Leary (which are available to watch back in Catch Up TV for our members). Our list of Hero Books—novels that teach storytelling from the inside out—includes romance novels as varied as Beach Read by Emily Henry, Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín, Normal People by Sally Rooney, Loveless by Alice Oseman and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Romance is a broad, heartfelt genre, and we want to celebrate it, not decry it!
In this article, The Novelry editor Nic Caws shares five reasons to fall in love with romance novels. Before joining The Novelry, Nic was Senior Commissioning Editor at Headline, part of Hachette, with a particular focus on their boutique romance imprint Headline Eternal, the publishing home of bestselling authors such as Sarah Adams, Erin Sterling and Mariana Zapata. During her time at Headline, Nic edited a wide range of commercial fiction, including historical fiction, romance and mystery. She was also thrilled to acquire romcoms from Jennifer Hennessy and New York Times bestseller Maisey Yates.
Prior to her role at Headline, Nic spent nine years on the editorial team at renowned romance publisher Harlequin Mills & Boon, where she was proud to work with many fabulous authors, including Michelle Smart, Jackie Ashenden, Kelly Hunter, Ann McIntosh, Marcella Bell and Lydia San Andres.
When it comes to romance novels, Nic knows her happy-for-now endings from her happily-ever-afters! Let’s hear from Nic with five reasons why you should write your romance novel right now.
The publishing editor’s take on romance novels
Have you ever felt deeply drawn to telling a love story, only to worry that it wasn’t ‘important’ or ‘profound’ enough? Have you worried people might laugh if you tell them you’re writing romance, or that they might dismiss your novel as ‘fluff,’ ‘smut’ or even ‘porn’? You’re not alone. Historically, there has undoubtedly been a lot of snobbery around the romance genre, and this has come from both outside and within the traditional publishing industry.
While some of these preconceptions might seem hard to shake, I’m here (as a proud editor of romance) to tell you why there’s never been a better time to be loud and proud about that romance novel you are writing.
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1. Romance is thriving!
It does feel like there’s been a shift in awareness and attitudes toward romance in the last few years. Netflix’s recent adaptations of David Nicholls’s One Day and Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton have been hugely popular, and it’s been hard to miss the way Rebecca Yarros’s romantasy novels Fourth Wing and Iron Flame absolutely rocketed to the top of the bestseller charts.
Some of this might be attributed to the emergence of romance fans on BookTok (a community of readers and influencers on the app TikTok who share reading recommendations—find out more about BookTok for writers in our blog post by Bea Fitzgerald) who are discovering the delights of the genre. Just dip a toe into this world and you’ll see books by romance authors such as Emily Henry, Mariana Zapata, Sarah Adams, Sarah J. Maas and Erin Sterling with millions and millions of views on TikTok. And these views are absolutely translating to sales!
Whereas in the past reading romance might have been seen as a bit of a ‘guilty pleasure,’ it’s nice to see readers in their 20s and 30s who aren’t ashamed to talk about sexuality and love in an open and frank way. And of course these topics are the bread and butter of the romance genre. Round of applause for that, please!
However, this success is not exactly as new as you might think. While there are of course cycles of popularity for every genre, romance has often quietly and steadily balanced out many a publisher’s Profit & Loss statement due to the genre’s extremely commercial and accessible nature. It’s also a genre which has always tended to be popular around the world. Harlequin, for example, publishes romance in over 100 international markets and in 29 different languages. That’s a lot of love for books about love...
2. Love can happen anywhere, anytime
One of the best things about writing romance is the variety of settings, characters and worlds you can choose as a basis for your novel. Elements of romantic storytelling needn’t even be confined only to the romance genre itself; romantic sub-plots are found in pretty much any type of novel out there! But firstly, to quickly summarize, when we’re talking about Romance with a capital R, what do we mean?
An editor commissioning in this genre is likely to be looking for love stories between two (or more) people where the end result is a happy romantic relationship (what we might call the Happily Ever After or Happy For Now). As a genre, Romance also tends to fall under the broader category of commercial fiction. (Although there are exceptions to both of these ‘rules,’ of course.)
But even within this context, there is a huge amount of variety. Take, for instance, the popular examples mentioned above. Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing is a romantasy (romance in a fantasy setting) with dragons, Bridgerton is of course set in a historical Regency time period, and Emily Henry’s romcoms are set in the present day and the real world.
That’s really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the different types of romance novels out there, which means there’s a huge amount of freedom when it comes to deciding what shape your love story might take!
3. You can really get to know your characters
In fact, you’re going to need to, if you’re to write a truly satisfying romance novel!
Consider the feeling of falling in love in real life—the rollercoaster ride of emotion, the doubts, the anxieties, the leap in your heart, the warmth, the addictive feeling of connection. How are you going to bring this to life for your reader, and make them believe in this relationship? And do so without falling into cliché? And how do you make your reader feel like this is a story they really need to hear?
The key is in making your characters as three-dimensional and interesting as possible. Whether you’re writing a single- or dual-perspective narrative romance, you need to go deep and spend a lot of time working out what your protagonist(s) and their love interest(s) want, what drives them, and how they will react in any given scenario. What are they most afraid of? Why might they resist love at first? What do they ultimately need in order to be vulnerable?
I’d encourage you to see this challenge as a great thing! Spend time with your characters as if you’re having a deep meaningful conversation with a beloved friend and they will no doubt come to life for your reader as well.
You might enjoy this blog on how to write a romance novel, or this blog by Tasha Suri on how to write a love story in any genre.
4. You can explore emotional themes (but you don’t have to)
One criticism of the genre from those who don’t read it is that romance books are insubstantial; they ‘don’t dive deep and address important issues.’
Throughout my years editing romance, I’ve seen books that sensitively explore grief and loss, trauma, healing after sexual assault, eating disorders, chronic illness, relationship breakdown, racial injustice, and many more subjects that deeply affect the way human beings relate to each other and themselves.
When done well, romance is the perfect form through which to explore these issues in fiction, and a safe space, because ultimately the reader knows that the characters will end up in a happier place by the end of the novel.
As long as the romantic relationship isn’t a substitute for any therapy your characters might need, of course!
On the other hand, the great thing about the romance genre is the fact that it doesn’t have to explore serious issues at all. Find a scenario where the stakes feel high, throw in a hefty amount of humor, friendship and some fairly well-balanced characters who perhaps have simply had their life thrown off the course they ideally would have wanted, and you might well have a brilliant romcom on your hands. In fact, the escapist nature of romance can provide the perfect opportunity to actively avoid concepts such as homophobia and racism, and to celebrate the happiness and love stories of humans from historically marginalized communities.
Take the show Schitt’s Creek as an example of the power of this, where Dan Levy’s aim was to create a world where homophobia wasn’t present: ‘We show love and tolerance. If you put something like (homophobia) out of the equation, you’re saying that doesn’t exist and shouldn’t exist.’
5. It’s fun!
Above all, just as falling in love in real life is ideally predominantly fun, writing romance provides some excellent opportunities for the writing process to be a whole heap of fun too.
That might come from dreaming up some hilariously cringey moments for your romcom. It might come from opening up that bedroom door and having fun with the passion that explodes between your characters. It might be thinking of fun dates for your characters to go on, or you might enjoy the drama between two ‘enemies’ who just can’t resist each other. Or maybe it comes from whisking your characters off to the most idyllic location you can imagine (and maybe taking a research trip to help!).
Ultimately, if you’re having fun writing your novel, then the better the chances are that agents, editors and readers will have fun reading it too!
For more tips on writing and editing your novel, join us on a creative writing course at The Novelry today. Sign up for courses, coaching and a community from the world’s top-rated writing school.
