Romantic Writing: Tips and Prompts from 2 MVWG Writers

With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, we thought it might be fun to have a couple of our romance-writing members share a bit of advice and inspiration.

First up? A few tips from author, Heidi Blanke.

1. Know the subgenre. While the overall list and trends within romance can change, the commonly accepted subgenres are: contemporary, historial, suspense, inspirational, paranormal, and young adult. However, when submitting to a publisher, they may break their books into sub-subgenres such as medical or western. Be sure to check each publisher’s guidelines and requirements and submit only to those that align with your manuscript.

2. Nearly all romance novels end with happily ever after (HEA) or happily for now (HFN). Unless a publisher expresses otherwise, stick to one of these endings. Yes, I know rules were meant to be broken, but in the publishing industry, breaking rules is typically only tolerated for seasoned veterans within the field.

3. The main characters must be likeable. They can be flawed, but their good points must outweigh the bad from the very start. As you create your character, make sure they are someone that your reader is going to want to spend a few hundred pages with!

Now that you’ve got a few of the romance genre guidelines under your belt, try your hand with one of these romantic writing prompts from author and writing coach, Amanda Zieba.

We hope these tips and prompts have inspired to write something lovely this holiday weekend!

Got a great piece of romance writing advice or your own prompt you’d like to share? Add them in the comment section below so we can learn from you too! If you’ve been looking for a writing group, we’d also love to hear from you! The Mississippi Valley Writers Guild is a growing group of writers in all genres. Learn more here and then reach out to join!