Advice for Budding Romance Writers

Do you have stories inside your head? Stories you’d love to share but don’t know how? Perhaps I can help you. But please keep in mind, while these writing tips for budding writers have been successful for the people I have coached, I do not offer any guarantees they will do more than get you started on a writing journey.

The first thing I ask a budding romance writer is to chose whether they are a wannabe writer or a gonnabe writer. We can all want many things, whether we have the nerve, determination, time, desire etc to work to achieve that want is another thing entirely.Writing is a lonely, time-consuming, often thankless task, even if you are only writing for your own satisfaction and not aiming for publication. Don’t look for glamour and excitement, its hard graft. Despite the common perception that “anyone can write a romance (or book)” this writing game is actually a tough one to break into.

So you still want to be a writer – any genre of fiction writer – that’s cool, good on you. Good Luck!

How do I know what genre I’m going to write?

First things first. What are you going to write? Do you see yourself as a romance writer or something else entirely? Would you like to write mystery, horror, erotica, humour, fantasy? There are so many choices out there. Most of the advice I’ll be sharing over the next few weeks can be applied to all fiction writing genres so don’t feel you have to decide on ‘romance’ writing. These writing tips for budding writers apply to any genre.

Once you decide on a genre, there are likely to be sub-genres within. Will your writing focus within one sub-genre or encompass more than one?

But how can you decide what genre to write?  That’s easy, you write what you read. But what if I read over a wide range of genres? Ahh, now the choice becomes harder. But the same answer does apply. You should write whichever (sub) genre you most enjoy reading. This will be the genre you know and understand the best. I was very lucky when asked this question. I read contemporary sweet or clean romance. Not historic, not fantasy, not paranormal, not even racy romances so my choice was very clear. Yours may not be so obvious, but a liking and understanding of the genre you eventually chose is essential.

Don’t make this decision lightly. If your mind revolves with werewolves and fairies or grisly murders these might be hard to weave into a sweet romance. If you dream of being the next Stephen King or JK Rowlings don’t decide to chose romance writing. Go where your passion lies.

Many writers write more than one genre but my advice right at the beginning of a writing ‘career’ is to focus on only one. There will be plenty of time in the future to look at writing in differing genres. First, master one!