Writing Romance: How I Discovered the “Secret Plotting Formula”

You write, and revise, and re-write some more, but you’re still no closer to selling your sexy Romance novel.

Sound familiar? I can relate.

NEW YORK EDITORS DIDN’T AGREE…

When I fell in love with Romance novels, I wanted to write what I was reading. I even had a talent for writing; at least, my high school English teacher seemed to think so. She gave me A’s on all my essays. But for some reason, New York publishers weren’t as appreciative of my efforts.

So I thought, “I know! I’ll find a group of writers, people like me who want to GET PAID to write Romance novels.”  So I joined a critique group. (Actually, I joined 4 critique groups. But who’s counting?)

Every week, like clockwork, I would meet with my writing buddies. Some of us were published. Some weren’t. Some of us wrote reams of pages every day. Some wrote only a few pages a week. Despite our hectic schedules, we were all writing Romance seriously. I trusted and valued the feedback of my critique groups. That’s why I rushed home after every meeting and faithfully revised my manuscript.

BETA READERS CAN HARM YOUR BOOK

After 6 years and hundreds of critiques, I was still receiving rejection letters from New York publishers! One editor informed me that my writing was stale—that I’d revised Chapter 1 “to death.”

And I thought:

‘What does she mean?!

‘How can she know that?!’  

I was SO frustrated and SO confused, I didn’t think I’d ever earn a contract for writing Romance.

WHAT FINALLY GOT ME PUBLISHED?

The answer to that question may surprise you.

I didn’t achieve my publishing dream just because I completed 2 novels. Or sat through dozens of workshops at 5 national conventions for Romance writers.

I didn’t get published because I was picked as a finalist in a prestigious, national Romance writing contest.

Or because I acquired 2 literary agents!

Nope.

I got my first book contract because I found a published mentor, who was willing to admit what so many of her peers had staunchly denied:

There’s a formula for writing Romance novels.

 

YES, THERE REALLY IS A FORMULA FOR WRITING ROMANCE NOVELS

I’m not sure why Romance authors get so defensive about the topic of formulaic writing. All commercial fiction has a formula.

In fact, it’s the formula that keeps readers buying genre books! 

For instance:

• • In the Horror genre, the villain is supposed to be a whacked-out psycho.
  • In the Fantasy genre, the protagonist has to cope with magic or the supernatural.
  • In the Western genre, the hero must decide whether to embrace “The Law of the Gun.”

In the Romance genre, readers also have a clear and specific set of expectations. If you want to earn money writing Romance novels, you must satisfy the expectations of your reading audience. That means you need to write a cohesive plot that puts all the “right” elements of a Romance in the “right” order.

WRITING ROMANCE IS NOT LIKE WRITING ANYTHING ELSE

Writing Romance is not like writing English essays, or news articles, or mysteries, or fantasy novels. There’s a secret formula to writing Romance—a formula that popular authors have mastered. (That’s why their books sell so well!) To learn that formula, you would have to study hundreds of sexy Romance novels (which doesn’t always guarantee success.)

Or you would have to spend thousands of dollars at a local college—assuming, of course, that your college professor actually knows the Romance formula. Unfortunately, most college professors only know how to teach literary fiction. A literary novel won’t earn you a book contract from Harlequin, Avon, or Entangled.

Now let’s be real. If you’re like most wordsmiths, you don’t have enough time to write, much less to study writing. You’re probably cramming a bazillion responsibilities into your day, and your laptop doesn’t even get fired up until you’ve shooed everybody off to bed.

HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT WRITING ROMANCE

With my on-demand video classes, you can learn how to write Romance novels any time you like—even at 2 am. If you’re ready to live your dream, writing Romance, I’m here to help. Check out my on-demand video course, Romance Road Map: The Secret Formula for Plotting Romance Novels.

Hugs,

 

 

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Adrienne deWolfe is a #1 bestselling Romance author and fiction coach. Publishers send their up-and-coming authors to her for story help. As a result, several of Adrienne’s writing students have become #1 bestsellers, and many are consistently earning 4+ star reviews. Want to get better reviews and make money writing Romance novels? Check out Adrienne’s on-demand video courses at WriteRomanceNovels.com.

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© Adrienne deWolfe. Links to this post, and short excerpts from this post, may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Adrienne deWolfe and to WriteRomanceNovelsThatSell.com, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.