8 Essential Elements for your Romance Novel

Are you writing a romance novel? Well, you are in the right place. I have published 7 bestselling romantic fiction novels and turned my writing into a full-time occupation. Romance books account for roughly 65% of all books sold and the readers are voracious reading up to one book a day!

So how do you craft an amazing love story? I have listed 8 Elements that are essential to creating a bestselling romance novel.

1. Relatable Characters - This is not specific to romance novels and is an integral part of any story. The majority of romance readers are female therefore it’s super important your heroine is relatable and readers can sympathise with her. You want your readers rooting for her and understanding her decisions. Make sure she’s human, not all of us can relate to Barbie.
2. An irresistible hero. This guy (or girl) has got to melt hearts! You know what I mean, husky voice, authoritative speech, broad shoulders, pure confidence and that smile! Sigh… Don’t forget to give him flaws though, he’s a real person and we want him to be down to earth. Make sure the reader will fall in love with not just him, but the idea of this particular couple getting together. This is the ultimate goal.
3. Your characters must meet early in the story! If the hero and heroine haven’t met in the first chapter, you may have lost your reader. Not many hang around for three chapters to feel the chemistry. As soon as your characters meet (called the meet-cute), make the sparks fly! This will be one of the best parts of your story!
4. They need a problem to overcome! A barrier! You’ll probably work out what this is when planning your novel or when picking your trope. Your characters need barriers keeping them apart, emotionally and physically. Have a think about what these might be before beginning to work on your novel. I like to use the phase 'What if ..."
5. You must have a believable plot. Make sure your plot is realistic, there is nothing worst than reading a book and thinking 'this would never happen in real life', it pulls the reader out of the story. Write a detailed outline of your novel, this will help. Stay tuned for our Outline Your Novel Challenge coming soon!
6. Tension! The sexual tension must be strong and must increase throughout your story. Now, this doesn’t mean lots of kisses and ‘action’. You can make your characters sizzle in other ways, make the actions slow, make the two of them notice the smallest things, make them breathless.  Think about what your characters could say to each other or the looks they could exchange. Intentionally put your characters in romantic situations, this will help with tension.
7. The 'will they won't they' vibe. You need suspense, all good romance stories have it otherwise you’d be reading something else. You need to keep the readers wondering are these two ever going to get together? This is created when the characters have external conflict introduced to the story in line with the plot. A reason they shouldn't be together such as he's her fiance's younger brother or she'd his boss.
8. Happily Ever After. Whether it’s a happily ever after or a happy for now. Your characters have to make a commitment to each other by the end of the book because that is what the readers of this genre expect. They want your story to be emotionally satisfying. Don’t leave your reader throwing the book against the wall. Give them what they want… love, hope and a happily ever after.

Want more? We've created 5 free worksheets to help you write a romance novel that sells. Get them here.