HOW TO WRITE A ROMANCE
Choose your niches. Romance is – as Victoria says – highly structured and fits within specific tropes. ‘Get clear about which ones you’re writing,’ says Victoria. YA (young adult) speculative fiction? Forbidden love in Regency London? Second-chance age-gap holiday romance? Decide which themes you like and pick the ones that work for you.
Create a place that your readers – and you – will love. ‘Be very specific about your setting,’ says Victoria. ‘Fulfil your readers’ expectations because they’ll be really discerning. What are the attitudes, the geography, the social and economic dynamics?’ This might mean research, drawing maps or diving into your imagination. What kind of places are your characters going to meet in? Mainly, though, make it somewhere you want to hang out. You’ll be spending quite a bit of time there, after all.