Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Brainstorming the Romance Novel

Most romance novels, especially category romance, follow the same basic formula. Start brainstorming your romance by answering these questions.
 
How did they meet?

What was the main character’s initial reaction?

What keeps the main character(MC) and the love interest(LI) apart?

What pulls them together?

Why does the MC fall in love with the LI?

Why does the LI fall in love with the MC?

How do they resolve the problems which keep them apart?

What commitment do they make?

Then, build your plot by following this tried-and-true outline.

The Romance Formula by Kathryn Falk from How to Write a Romance and Get It Published published by Signet, a division of Penguin Books, copyrighted in 1989.

1. Woman meets devastating man; sparks fly.

2. Motivation for their attachment is established, along with a conflict.

3. They are torn apart.

4. They are drawn back to each other. (Steps 3 and 4 may be repeated)

5. They reconcile their problems.

6. They commit themselves to marriage. (or some type of lasting relationship which extends beyond the book)

In my last post for this series I’ll discuss putting it all together.

All of the brainstorming exercises described in this blog series can be found in my Scrivener template on Google Drive at https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzGNFy181nZiM0J5TGI3WXJyUkE/.

For non-Scrivener users, Personal Noveling Assistant (PNA) pages are at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BzGNFy181nZiczA2aGJrTnN1X2c/.

For more about my stories, check out my author page at http://www.amazon.com/author/lauraewrites/.

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