iUniverse Blog

Having discussed characters, dialogue, settings, and word counts, today iUniverse turns to conflicts and cultural differences. As you probably know, conflict is an inevitable part of a relationship, and adds a considerable bit of “spice” to your story. Cultural differences are also important to observe, especially as some cultures are more conservative than others. So here’s some final tips from iUniverse for Romance writers:

Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in Charade

Creating conflict: This is easier than it sounds. Just think of your past relationships and any serious problems you had with your partner. As we know, there can be conflict over almost anything, but you’ll want to make the cause something that is relatively serious. A conflict should come up in conversation, and can be used to create amorous tension but also to increase your word count. Past lovers, secrecy, inattentiveness, and of course jealousy – these are all great causes for conflict.

You will probably want to have more than one conflict over the course of the novel, so as to present somewhat of a “roller-coaster” ride that keeps the readers on their toes.

Observing cultural differences: consider the open-mindedness of the audience for which you are writing. This is particularly important in Romance fiction, as the genre involves deeply personal feelings and actions. The most obvious aspect is sexuality. If your novel is aimed at the young adult market, you will probably want to be careful about how explicit your love scenes are, both in dialogue and in description. In contrast, a novel targeting the adult market has a bit more latitude with its delineations of intimacy. The general rule involving sex scenes is that it is better to err on the side of caution. There are ways to create a passionate scene without being overly descriptive.

iUniverse hopes you have enjoyed our tripartite discussion of how to write Romance novels. Make sure to check out parts one and two.

What else, in your opinion, makes a Romance novel great?

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