On Writing Romance
I now have almost 17,000 words of my story for NaNo (extremely far away from where I should be at this point in the month!). I admit to taking last night off to read Eloisa James‘ Your Wicked Ways, which was excellent. I adore Eloisa. It is impossible to put down her books. The woman is impossibly brilliant, with a degree from Harvard, a Masters of Philosophy from Oxford, and a Doctorate from Yale. While not writing extremely well crafted plots, robust characters, and eloquent dialog, she teaches Shakespeare at University. Her books are sprinkled with references to Shakespeare and are impressively researched (would that I had graduate students to research for me!). I grovel in her general direction.
Anyways, for those of us just starting out writing romance novels, I recommend the following book:
Title: The Natural History of the Romance Novel
Author: Pamela Regis
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2003 (Hurrah! Hurrah Pennsylvania!)
Genre: Nonfiction
The cliff notes version:
Part 1: Regis defends the Romance Novel from its many critics. Romance is the most popular but least respected of the literary genres.
Part 2: Regis defines the Romance Novel as “a work of prose fiction that tells the story of the courtship and betrothal of one or more heroines.” She also defines the Eight Essential Elements of The Romance Novel, which are:
1) Society Defined: Society, its corrupt structure and/or rigid rules, is a barrier and cause of conflict that the hero and heroine must overcome to achieve their HEA.
2) The Meeting: The hero and heroine do not hit it off at their first meeting – they start knocking heads from the beginning.
3) The Barrier: External barriers such as society, family, economics, geography and internal barriers such as attitudes, temperament, values, and beliefs impede the union between the hero and heroine and are a constant source of conflict throughout the novel.
4) The Attraction: Also found throughout the novel are scenes that demonstrate the reasons that the hero and heroine are destined to be together, such as sexual chemistry, friendship, shared goals or feelings, society’s expectations, and economic issues.
5) The Declaration: The scene where they realize they can’t live without each other, though often the hero and heroine come to this conclusion separately and declare their love at different times.
6) Point of Ritual Death: The point where the HEA seems impossible at the climax of the novel. The heroine or hero is faced with death or a symbolic death but is freed from its presence. The mythical escape.
7) The Recognition: The scene in the novel where new information is revealed that lifts the barriers that separated the hero and heroine, such as the hero is really of noble blood or the cross-dressing heroine is really a female. The hero and heroine are at last free to act on their love; proving once again that true love conquers all. The realistic escape.
8 ) The Betrothal: They agree to get married and live Happily Ever After. Yay!
Part III & IV: The History of the Romance Novel, from 1740 through the 20th century
1) Pamela, 1740: the first best seller
2) Pride and Prejudice, 1813: The best romance novel ever written
3) Jane Eyre, 1847
4) Framley Parsonage, 1861
5) A Room with a View, 1908: The ideal romance novel
6) Georgette Heyer
7) Mary Stewart
8 ) Janet Dailey
9) Jayne Ann Krentz
10) Nora Roberts
Tags: "romance novels", writing, Eloisa James, Pamela Regis
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