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So you‘ve been reading romance novels for as long as you can remember and now you think you’re ready to write one. Congratulations you’ve taken the first step. Everyone has at least one book in them. Now it’s time to put your thoughts onto paper.
The best way for beginners to start is to jot down your ideas. Write where you are starting the story and where you are going to end it. This will be your plot. You may find you have a couple of subplots along the way but don’t fret, must good books do. Next you‘ll want to jot down ideas for different events that will occur in your story. When you start to write your book, if you follow these simple directions, your story will flow and you will hit each major event you have decided on.
Now you want to name your characters. This is a big deal. These are the life of the story. You may have certain names picked out already however, don’t be surprised that if you the way, one of your characters changes their own name. All of a sudden you know the character is not who you thought she was but she “tells” you the name she wants to be known by. This happens to a number of great writers. The characters “live and breathe” inside their minds.
Once you start with characters, you should always keep notes about each person you write about. You’ll want to have a list of their names, nicknames, ages, hair color and style, eye color, height and weight, special talents and any other information that you think is important to your story.
Some writers will tell you to write X amount of pages per day or week. This is a good rule of thumb. If you are going to want to have your book published, you need to make writing your book a real job. Set goals for yourself and follow the rules and deadlines you have set.
After you've written your book, it is always helpful to have someone read it to check the flow and content of the story. Then you should check for any inconsistencies. Take a week or two away from your book and then go back and reread it. Keep notebook handy for thoughts or changes you want to make.
When you’ve finished, research the romance book publishers market. The Internet is a great tool for this. Search out each house’s guidelines and decide where you’re story fits. Most if not all the publishing houses want a standard formatted manuscript sent to them. Upon request, they will give you their writing guidelines. Follow them to the letter for submission or your manuscript will never even be looked at.
After you’ve written your book, reread it, made your changes and researched the publishing houses, you’ll need to write either a query letter or a book synopsis. Which ever you choose to do, they should both include highlights of your book without getting bogged down with too much detail. Remember, almost all romance books have the her and heroine falling in love, fighting conflict, either inside or out and in the end, the obstacles are overcome and they live happily ever after. Make sure your synopsis mentions that these things have happened.
Next you’ll need to write a cover letter addressed tot he specific editor for the line you are targeting. In this letter, tell a little about yourself and any background you may have in writing. NEVER put anything negative about your lack of experience or anything negative about your book in this letter. That will kill the book before it even gets read.
When you’re ready to send out your manuscript be sure to include a self-addressed stamped envelope in your packet. Send it out. Sit back and relax or start your next book. Remember, publishers get hundreds of manuscripts and it takes awhile to get to all of them, but they do.
Good luck and happy writing.
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