Make A Living Writing Romance

By Kimber Chin

There are two main schools of romance writing.

There are those writers that outline or plot the entire book before sitting down to write. There are very detailed plotters. They sketch out everything from character builds to action points. They knew exactly where the book is going.

At the other side of the spectrum are the pantsers. These writers write by the seat of their pants. They simply sit down at the keyboard and start typing. They don’t know what happens next in the story until they write it.

 
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By Samantha Kay

Romance novels have long been associated with a guilty pleasure – covertly enjoyed by women who hide behind their sunglasses on the beach or under the covers on a lazy weekend afternoon. Novels such as these glorify the fantasy of falling in love – elevating the “knight in shining armor” to a level of grandeur never to be experienced by mortal men; bulging biceps, mysterious eyes, and desirable lips – the men of the romance novel are entrusted to sweep the heroine of the book off of her proverbial feet; and in so doing, sweep the masses of women who cling to every word in an attempt to escape reality – off of their feet as well. The romance novel is just that – an escape; and no one provides a portal for better escape than the Harlequin romance novel.

 
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By Kimber Chin

Your heroine hears a strange noise in the basement, a noise that doesn’t belong there.  She is alone.  Clasping only a flashlight and a baseball bat, she creeps downstairs to confront the villain, deliberately putting herself in danger.

This may work in horror films.  It doesn’t in romance.  This bra and panty clad girl is a too stupid to live (TSTL) heroine.  Readers and editors groan when they read her dumb actions.  They don’t offer her writer publishing contracts.  They don’t buy her books.  She is the kiss of death in romance.

How to avoid writing a TSTL heroine?

The women reading your books are, on average, normal, sensible women.  Often, while reading, they’re pretending they are the heroine.  When putting your heroine into any situation, ask yourself “how would a normal, sensible woman act?”

In this case, she would call 9-1-1 and wait for the police to arrive.  She would get dressed.  She would turn on all the lights.  Perhaps she’d run to the neighbors to wait until help arrived.

But that doesn’t make for interesting reading, does it?  It is much more exciting to have the brave girl take her chances in the pitch black basement.  Then, ask yourself “Why would any normally sensible woman do that?”

What if, due to tornado warnings in the area and her overprotective nature, her child is sleeping in the basement?  The power is out because of the storm.  9-1-1 is overrun with calls and she’s put on hold.  Suddenly your heroine has motivation.  There is no one else coming to save them and she’ll do anything to keep her child safe, even brave a possible intruder.  She is not being stupid.  She is doing what needs to be done.

Kimber Chin writes romance novels based in the business world. Her first novel, Breach Of Trust, will be published in May. Every week, she offers a free read on her site http://businessromance.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kimber_Chin

By Kimber Chin

There are two main schools of romance writing.

There are those writers that outline or plot the entire book before sitting down to write. There are very detailed plotters. They sketch out everything from character builds to action points. They knew exactly where the book is going.

At the other side of the spectrum are the pantsers. These writers write by the seat of their pants. They simply sit down at the keyboard and start typing. They don’t know what happens next in the story until they write it.

Most writers are a combination of the two. I work out a very brief outline of what I would like to see happen in each chapter, where it will begin and end. I also draft rough character sketches of each key person so I ‘know’ them before writing. After that is done, I let the muse take over. Sometimes my characters go where I want them to go. Sometimes they don’t and I have to rework the outline.

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