Genre Spotlight: Romance
© Kim Kay
According to Publisher's Weekly, 40% of paperback books purchased in America are romance novels. That's a significant amount of the market. Periodically, this column will feature a "Genre Spotlight" article which focuses on one specific genre. Given the popularity of romance novels, it seemed like an appropriate starting point.
What is a Romance Novel?
Basically, a romance novel focuses on the relationship between a man and a woman. There may be various subplots but the primary plot revolves around two people and their love for each other. Usually, the couple overcomes seemingly insurmountable obstacles to be together. Very rarely will you find a romance novel that does not have a happy ending.
Types of Romance Novels
For in-depth descriptions of the various sub-genres of romance novels, visit my source for this section, The Romance Writers of America.
One way to categorize romance novels is by setting or time period. Contemporary romances are set in the present and historical romances are set before World War I. Other specific time periods, such as medieval and regency, have their own sub-genres. Romance novels can also be set in the future. Time travel romances have characters going back or forward in time. Futuristic romances are set at some point in the future.
Romance novels can also be categorized by their level of intensity or the explicitness of the love scenes. Traditional romances, also called "sweet romances," are usually not intense and the love scenes are not very graphic. Sensual or erotic romances are more intense and the love scenes are very explicit.
Romance novels can be single title romances, meaning that the novel is not related to any other novel. Series romances, on the other hand, are novels which have the same characters in multiple books, with each one building on the ones before it.
Additionally, there are many other sub-genres of romance novels. Inspirational romances have religious elements while Gothic romances have evil overtones. Paranormal romances involve things such as ghosts, angels, or vampires. In multi-cultural romances, one or both of the main characters has an ethnicity other than Caucasian. Romance novels may also be geared toward a specific subset of the population such as women or young adults.
Writing Romance Novels
Perhaps the most important element of a successful romance novel is compelling characters. Your hero should be someone that your average female reader will be attracted to. He needs to be handsome, sexy, and strong, yet have a sensitive vulnerable side. The heroine needs to be down to earth enough that the women readers will identify with her but have enough above average qualities to make her interesting and someone to be admired. Also, it is common in romance novels to have an antagonist, a person who keeps the couple apart through the majority of the novel. You want your characters to dislike this person but be careful not to make him or her all bad or you will end up with a flat, stereotyped character.
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