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How to Write a Romance: Or, How to Write Witty Dialogue, Smoldering Love Scenes, and Happily Ever Afters – A Guided Journal with 180 Prompts from Avon Books
A unique, beautifully designed journal filled with helpful tips and invaluable advice vital for every aspiring romance novelist—and every romance fan!
For romance writers and readers alike, How to Write a Romance is a sleek, inventive journal that will inspire you to create love stories that stir the heart, tease the imagination, and touch the soul. Inside this handy diary, you’ll find an introduction and tip sheet compiled by the editors of Avon Books, the premiere romance publisher. Sharing their wisdom and expertise, the Avon Romance editors guide you through the basic construction of a romance novel and highlight the most common pitfalls to avoid. The pages that follow include 180 prompts touching on every aspect of romance dialogue, character development, scene description, situational entries, and more. Exercise your imagination and skill with such challenges In addition, renowned bestselling Avon authors such as Eloisa James, Beverly Jenkins, Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn, Sarah MacLean, Jennifer Ryan, Lori Wilde, and more, share their own insights and offer words of encouragement, sprinkled throughout the journal in hand-lettered text. A beautiful keepsake and practical tool that embodies the essence of romance fiction, How to Write a Romance will enflame your passionate and creative spirit!
For romance writers and readers alike, How to Write a Romance is a sleek, inventive journal that will inspire you to create love stories that stir the heart, tease the imagination, and touch the soul. Inside this handy diary, you’ll find an introduction and tip sheet compiled by the editors of Avon Books, the premiere romance publisher. Sharing their wisdom and expertise, the Avon Romance editors guide you through the basic construction of a romance novel and highlight the most common pitfalls to avoid. The pages that follow include 180 prompts touching on every aspect of romance dialogue, character development, scene description, situational entries, and more. Exercise your imagination and skill with such challenges In addition, renowned bestselling Avon authors such as Eloisa James, Beverly Jenkins, Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn, Sarah MacLean, Jennifer Ryan, Lori Wilde, and more, share their own insights and offer words of encouragement, sprinkled throughout the journal in hand-lettered text. A beautiful keepsake and practical tool that embodies the essence of romance fiction, How to Write a Romance will enflame your passionate and creative spirit!
- GenresWritingNonfictionRomance
208 pages, Hardcover
Published July 9, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 7, 2019
Anyone looking into just starting out writing their first romance novel, will find this guide very useful. It is an interactive book. Meant to be written in.
There are many scenario situations posed with a question. It makes you think about how you would handle the situation. Before you know it, you will have written out a whole page or more for your answer. In addition, there are many other pages within this book. Examples: Describe the physical features of your hero and/or heroine, what does the love scene look like, describe the feelings your characters are experiencing, etc.
I love the quotes by the various authors featured throughout this book as well.
"Always remember the why of your love story. Why are these two characters right for each other? Knowing your why will help your readers root for your couple, and keeps them turning the pages." Eva Lewis
"Happy ending are all I can do. I wouldn't know how to write anything else." Julia Quinn
"Even when you're not writing you can be working on your book. Daydreaming counts. I just call that plotting." Sophie Jordan
There are many scenario situations posed with a question. It makes you think about how you would handle the situation. Before you know it, you will have written out a whole page or more for your answer. In addition, there are many other pages within this book. Examples: Describe the physical features of your hero and/or heroine, what does the love scene look like, describe the feelings your characters are experiencing, etc.
I love the quotes by the various authors featured throughout this book as well.
"Always remember the why of your love story. Why are these two characters right for each other? Knowing your why will help your readers root for your couple, and keeps them turning the pages." Eva Lewis
"Happy ending are all I can do. I wouldn't know how to write anything else." Julia Quinn
"Even when you're not writing you can be working on your book. Daydreaming counts. I just call that plotting." Sophie Jordan
June 28, 2019
How to Write A Romance by the Avon Team is a book I wanted badly. Avon publishes some of the best romance novels I have read. When I heard about this book, I was dying to get my hands on it. It has arrived. Depending on where the creative writer is at in his or her stage, and how much experience he/she has will depend on how happy they are with this book.
I was a tad bit disappointed. When I opened it, I expected so many things to discover to help my creativity and turn me into a romance writer. Wishful thinking. However, it does provide a deep thinking guide to get my mind into the romance genre. It has tons of questions throughout the book that made me stop, think, rethink, and explore my creativity. I was able to jot down facts or ideas that I can later expand on when needed. This book was mostly a journal with inspiring ideas, quotes, and questions. If a writer is looking for something more than that, this would not be that book. But it is a good start for those interested in writing romance.
I received this copy from the publisher. This is my voluntary review.
I was a tad bit disappointed. When I opened it, I expected so many things to discover to help my creativity and turn me into a romance writer. Wishful thinking. However, it does provide a deep thinking guide to get my mind into the romance genre. It has tons of questions throughout the book that made me stop, think, rethink, and explore my creativity. I was able to jot down facts or ideas that I can later expand on when needed. This book was mostly a journal with inspiring ideas, quotes, and questions. If a writer is looking for something more than that, this would not be that book. But it is a good start for those interested in writing romance.
I received this copy from the publisher. This is my voluntary review.
August 9, 2019
This is a series of prompts rather than a how-to guide. Some of them I found pretty thought-provoking, while others seemed basic. Quick read, though!
October 12, 2020
This book was a massive disappointment. Unlike what the title suggests, this is NOT a 'how-to' book and it will not teach you anything. What it IS, is a journal of romance-related writing prompts with a couple of "inspirational" author quotes sprinkled in. The editors at Avon Books should know better than to advertise a book of journal prompts as a how-to instruction guide to writing romance. There is really no good excuse for having such a misleading title.
As for the prompts themselves, they range from average to terrible in usefulness and quality. I spent about an hour doing them and I read through all those I didn't get to, just to make sure I wasn't writing off this book too quickly. I wasn't. I don't think that anyone who has been writing for more than a year or two would get much use from this journal. That said, I can see how these prompts might be helpful to newer writers who want to start writing every day but have no immediate plan or desire right now to write a novel or flesh out a particular story idea. Some typical examples of prompts that you can expect are random meet-cute scenarios (e.g. "Your main character is at a rodeo and the young man riding the bull is thrown off, landing at her feet. What does she do next?"), bullet-pointed lists (e.g. "List the first three scents that come to mind when thinking of your hero"), and standard character-development prompts (e.g. "What are your character's goals in this story? What are they working toward?").
As for the so-called 'advice' this book claims to provide, I'm pretty sure the editors are referring to the occasional author quotes that appear throughout the journal and are written in a fancy font. Unfortunately, most of their advice is pretty trite and not especially helpful. Some examples from the book include: "When setting up your workspace, make absolutely sure that you cannot reach your refrigerator without getting up from your chair." and "Don't try to write like someone else. Write like YOU." Revolutionary stuff, really.
Overall, if you're looking for a writing reference book or instruction book, this is not it. If you're looking for a journal of romance-related writing prompts, this is a better fit. That said, I still think you could go on tumblr or do a google search and find a whole list of prompts that are equally, if not more, inventive than what is in this book.
As for the prompts themselves, they range from average to terrible in usefulness and quality. I spent about an hour doing them and I read through all those I didn't get to, just to make sure I wasn't writing off this book too quickly. I wasn't. I don't think that anyone who has been writing for more than a year or two would get much use from this journal. That said, I can see how these prompts might be helpful to newer writers who want to start writing every day but have no immediate plan or desire right now to write a novel or flesh out a particular story idea. Some typical examples of prompts that you can expect are random meet-cute scenarios (e.g. "Your main character is at a rodeo and the young man riding the bull is thrown off, landing at her feet. What does she do next?"), bullet-pointed lists (e.g. "List the first three scents that come to mind when thinking of your hero"), and standard character-development prompts (e.g. "What are your character's goals in this story? What are they working toward?").
As for the so-called 'advice' this book claims to provide, I'm pretty sure the editors are referring to the occasional author quotes that appear throughout the journal and are written in a fancy font. Unfortunately, most of their advice is pretty trite and not especially helpful. Some examples from the book include: "When setting up your workspace, make absolutely sure that you cannot reach your refrigerator without getting up from your chair." and "Don't try to write like someone else. Write like YOU." Revolutionary stuff, really.
Overall, if you're looking for a writing reference book or instruction book, this is not it. If you're looking for a journal of romance-related writing prompts, this is a better fit. That said, I still think you could go on tumblr or do a google search and find a whole list of prompts that are equally, if not more, inventive than what is in this book.
January 10, 2020
This is a workbook, not a writing guide. I doubt that my library system realized that when they purchased copies, but I enjoyed flipping through to read the prompts. I don't read or write in the Romance genre, but the slice-of-life fiction that I write involves plenty of romantic relationships, and I found some of these prompts helpful. Many of the situational story prompts are specific to Regency romances, but others are more general, and there are plenty of prompts for character and relational development. I've included a range of examples below so that people can know what to expect from this book:
"Think about your favorite story and write down five things that you love about it."
"Describe your heroine's physical characters without having her look in a mirror." (An EXCELLENT qualification!)
"Your heroine is wearing a fake mustache and your hero is soaking wet. How did they end up like this? What do they do next?"
"Write a scene where your hero sees your heroine doing something that furthers his understanding of her and deepens his attraction."
"Write a love scene that takes place outdoors!" (Nope. NOPE. I'm good.)
"What is the biggest secret in your story? Who would it impact the most? When is it revealed?"
"Write a first scene in which your characters are noticeably alone together. What is the setting? Is it an intentional or an unexpected encounter?" (Very interesting! I hadn't thought about this.)
Overall, I found this book useful and interesting, but since this is not a how-to guide, the title is misleading. People who go into this book expecting something different will be disappointed, but it's good at what it actually sets out to do.
"Think about your favorite story and write down five things that you love about it."
"Describe your heroine's physical characters without having her look in a mirror." (An EXCELLENT qualification!)
"Your heroine is wearing a fake mustache and your hero is soaking wet. How did they end up like this? What do they do next?"
"Write a scene where your hero sees your heroine doing something that furthers his understanding of her and deepens his attraction."
"Write a love scene that takes place outdoors!" (Nope. NOPE. I'm good.)
"What is the biggest secret in your story? Who would it impact the most? When is it revealed?"
"Write a first scene in which your characters are noticeably alone together. What is the setting? Is it an intentional or an unexpected encounter?" (Very interesting! I hadn't thought about this.)
Overall, I found this book useful and interesting, but since this is not a how-to guide, the title is misleading. People who go into this book expecting something different will be disappointed, but it's good at what it actually sets out to do.
November 3, 2019
What a super resource! The editors and several authors from Avon books have put together a journal type workbook for writing what they say is a romance, however much of the information, suggestions and exercises can be used for virtually any genre. Written for both new as well as established authors HOW TO WRITE A ROMANCE takes the writer from the initial concept of the story to the flourish of “the end” as well as how to gracefully lead into the next book of what could be a series.
Newbie authors have good story ideas but can get bogged down with needless details. There are suggestions for what to do about that as well as exercises to get past them. Conversely, established author can hit a period of writer’s block and just not know where to go with their story.
The exercises are quick and to the point and engage the writer’s imagination.
Interspersed with the suggestions and exercises are supportive statements from a number of successful Avon authors. Their own personal tips are included as well. HOW TO WRITE A ROMANCE is a welcome addition to any writer’s library and one to keep by your writing area when you need a quick tip or inspiration to move forward with your story.
Newbie authors have good story ideas but can get bogged down with needless details. There are suggestions for what to do about that as well as exercises to get past them. Conversely, established author can hit a period of writer’s block and just not know where to go with their story.
The exercises are quick and to the point and engage the writer’s imagination.
Interspersed with the suggestions and exercises are supportive statements from a number of successful Avon authors. Their own personal tips are included as well. HOW TO WRITE A ROMANCE is a welcome addition to any writer’s library and one to keep by your writing area when you need a quick tip or inspiration to move forward with your story.
February 11, 2026
Contrary to what the title may have you believe, this is not a book on craft. It’s a journal with writing prompts. There are some gems throughout the book, but it’s just not what I was expecting when I picked it up.
January 10, 2020
I had high hopes for this book, and I was consequently quite disappointed to find the prompts sexist, cliche, and heteronormative.
August 8, 2022
I thought this was going to be a guide instead of a workbook. There were good questions to think about and good quotes from authors.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews