LOVE RULES: How to write contemporary romance

Romance is consistently the biggest selling genre across the world, generating more than £1bn revenue annually. With thousands of titles published each year and the expectation that all romances end with ‘happily ever after’ (HEA) or ‘happy for now’ (HFN), it can be challenging for romance authors – both emerging and established – to come up with original story ideas.

Focusing on the sub-genre of contemporary romance, which can be broken down further into subcategories, such as drama, comedy, suspense, and travel, the challenge is not only to write stories that are fresh, original and appealing, but also relevant to contemporary romance readers. This challenge has been compounded in the past eighteen months by the global pandemic, with contemporary romance authors having to decide whether to avoid or embrace the pandemic in their writing.

So how do you, as an author of contemporary romance, write a story that is fresh, as well as appealing and relevant to readers?

Know your sub-genre

Many contemporary romance readers have one or more favourite sub-categories and read voraciously within each. They