Oh John! Oh Marsha! Oh boy, is it a Romance?

Alma T. C. Boykin

So, having failed to learn my lesson, today’s topic is romance as a genre. That is, keeping in mind that genre is about marketing. Romance as a term goes back to before romance as a genre, and romances used to be adventure stories that might or might not include a romantic-love element. Today, the kissing is the goal of the story. (Not the Glasgow Kiss, either*.)

At the basic level, a romance story is one where boy meets girl, emotional sparks fly, there’s probably kissing, and love ensues. There might or might not be sex, depending on how sweet or steamy the story is. Romance readers tend to have strong preferences, and it is a genre where knowing the beats is critical to sales for most subgenres and categories. Some authors can blur things, but the beats are still more important than in some other genres.

So, the “beats” or elements that readers of romance will, in general expect are: Character introduction, meeting (meet cute or otherwise), rejection/refusal, turning point or slow realization or chemistry at work, realization of attraction, second rejection, crisis and acceptance, kissing, deneument. There are lots and lots of sites that list these, with more or fewer examples of actual stories. Some should be familiar from all genres, and the story pattern of meeting, tension/release, increasing tension, climax, conclusion are found in every genre, with the possible exception of some slice-of-life and literary fiction subgenres. There absolutely has to be an emotionally satisfying Happily Ever After, or at least until the next book in the series.

1. The characters. Depending on how you write, the story is one or two PoV. The opening introduces the hero and heroine** and hooks the reader into the story.
2. The meeting – he and she meet while walking dogs and their leashes tangle, or his company buys out her business, or she calls in to his radio show, or he is a Special Forces Type recovering in the hospital and she is a physical therapist or nurse or counselor or . . .***
3. Oh Ick No! – Both parties respond like two protons. They dislike each other, or misunderstand each other, or he takes something the wrong way, or her dog wets on his leg, or . . . This adds tension to the story and raises the emotional stakes.
4. Slow Realization – he and she are told that they would work well together, or he discovers that perhaps he misunderstood, or she learns that the beautiful blonde is actually his sister and not his current lady friend, or he realizes that closing her store might be bad PR, or . . . And she learns that he actually likes the same kind of music that she does, or whatever. Both parties realize that “You know, he/she might not be as terrible as all that. Maybe.”
5. Toleration becomes affection maybe – the two parties work together and start becoming friendlier, even fond of each other. They find more in common, or bond over shared stress [see D. Grant’s tactical romances for examples of this, and a few others]. Perhaps there is something here . . .
6. Forget it! – No way, there’s another rejection. He says something that reminds her why she swore off dating forever. He decides that he’s not risking his heart or hers if he gets sent back to The War (or something similar with physical danger). Their families threaten mayhem of they continue on. She puts her foot in it Big Time and he storms off. Again, raising tension is the key. Romance is all about emotion.
7. Crisis – they have to work together, he rescues her, she realizes that she was wrong and comes after him to apologize and swear love, Blackie Desquane can only be defeated if both of them cooperate . . . She keeps the monster inside him from doing Something Terrible (PNR [Paranormal Romance]), she comes racing back to the castle to save his life and admits that she loves the beast.
8. Kissing or Thingie – they admit that they are in love, kissing follows, or at least a sincere hug and perhaps an offer of marriage. In some genres, sex follows, if it hasn’t appeared already.
9. HEA – all is well, the problem is solved, our couple are a couple, wedding bells chime, or a ring is presented, or what have you.

Now, all of these can be present in a scifi or fantasy, or urban fantasy story. My Elect series, which I started as an allergic reaction of certain PNR tropes, hits these beats. However, not all of them and not obviously, so I market it as urban fantasy. Plus it is not as steamy as a lot of PNR, which is another reason not to irk readers who are expecting something way beyond kissing, and anticipate it early in the book. A lot of my stories have a romance, but are not Romances in the modern marketing sense.

Does you story lean more heavily on relationships and emotion, or on other genre elements? That’s what determines how you will market the book. Unless you are Lois McMasters Bujold, who can do both at once and get away with it. (Or your fans decide that it is a romance and vote for it to be a romance award winner. *coughJohnRingocough*)

*Unless it is a certain subgenre of romance, which you really do need to properly tag and describe in yours sales copy so readers don’t get a big surprise.

**Male/male or female/female or other romances use the same overall structure. If you write those, I will assume that you also know which additional tropes you need to include.

***For the love of mud, do a little research. Don’t have your hero doing PT for a shoulder injury and bench 250 lbs a week after complete shoulder repair. Or have a doctor knowingly flirt with a coworker in the same department or with a patient unless charges of harassment are part of the plot line.

Image: Pixabay – Image by Jess Bailey from Pixabay