Fiction where a central love story drives the plot, with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending required by genre convention.
Romance is the bestselling fiction genre in the world, and it has two non-negotiable requirements: a central love story that drives the narrative, and an emotionally satisfying ending (typically a 'happily ever after' or 'happy for now'). Everything else is flexible. Romance spans every setting, time period, heat level, and demographic. It's the most diverse, most commercially powerful, and most unfairly dismissed genre in publishing.
Romance outsells every other fiction genre. Understanding its conventions, reader expectations, and emotional arc structure is essential if you're writing it, and valuable even if you're not. Romance teaches you to write emotional escalation, character chemistry, and satisfying payoffs. Dismissing it means ignoring what resonates most with the largest reading audience on the planet.
The foundational text for the enemies-to-lovers trope and proof that romance can be literary masterwork.
A modern romance that's both a love story and a meta-commentary on genre snobbery.
A queer romance that became a mainstream bestseller, reflecting the genre's expanding representation.
An optimistic ending isn't optional in romance. It's a genre promise. Breaking it breaks trust with readers.
Romance readers are the most genre-literate audience in publishing. They'll spot an outsider instantly. Read widely in the subgenre you're targeting.
Both characters need full arcs, motivations, and agency. A love interest who exists only to be won is a flat character.
Write the first meeting between two characters who will eventually fall in love. But here's the constraint: they must immediately dislike, misunderstand, or be inconvenienced by each other. Plant one detail that hints at why they'll eventually connect. Tension first, chemistry second.