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| “Beautiful Smile” courtesy of patrisyu / FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Why do romance readers read romance? Why do they choose this genre over any other genre? Why is this one of the most popular types of book on the market? I’ll tell you why! Romance sells. Notice that you didn’t just read the phrase “sex sells”, though it does. The truth about romance stories is that romance sells. That impossible ideal that there is someone out there for everyone is alive and well. Keep hope alive by giving people generous examples of love. You can do that in your stories, look for it in the books you read, or even do it in your own story (that is the story of your life). Keep reading for a few ways that you can rev up the romance!
1. Play up the Peek a Boo!
No, no, no gutter minds. Not that type of peek a boo! Though that might be interesting…. But we’ll save that for another post. You play up the peek a boo by holding a little back, then giving that perfect tidbit at the right time. Give the impression of untapped depths behind the character’s emotions and motives without dumping the full story on the reader. The worst thing for a character is for their actions to seem contrived. You want your readers to accept and believe that the love is building to a boiling point. You do this by giving your readers a peek at what’s boiling beneath that complex web of actions and words. Maybe your alpha male is dying to fall for the lead lady. He wants nothing more than to hold her close for the rest of his life. But he has been hurt in the past, and this causes emotional resistance to the idea of surrendering his heart again. Give us a peek at his inner turmoil, then gloss it over for a while and let the story and characters develop. Then another peek. Then more action. A bigger peek. then Boo!!! Now that’s what I call good romance!.
2. Stoke the fire.
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| “Romantic Couple Making Love” courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Why do romance readers choose to read romance instead of regular erotic? I’ll tell you why. Because romance writers know how to stoke the fire. It is much like that popular pop country song..Its not what you do or what you get when you get there,.. it’s the climb. Take your readers through the pitfalls and triumphs of love. Don’t make your love story into an impossible ideal. We want to believe that this kind of thing could happen in our own lives (right so we want to fantasize that it could at least). You do this by building the fire into a slow blaze and then letting it burn its way through to the surface.
3. Deliver baby!
The most popular authors out there are keeping their place in front of the pack because they can do one thing every time. They deliver. And they deliver well and often. But what does that mean? It means that their readers know what to expect, and they get it with each and every story. This means that though your writing shouldn’t be too predictable, it should contain your own unique formula to success. Pick your mechanism, and stick to it. Keep your audience enticed by meeting their needs, but keep them entertained by showing them the many ways that you can do that. That’s it!
Happy Writing!!!