Step One: The Decision

The first step of writing a romance novel is deciding to write a romance novel. I've made that decision over and over again. I've thought to myself: I want to be a romance novelist. Unfortunately, I've not ventured much further than that.

This time is going to be different. Yes, I have all the same tools as I had before: a laptop, a printer, infinite romance novels and only slightly fewer writing craft books. This time I have a little something extra. I have this blog to keep me honest. I will hook it up to my website so that readers actually see it. So they see me making this promise to myself.

I will write a romance novel. I will write a complete draft by the end of this year. Giving myself a time limit should help, right? It should short circuit my perfectionism. I'm not looking for something perfect; I'm looking for a first draft, a rough draft.

What is my romance novel going to be about? Well, I've read that the theme to all romance novels is "love conquers all". That's a good place to start. There needs to be more detail than that. Is it an LGBTQ+ romance? Is it historical or contemporary? Is it going to be funny? These are all decisions I have to make in the coming days and weeks.

Imaginary questions:

IJ, are you saying that you've made this promise without having an idea for a story?

No. That's the thing, I have too many ideas. Dozens of ideas hop up and down in my head, vying for my attention. I just have to pick one and stick to it.

Do you know where you'll publish this novel?

Honestly, I don't. It has always been my dream to write a historical novel and publish it with Mills & Boon. Unfortunately, the Mills & Boon Historical line is no longer accepting submissions. It is dying.

I might still write a historical novel. I love the idea of characters in stays and chemises. It might well be self-published. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

The point is, I'm writing a romance novel. I'm going to take this project seriously and shovel all my creative time and energy into it. When I have a first draft, that's when a whole new adventure starts!