Anita Bunkley | Writing Romance

Last month, as I began writing my fifth romance for Harlequin's Kimani Press, I was just as excited about starting this romantic journey as I had been the first time I brought a gutsy, intelligent, and of course --beautiful heroine to life as she fell in love with a hero who would make any woman's heart beat a little faster.

Writing genre romance has been a big change for me because nearly twenty years
ago, I started my literary career writing sprawling historical novels. Soon
after, I shifted to writing mainstream women's fiction, followed by a foray
into non-fiction and several novellas in anthologies. Both the contemporary and
historical novels demanded lots of research, which I loved to do, but they took
the better part of a year to complete, with their intricate storylines and
vivid secondary characters that made for intriguing, multi-plotted novels that
often spanned several generations.

But now that I am writing pure romance, I have fallen in love with streamlined
aspects of the genre while enjoying the luxury of paring down my stories to
their most important core: The love between a man and a woman.

However, I admit that I still struggle to control my impulse to veer off into
some interesting sub-plot with a sideline character who threatens to complicate
my writing schedule, increase the word count, and dilute the focus on my
romantic couple.

It's hard to do sometimes, but I force myself to toss tempting story threads
like that aside to keep them from winding up on the pages and distract from the
passionate encounters and heated arguments that entangle my romantic couple.

Since each scene goal must be achieved in far fewer words than in a mainstream
novel, I have learned to cut, cut, cut -- forcing my characters to grow more
rapidly into their relationships as the romance strengthens, blossoms and
captivates the reader at a much faster pace. And along the way, I am sure to
incorporate the overriding the theme of the romantic narrative into the book,
tying the title to the story in subtle, yet evident ways -- Yes, I know a lot
of readers eagerly search the pages of a book to locate the spot where the
title makes its appearance.

In many aspects, mainstream novels and romances have a lot in common, so my
approach to writing in both genres is not so different after all: Before
writing any story, I always start with an outline that sets up the characters,
presents the problem and details how the solution or goal will be reached. I
still spend probably too much time picking just the right names for my
characters as I struggle to coordinate names with personalities that fit the
setting and time period of the story.

One thing I do know: There is no difference at all between mainstreams and
romances when it comes to bringing characters to life on the page, and -- if
they cooperate -- ensuring that they create an unforgettable impression. Making
fictional people seem real within a fantasy world is what, hopefully, draws the
reader in and keeps those pages flying. The most important ingredient of any
good story is an intriguing main character who challenges the reader to stick
around to discover how she will solve her problems and get what she wants.

Writing contemporary romance is certainly a challenge, pushing writers to take
the shifting tastes of readers into consideration while paying attention to the
influences that dictate what people read. Romances today are hotter, spicier,
and edgier than ever.

With each romance I write, I am thrilled once again to take on the challenge of
telling a fresh story with tenderness, emotion, lots of sexy moves, and
surprising twists that will hook my readers and deliver on my promise to never
disappoint.

Anita Bunkley's latest romance is SPOTLIGHT ON DESIRE (Kimani, June 2009)