How do you work out the difference between romance and women's fiction?
by Carron Stevenson
The “You need to change the title of your book. The content is too serious to be taken lightly,” comment from one of my precious Beta readers should have been a heads up I wasn’t writing romance. Yet, it was romance I set out to write.
I’m a newbie in the world of writing books and have a lot to learn. Like many writers, I had a book I wanted to write. The introduction to NaNoWriMo in October 2017 reignited the passion for writing.
But even I knew it wasn’t a great book. Wonderful topic. Terrible book.
By December, I’d found podcasts by Joanna Penn, Self Publishing Authors (SPA) Girls, and others, plus a heap of resources — thanks to NaNo.
To be able to write the book I wanted, I needed to practice writing books. I chose Romance. I mean, it was one of the most prolific genres, so it must be easy to write. Right?
Apparently not. I found my characters had minds of their own and the story took directions I didn’t foresee. Instead of battling the voices, I went with the flow.
Book finished. Now to market it to Christian Romance. That’s the market I was aiming for.
With a full-blown launch to all ten of my followers, I watched and waited with bated breath, only to release it slowly. Not much happened. So, I went on to write the next romance book. Again, with noisy characters.
By the sixth book, I realized this writing virus I’d picked up wasn’t going away soon. I needed professional help.
Shaking in my boots, with a recommendation from the O’Dark:30 Club support team (an online writing group hosted on Jessie’s Coffee Shop every day, hosted by Judy L Mohr, the Black Wolf editor), I passed the book to an editor. I paid the bill, hoping my new found love wouldn’t be crushed.
Iola Goulton of Christian Editing Services was very kind and gentle with me. She gave fantastic feedback to improve the story.
Iola chatted about women’s fiction. Huh? I never thought my story fitted there. So why did it?
By now I’d joined the Romance Writers of New Zealand and the local Christchurch chapter. More resources and learning.
To be a true romance, if you take the romance thread out, the story plot will not standalone without it. The story of finding love is central to the plot. A reader will feel cheated if the trials don’t culminate in an engagement, marriage, or a decent happy ever after.
My women’s fiction story stood without the loving. Yes, there might be romance, but it wasn’t necessary to the story.
The premise for the latest story came from a TED message by Belgian Therapist, Esther Perel, who spoke about infidelity and could a marriage survive?
Well, that’s a deep sort of topic. What if, in the marriage, the infidelity was accepted? And what if it had a Christian background like Hosea and Gomer in the Old Testament? Would the couple be constrained to not have affairs, or would early Christian grounding be enough to keep them faithful?
Looking at the premise, it’s very clear this was not a romance book either.
What is Romance?
Literary Description
In literature, romance is defined as a narrative genre that involves a mysterious, adventurous, or spiritual story line, where the focus is on bravery and strong values. Not always a love interest.
But for a true romance novel reader, that wouldn’t quite cut the mustard. The romance, the developing of the relationship, is essential to the story.
It has to be better than what the reader has going on in their life. It needs to lift them briefly above their current circumstances and make them want the love to happen.
Emphasis is on the first kiss in sweet romance. If the story doesn’t finish with at least the ring on the finger, or better still the wedding, the reader feels cheated.
The easiest distinguishing characteristics of romance fiction are:
- the relationship is the central plot arc of the story,
- and there is a happily-ever-after (HEA).
Heat in Christian Romance
This is really a topic on its own. So, here’s a quick overview.
Heat is the extent and speed in which the relationship develops.
Heat decides the sub-genre which can range from Christian and Sweet (where any sex is in the imagination of the reader because in the book the sex part stops at the bedroom door) — think Disney movies. There will be very little or no swearing in this genre.
Melissa Combs explained it this way.
“A writer needs to know what they are comfortable writing as well as the publisher's guidelines which can differ from one publisher to the next.
At the extreme end of the scale, the love description is extremely erotic. But publishers differ on what characterizes erotic. A couple of the same gender might be considered very hot just because of the gender of the main characters. Strong sexual tension between a couple that isn’t consummated until the final chapter could be extremely erotic.”
What is Women’s Fiction?
Women’s fiction is much broader and harder to get anyone to agree on what it is and isn’t.
In a nutshell, it is about women attempting to overcome personal and external adversity. It’s relatable to women.
For women’s fiction:
- the reader must be able to relate to the character as she understands her own life;
- the story can fit at any point in a woman’s life;
- it’s the type of book women will talk about and relate to;
- the book might help a woman look at the struggles and say, hey, this is what I’m going through;
- and it’s a story a woman can relate to and hopefully grow from.
Understanding the differences between romance and women’s fiction will help with the plot arc. What it must have, and what it doesn’t need.
Choosing Genre
Deciding to put women’s fiction into romance or vice versa isn’t recommended. Expect rejection letters from publishers and fans of the genre to give bad reviews.
Giving readers what they expect increases the chances of their loving your work.
If you don’t want your work classified as one or the other, remember our libraries and book stores are split up into categories and subcategories. It makes it easy for the reader to find what they are looking for.
Wanting to be different, adding to the story out of category, should only be attempted once understanding of the genre is very clear.
Understanding my genre has been freeing. I have been able to let my characters have free rein, and the story is much less constrained.
In Closing
I hope you’ve found this helpful. As a newbie, I’m incredibly grateful to the generosity of authors giving so much support to new writers and each other. It’s refreshing.
I’m extremely grateful to Judy L Mohr and Black Wolf Editorial Services. The extent of the resources is detailed and incredibly generous on Judy’s part. The articles will help you find and understand your genre.
(Comment from Judy: Carron, you’re making me blush! But I’m glad you find the resources helpful. And I’m extra glad that Iola was able to help you find some direction when I couldn’t.)
