Avoid These 8 Mistakes Romance Authors Make

November 20, 2023

Mistakes Romance Authors Make

As an editor for indie romance authors, I read a lot of books! I love romance, and I love editing romance. My goal is to help newer authors navigate the world of self-publishing so they can release the best version of their book possible.

What does this mean? Well, in the simplest terms, it means I want to help! I am not sitting at my desk judging the writing, characters, or plot of any author I have the privilege to work with. Believe me when I say that I AM ON YOUR TEAM.

I am in your corner.

My primary job is to make sure the story you want to tell is the one that gets put on the page.

I do see some things come up pretty regularly and I want to use this blog post to lay ’em all out. My hope is that if you read this you may be able to catch some of these pitfalls before your story goes to beta readers or your editor.

Questions about anything in this blog? Send me a message—I’d love to chat with you about this or about a project you’re working on!

Mistake 1: No HEA

If you are writing a romance novel…your book needs to have a happily ever after. If it doesn’t have a HEA…you haven’t written a romance.

A HEA is a convention of the genre and a reader expectation.

The Romance Writers of America say that “two basic elements comprise every romance novel: a central love story and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.”

Nothing makes a romance reader more upset than reading a book marketed as romance that doesn’t have a happy ending! (Note: some romance novels end with a HFN—Happy For Now—and that is also acceptable for the genre.)

There is an exception to this rule: series. The ending of a series should definitely have a satisfying HEA, but that doesn’t mean that each book in the series needs to have one. It is very popular on Kindle Unlimited for authors to write a three or four book series and end all of them, except for the final book, with a cliffhanger. As long as your readers know that the book is part of a series, they generally won’t be upset at having to wait another book or two to get that HEA.

Mistake 2: Too Much External Plot

A romance novel is a novel where the primary plot is the love story. If the love story isn’t the focus, you are writing fiction with a romance subplot.

For instance, if you are writing an epic fantasy where two of the main characters fall in love, but the true conflict is the final battle between good and evil…you have written a fantasy with a romantic subplot, NOT a romance. This is called a romantic fantasy.

Be careful that you aren’t spending a ton of time worldbuilding or focusing more on the external plot and world. The center of the novel is the emotional growth and relationship between the two characters. Yes, you need some external plot, but the primary focus is on the relationship between the two love interests.

Mistake 3: InstaLove is Too Instant

Your characters should not begin their love story in a perfect relationship.

Yes, Instalove (and Instalust) is a wonderful trope to use in your romance novel, but just because your characters have an immediate connection doesn’t mean everything is coming up roses for them the entire way through the story.

There has to be conflict somewhere. You can love someone and still feel inadequate. You can love someone and still need to heal from your own trauma. You can love someone and still need to figure out how to make your love story survive in the world.

Don’t forget to build in tension and conflict.

Mistake 4: Sex Scenes with No Purpose

No, every sex scene does not need to advance the plot! I feel like I’ve been seeing that a lot lately, and it just isn’t true! Sometimes sex scenes in romance novels are just for fun (just like in real life!).

One of the mistakes romance authors make is not knowing WHY they’re putting a sex scene in at that particular moment. Don’t just have a sex scene because you think your book needs more spice.

Does it advance the plot? Does it tell us something about the characters? Does it provide a lighthearted moment? Does it ramp up the tension? Does it provide some emotional growth?

Ask yourself WHY you’re including it, and if you can’t think of a reason…you should think about cutting it.

Mistake 5: Ignoring the Emotional Journey

Remember, the heart of romance (pun intended) is the emotional journey between the main characters. When writers make this the focus, their book is always stronger.

Yes, the external plot is important because it makes the story feel well-rounded, but it isn’t the main story.

A lot of the major character development and emotional work in the story happens internally. It can be hard to show those things. Some authors feel like they’re repeating themselves or saying things they think are obvious. They are worried about boring their readers or making them feel patronized. As long as you aren’t saying things ten times in a row, trust me when I say that your readers want you to include all of this in the story! Readers want to know what is at stake for your characters!

We should be able to chart the emotional growth and journey of the main characters throughout the story. Each character (whether they are a hero or heroine or nonbinary character) should begin with an individual emotional wound. The love story helps them heal it so they can enter into a healthy relationship with the other main character.

Mistake 6: Not Letting Scenes Breathe

One of the mistakes romance authors make is rushing through scenes or conversations. It’s ok to let characters breathe and to let them sit with their emotions and thoughts for a while.

Letting scenes breathe gives the reader time to digest what is happening and also gives them the opportunity to more fully relate to your characters.

Go through your manuscript and look for places where the pacing feels abrupt or where the emotional journey or external plot get resolved too quickly. Build in some time for the characters and scenes to breathe.

Mistake 7: Clichés, Clichés, Clichés

Remember, tropes are NOT clichés.

Interested in learning more about tropes? Read my blog post Using Tropes in Romance Novels: How to Make Them Work For You.

Cliché phrases are a sign of lazy writing. They’re typically overused, unimaginative phrases that do not help make your story memorable, but they are one of the most common mistakes found in romance writing. This is because they feel “right” or familiar to us since we have seen them so many times before. This article gives some great tips on finding clichés in your writing!

One of the mistakes romance authors make is relying too heavily on clichés or cliché phrases.

When you’re writing, work to figure out how your specific characters would say something (without relying on a cliché phrase!). Come up with something new for your protagonist to say or think!

Mistake 8: Not Hiring an Editor

You knew I had to say it, right? As an editor for indie romance authors I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tell you why hiring an editor takes your book to the next level.

I’ll keep it short and sweet. Here are five reasons you need to hire an editor:

Reason 1: You want to put out a quality product.

If you want your novel to be the best it can be, you need to allow someone with the necessary training to use their eagle eyes to catch everything that may pull a reader out of the story. Readers want fantasy, and they want an escape! When your book hasn’t been edited it is more likely to have mistakes that remove the readers from the fantasy world you have created.

Reason 2: You're a professional writer.

It doesn’t matter if you have an agent, a fancy publishing advance, or a special-edition hardcover of your book. You are a writer! Part of being a professional writer is putting out a professional product free from errors. When you hire a professional editor, you can do that.

Reason 3: You'll lose potential lifelong readers.

You became a writer because you had a story inside you that needed to come out. Get the most eyes on your story by publishing it in its best condition. I know you’ve seen reviews on Goodreads totally trouncing on a book filled with typos, continuity issues, and plot holes.

What are the chances that those reader-reviewers are going to pick up a second book by that same author? Pretty slim! What are the chances that a lot of other readers are going to see those reviews and decide against reading that same book? Pretty likely!

I know it’s a hard pill to swallow, but reviews on websites like Goodreads can sometimes make or break a book’s success, or determine whether an author builds a loyal fanbase. Give yourself the best possible shot at gaining a loyal following by making sure every book has quality content that’s been edited by an expert.

Reason 4: You need fresh eyes.

Fresh eyes are invaluable to the writing process. You’ve just spent months of your life writing your story! Why wouldn’t you want to take a little time to step away from it and let someone with fresh eyes catch things you can’t see? Your book isn’t free from errors, and sometimes you really need an editor to see some of them.

Hiring an editor allows your story to speak. It gives it room to breathe and develop. Together with an editor, your story can be even better than you ever imagined.

Sometimes we have to get out of our own way for our best writing to come to life.

Editors can also flag sensitivity or conscious language issues for you. You may not realize something is offensive (or coming across that way). Working with an editor will help you to correct those issues before they alienate readers.

Reason 5: You want to work on your craft.

No, editing is not just finding grammatical errors. A good editor looks for plot holes, continuity and consistency issues, language problems, characterization, and voice (among other things!). It’s not just punctuation we are commenting on when we get your manuscript.

A good editor will point out things like filter words, crutch words, and things that don’t make sense in your story. We often can’t see these things on our own because we are too close to our writing.

If you want to improve your craft so you can make your novel the best it can be—and so you can keep writing books that just get better and better—an editor is who can help you with that.

Interested in learning more about the editing process? Check out these blogs:

4 Types of Editing for Indie Authors

Unlock the Book Editing Process: A Step-by-Step Guide

11 Essential Questions to Ask an Editor Before Hiring Them

Do you need to hire an editor for your self-published book?

Avoid These Mistakes Romance Authors Make!

Writing a novel can feel overwhelming, but I’m here to help. Remember, I’m in your corner. 🙂 If you need someone to bounce ideas off of, or are interested in hiring an editor, please contact me. I’d love to put your book in my TBR!