Romantic Tension is the Cornerstone of All Romance Novels
Romance novels have become sexier in the past several years, going further and further toward erotica and explicit sex scenes.
Obviously, there is a market for such books, but the market for the less explicit and more reserved still holds a strong position in the romance novel world.
How to Write Romantic Tension:
Sweet Romance and Inspirational Romance
One of the features that sweet romance and inspirational novelists site as a bonus in the less sexually explicit sub-genres, is that the author has to pay special attention to creating romantic tension between the two main characters, without the addition of sex scenes.
Know Your Characters
This requires knowing your characters well—before you start writing.
What does your heroine want?
What’s at stake if she doesn’t get it?
How motivated is she to keep moving toward obtaining her goal?
The higher the stakes, the greater the tension.
Your Hero Character
Likewise, your hero character must have an agenda of his own.
The stakes must also be high.
He has a lot to lose if he doesn’t achieve his goals.
Enter the heroine, into his life.
Whether these two are thrown together by outside forces, or their interior issues draw them together, keep in mind that they may be working at cross-purposes to each other.
Even if your main characters are working toward an external common goal, the tension will remain high if their internal goals create obstacles to them being together.
The Object of the Story
The object of the story, and your objective as an author, is to help these two overcome those obstacles so they can be together.
When you look at it that way, it’s easy to see that you don’t have to have bedroom scenes to achieve the romantic tension your story deserves.
And that romantic tension is what will keep readers turning pages.
About Wendy Dewar Hughes
Wendy Dewar Hughes writes award-winning inspirational suspense novels, and sweet romances set in contemporary times.
Her fiction inspires and entertains readers with compelling plots, fascinating characters, and satisfying romance—page-turning fiction that is fast-paced and exciting with unexpected sparks of humor.
She also writes non-fiction on spiritual and personal interest topics as well as business subjects.
Find out more about her books at www.wendydewarhughes.com.
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