Love is love and there should be romance novels that reflect every type of relationship. Here’s some advice for writing, and editing, authentic queer romance books.
What is a queer romance novel?
A queer romance novel is exactly the same as a romance novel, except it features LGBTQ+ characters! Queer romances feature the same tropes, action beats and structure as straight romance novels.
What’s different is the focus on the type of love. This could be same-sex love, featuring two male or two female characters. Or it could feature gender diverse characters, trans+ characters or non-binary characters.
Don’t forget, along with this, different types of relationships can also be queer. Polyamorous and open relationships, for example, can also feature in queer romance novels.
Writing queer romance novels
Start with romance
Whether it’s a HEA (happily every after), a love triangle, a friends-to-lovers or enemies-to-lovers (other flavours of romance are available!), the starting point to any queer romance novel is the romance itself.
The plot needs to be driven by the developing love story. The story must also be heading towards a satisfying conclusion for the readers.
This might not be a happy ending, but it needs to be satisfying for the reader typing up the loose ends, resolving all the issues.
Study romance novels to understand how readers expect a certain structure and rhythm. When the characters first meet, how they fall for each other, and the challenges they all have to overcome, can all fall at predictable points in a romance novel. This might sound formulaic, but romance readers can enjoy this predictability. Plus, after you’ve studied the genre, you can start to subvert the norms! How queer!
Romance novels can be set at any time and in any place. Don’t think that because you’re writing a romance novel, you can’t set it in 1920’s Manchester or the furthest reaches of the galaxy!
romance tropes
Tropes play a big role in romance novels. This is a list from kindlepreneur.com:
- Enemies to Lovers
- Friends to Lovers
- Love Triangle
- Billionaire Romance
- Secret Billionaire
- Stuck Together
- Second Chance at Love
- Forbidden Love
- Fake Relationship
- Soul Mates (True Love)
- Opposites Attract
- Secret Identity
queer characters
Of course, queer characters are at the heart of any queer romance novel. Devising authentic queer characters is key for your romance novel to be a success. Remember, there’s a whole spectrum out there, and we representation across the board.
Crucially, it’s important to remember not to perpetuate any harmful or unhelpful stereotypes when you write queer characters. Try to avoid using queer trauma and sadness, too. Queer romance novels should be about people finding love!
Developing queer romance novels
As a developmental editor, I focus on different areas of your story to make it as strong as it can be.
- Your plot
- Structure and pacing
- Characterisation, dialogue and character arcs
- Your voice and writing style
The plot
As a developmental editor, I will work with you to develop the plot, making it engaging for the reader. While tropes are useful, you need to be telling your story in a way that is unique and different. A developmental edit can help you identify ways to improve your storytelling.
Characters
As an LGBTQ+ specialist editor, I can work with you to develop authentic queer characters. This is especially important if you are not from the LGBTQ+ community.
Understanding the challenges and complexities of queer life and portraying that on the page can be difficult, but this is where I can guide you.
Copyediting historical fiction
Copyediting is the stage where your writing is polished and made ready for the reader. I take the text of your book and work with it sentence-by-sentence, addressing everything from spelling, punctuation and grammar to overall sense and flow.
I like to break copyediting down into these five C’s:
- Consistency
- Clarity
- Conciseness
- Correctness
- Conscious language
Copyediting is also the stage where I ensure that your book is clear for the reader, every sentence makes sense and that your writing is concise and to the point. If the crime or the solving of it aren’t clear, it’s going to put off the reader and they are not going to enjoy your writing.
If you are including queer characters and situations, it’s important that these are handled well with language that suits. As an LGBTQ+ specialist, this is something that I can support you with at the copyediting stage. For example, this could be about ensuring the language around homophobic crimes is handled sensitively and authentically to the time period.
Next steps
Once copyediting is complete, your text should be almost ready for your readers. After typesetting and formatting your book, a proofread will check for any last typos or errors and then you are good to go!
Nick (he/him) is an experienced, professional editor and proofreader, specialising in LGBTQ+ writing. Use this form to get in touch right now!
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