If writing romance appeals to you, you will be pleased to hear that romantic fiction is currently the largest and bestselling genre of fiction. It is also the most diverse fiction category, in terms of the sheer number of sub-genres that it contains.
If you are interested in writing romantic fiction, the advice is to identify the sub-genre that most appeals to you and then familiarize yourself with its demands through reading and analysis.
I mentioned earlier that some types of novel are stricter than others in terms of the conventions, or rules, of that genre, and romantic fiction is the strictest of all.
Each publishing house has very specific requirements - as to preferred length, the type of heroine and hero, the degree of acceptable sensuality, and so on. And it is your job to learn these conventions.
(One good way to do this, other than reading plenty of romantic fiction, is to read a specialist guide on the subject, written by an expert in how to write romance novels. You will find a list of recommended titles here.)
Although romantic novels form a broad category, they all have the following in common...
Here are some of the principal sub-genres of romantic fiction:
Many would-be novelists are put off writing romantic fiction because of the strict conventions and because of its (unfair) negative image.
My advice, as ever, is to write the type of book that you want to write. If you want to be a romantic novelist, stand up proud and be counted.
If romance is kind of your thing but you want to create a novel that is a little edgier, you might also consider what publishers call...
Women's fiction isn't actually one of the fiction genres at all, in the sense that it is governed by no strict conventions and will be shelved in the shops along with all the general literary and mainstream fiction. But it is worth mentioning here because it is a term you will see used.
The reason it has a sub-category all to itself is that - well, women are the biggest book buyers, and they therefore have novels marketed directly at them (though I for one am a big fan of many so-called women's writers, such as Anne Tyler, Alice Hoffman, and Fannie Flagg).
What defines women's fiction? It is essentially mainstream fiction - meaning the focus is on the commonplace dramas of our everyday lives.
It tends to have one or more female protagonists at the core of the novel, often triumphing over tough circumstances.
And the subject matter tends to be something women will relate to more than men - so they are more likely to be about relationships, for example, than football! (Which is why I have included women's fiction in the same article as the one on writing romance - love will often form an important element in the novel.)
Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes At the Whistlestop Cafe is a perfect example of this type of novel.
Incidentally, a sub-category of women's fiction is "chick lit" (why don't women find that term derogatory?) These novels tend to be urban and contemporary and have a strong comic thread running through them. Think Bridget Jones's Diary.
Not interested in writing romance or women's fiction? Then how about Writing Science Fiction or Fantasy Novels instead...?