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Romancing the Beat: Story Structure for Romance Novels (How to Write Kissing Books) Paperback – April 2, 2016

by Gwen Hayes (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,245 ratings
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What makes a romance novel a romance? How do you write a kissing book?Writing a well-structured romance isn’t the same as writing any other genre—something the popular novel and screenwriting guides don’t address. The romance arc is made up of its own story beats, and the external plot and theme need to be braided to the romance arc—not the other way around.Told in conversational (and often irreverent) prose, Romancing the Beat can be read like you are sitting down to coffee with romance editor and author Gwen Hayes while she explains story structure. The way she does with her clients. Some of whom are regular inhabitants of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists.Romancing the Beat is a recipe, not a rigid system. The beats don’t care if you plot or outline before you write, or if you pants your way through the drafts and do a “beat check” when you’re revising. Pantsers and plotters are both welcome. So sit down, grab a cuppa, and let’s talk about kissing books.
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  1. Print length
    92 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    April 2, 2016
  4. Dimensions
    5 x 0.21 x 8 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1530838614
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1530838615
  7. See all details
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Popular Highlights in this book
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  1. A well-crafted meet cute will showcase how the external goals and internal flaws introduced in the Intro beats are in conflict.
    Highlighted by 2,416 Kindle readers
  2. Every scene in your romance is informed by your character’s wound—even the ones not part of the romance arc.
    Highlighted by 2,034 Kindle readers
  3. This issue, fear, or misconception is also often referred to as a character flaw or wound.
    Highlighted by 2,024 Kindle readers
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is 100 pages of awesome. A must for any romance writer's collection!"--Tessa Dare, NYT and USA Today Bestselling author


"While other writing books focus on external conflict, Romancing the Beat really brings the whole romantic picture together for romance authors. I'll never write another romance novel without my highlighted copy of Romancing the Beat on my desk."--Celia Kyle, NYT and USA Today Bestselling Author

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (April 2, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 92 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1530838614
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1530838615
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.52 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.21 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,245 ratings

About the author

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Gwen Hayes

Gwen Hayes

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Gwen Hayes lives in the Pacific Northwest with her real life hero and the pets that own them. She writes stories for teen and adult readers about love, angst, and saving the world.

Gwen’s first novel, Falling Under, was released in March of 2011 by NAL/Penguin and followed up by the sequel, Dreaming Awake, in January of 2012.

In addition to writing, Gwen is a freelance editor at www.fresheyescritique.com.

For more information, please visit http://www.gwenhayes.com or sign up for her non-spammy newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/v-4Xj

Gwen is represented by Deidre Knight of The Knight Agency.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
2,245 global ratings
Go all 'one-clicky' on this book!
5 Stars
Go all 'one-clicky' on this book!
Gwen's style is conversational and very funny. I got the Scrivener template first, then a friend told me about this book. It's a quick read, but PACKED with information. (I'm old-fashioned and ordered the paperback version.) If you feel stuck, or just like to read craft books for inspiration, put this one on your list of "must have" books. Be like Gwen and become MOAR better (yep, it's a word, but I had to look it up). Or, as Gwen says, go all "one-clicky" on this book. You need it!
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Top reviews from the United States

Gabrielle Aubin
5.0 out of 5 stars A to-the-point guide on writing romance novels
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2024
Verified Purchase
This guide is kinda short, but it does what it says on the tin and describes the structure of a romance novel. Note there is only one structure, not more than one, and she doesn't go into what would happen if you deviate from the specified structure.

Still, it's a great guide. Hayes writes in a very personable way, full of pop culture references and humor. It may be a hit or miss in that regard. I personally wasn't a big fan of her style, but the information provided was still a gold mine.

I'm used to reading writing guides that explain the structure of novels in general. But romance novels are slightly different from that mold and having her point out those differences was really helpful to me.

Overall, I reccomend this book for people who want a concise guide to writing romance novels. I don't recommend it for veterans of the genre because it would pretty much explain the basics without going into much detail.
One person found this helpful
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Michelle - aka The Queen of Halloween 365
5.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful for writers
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2024
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This book is short but it has tons of information. This is helping immensely while I create my new paranormal romance series.
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Shopaholic Extraordinaire
4.0 out of 5 stars Would recommend!
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2023
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Was super helpful for pacing my writing! Really appreciated how short and to the point it was too. Definitely will recommend it to my writer friends! My only complaint is it could’ve used another pair of eyes before publishing as there were a handful of typos and some layout inconsistencies. But I was able to overlook them because the information was so useful.
3 people found this helpful
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Laina Reed
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, quick break down of romance plotting
Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2023
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This book was so well-written, charming and funny. I plotted while reading along and can’t wait to do the same for future novels / weak romance plot points.

Ps. The “sēx at 60” rule was actually at the 60% mark on my kindle! lol I don’t know if that was on purpose but great way to drive the point home. 🤭
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific Guide for Romance Writers
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2017
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Original review posted on the Wordy Speculations blog (https://speculationsediting.com/archives/book-review-romancing-beat-gwen-hayes/) on September 5, 2017

Romancing the Beat is a concise book on story structure for the romance novel by author and editor Gwen Hayes, who herself confesses to loving "kissing books."

As an editor, I read a lot about writing, so when I picked up Romancing the Beat, I sat down with paper and pen, ready to take notes. What I did not expect to find was a funny little book that made me laugh out loud while still actually learning something.

I Loved It, and Here's Why

What I love about Hayes’s book is that she distills the elements of romantic story structure down to their very bones and gives the reader/writer specific advice for creating the plot of a romance novel in a book you can finish in one evening.

Romance novels, unlike most other genre novels, have a pretty specific formula.

Now, don’t shoot me for saying that, but it’s true, and maybe that’s why romance novels are so successful. Readers expect certain things to happen, and when they happen, they’re happy. Without those things, readers are unhappy. They will be quick to tell you that what you have written is not a romance novel and shouldn’t be marketed as such. For example, if your lovers are cheating, you haven’t written a romance novel. If your lovers don’t get their happily ever after or at least happy for now, you also haven’t written a romance novel.

Hayes doesn’t give you tips on crafting sentences. She doesn’t give you ideas for external plot lines. She doesn’t tell you how to create the perfect hero or heroine. She focuses on one element of the craft in one genre.

Romantic story structure is all this book covers, but it covers it extremely well.

Breaking It Down

Gwen Hayes breaks down romantic story structure into bite-sized chunks: four phases, each with five beats. I won’t tell you what they are—you’ll have to read the book for that—but she goes through each phase and beat in its own mini-chapter. Then, at the back of the book, she provides an entire outline with these beats from one of her own stories. To be honest, I flipped to the end first and read this outline.

Good, complete examples are often missing in writing books. You can call beats or moments in the story anything you want, but unless the reader knows what you’re talking about and can apply it to his or her own writing, it’s all sort of abstract, hard to pinpoint, and thus, useless.

After reading Romancing the Beat, I honestly feel I could sit down and use it write an outline within an hour or so for a romance novel that would fit reader expectations. And with Hayes’s approach, it would probably be a lot of fun.

In the meantime, this book is going to serve as an important resource any time I sit down to edit a romance novel, and I’ll have no compunctions about recommending it to my writer clients and friends.

Go read it yourself.
6 people found this helpful
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J. L. Gribble
5.0 out of 5 stars exactly what I needed
Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2022
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When I decided to try my hand at paranormal romance, I knew I’d have to learn everything I could about the structure of a romance arc in order to tell a successful story. In every place I asked for recommendations on romance craft books, the top answer was always Romancing the Beat. It’s a slim volume but wasn’t terribly expensive in paperback, so I bowed to the collective expertise and bought a copy.

This book is short because it is packed with all of the necessary information for crafting how to force two (or more) people to fall in love with each other in a way specifically targeted to keep readers invested. It was hard to resist the urge to highlight pretty much every sentence—this book doesn’t waste time with filler. Hayes breaks down an interesting formula that leaves plenty of room for creativity while also explaining why each of the steps is integral. She offers suggestions of how to employ them that can be tailored to any external plot/subgenre while also reaffirming the differences between writing a compelling romance and writing a compelling story that happens to include a romance facet.

As someone who is tackling a specifically queer romance project, I truly appreciated that Hayes breaks the formula down by “H1” and “H2” and specifically states that these terms designate gender-neutral protagonists.

You can officially add my name to the list of those who will immediately recommend this craft book to anyone interested in developing romantic storylines.
4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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T Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars Whenever I think something is off about my romance, I reach for this book.
Reviewed in Canada on November 12, 2022
Verified Purchase
Whenever I think something is off about the romance in my manuscripts, I reach for this book. It's simple but detailed enough to kickstart ideas as to how to fix my relationship arcs. I have it in both print and ebook.
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T Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars Whenever I think something is off about my romance, I reach for this book.
Reviewed in Canada on November 12, 2022
Whenever I think something is off about the romance in my manuscripts, I reach for this book. It's simple but detailed enough to kickstart ideas as to how to fix my relationship arcs. I have it in both print and ebook.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute must for all romance writers
Reviewed in Spain on February 19, 2024
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Well structured, clear, with perfect samples and quick enough to read in one spare hour. I will use it straight away for the editing and rewrite of my current story and the last two as well. I love it, and will come back again in the future for sure.
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Kimberley Shead
5.0 out of 5 stars A helpful read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2024
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Romancing the best is short and to the point, for this I am truly grateful. It means I can quickly get back to writing and put into practice the beats she shares.
Also love the humour in the book!
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Tesla
3.0 out of 5 stars Carino ma un po' troppo breve
Reviewed in Italy on December 13, 2023
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Ci sono diversi spunti interessanti, ma il libro è davvero TROPPO breve... specie considerando che in ogni pagina ci saranno tipo 5 righe di media.
Consigli utili, ma rapporto qualità-prezzo un po' amara.
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Miriam Esther Puente Rodríguez
5.0 out of 5 stars La mejor inversión para escritores de romance
Reviewed in Mexico on February 5, 2021
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La guía de los "beats" para armar un arco de romance es la mejor compra para las escritoras, o escritores, que gusten del género romántico. Muy útil para quienes empiezan con sus fanfictions o historias originales.

Tiene una prosa ligera, clara, y amena que te guiara en el proceso de hacer que tus personajes se enamoren en las págincas.
One person found this helpful
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