Being a romance writer is pretty awesome. I mean, seriously awesome. Not only do I get to write stories for a living, from my own home, in my pajamas, but other people actually read those stories. Which is often strange and more often just a great feeling. But there are three things that are my favorite about writing romance:
1. The Grand Idea. There’s nothing better than sitting in my living room, laying in my bed or standing in the shower and having an amazing idea pop into my head. It gives me a huge thrill and I often go bolting out of anyplace I am to scribble down the concept. It isn’t that every ‘big idea’ becomes it’s own book. There’s a lot of fleshing out that has to happen between “THIS IS AWESOME” to “this is a book”, but that first moment of a story idea is always an exciting one.
2. The moment riiiiiight before I start writing. Once I start writing I love that, too, but it’s work and a lot of it. But the moment just before I write, that’s all anticipation. By that moment, I have the book plotted, the characters worked through and everything is done except the crying. I know that in a few short weeks, I’ll have written another book, met new friends in my characters and be on my way to something for my readers. That moment is a thrill, and something very similar to what I feel just before I start a book by another author.
3. The Happily Ever After. This is one I love as a reader and a writer. It’s why romance makes my soul happy, whether I hold the pen or clutch the book as I read it. The world is such a sad place so often, and I love that when I read a romance it’s going to be okay. I can torture my characters, I can cry through someone else’s characters’ struggles. But I always know there will be a reward at the end of their long, dark road. And writing it and reading it are both what keeps me going.
So what about you? What are your favorite things about reading (or writing) romance?
