100 TIME July 19/July 26, 2021
A burned-out violinist
navigates a new romance
with the most unexpected
of suitorsTwo hit authors reunite
15 years after a steamy
affair, with just seven days
to reconnectA years-long fake
relationship between two
celebrities approaches a
breaking pointTimeOff Opener
BOOKS
How to write a romance
novel in 2021
By Annabel Gutterman
L
INGERING TOUCHES AND STOLEN GLANCES, JAW-
dropping revelations and long-awaited reunions—
the pleasures of romance novels abound. Yet for
so long, one of the most popular (and lucrative)
genres in publishing has centered stories by, for and about
a homogeneous set of women, bolstering the stereotype of
straight white women as the romantic ideal and cementing
the economic power of writers who share that identity.
But despite long-standing systemic inequities, a grow-
ing set of authors has recently found success with swoony
love stories featuring characters from backgrounds that
refl ect the diversity of the world we live in. Writers like
Jasmine Guillory, who is about to publish her sixth novel in
less than four years, and Tia Williams, whose latest novel
was selected for Reese Witherspoon’s book club, celebrate
Black women as romantic leads. Helen Hoang populates
her best-selling fi ction with neurodiverse characters, while
Casey McQuiston, whose debut novel is set to be adapted
by Amazon, fi lls her slightly fantastical worlds with queer
characters. And with the door to more inclusive storytelling
cracked open in the industry, newcomers like debut authors
and real-life wives Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta are
preparing to enter the scene. TIME spoke to these six ro-
mance authors about the evolution of the genre, the craft of
writing and the novels that changed their lives.
HELEN HOANG: Lots of people think
romance is cheap, trivial and the literary
equivalent of pornography. To me, it’s
an escape, catharsis, a bridge to build
empathy, even a political or social
statement, all while providing a full
mind, heart and body experience.
JASMINE GUILLORY: There’s this idea that
all romances are the same. Just because
they all have happy endings doesn’t
mean the books are the same. What
happy means is diff erent for everyone.What’s the worst writing advice
you’ve ever received?
HOANG: “Write every day.” As someone
who struggles with mental- health issues,
sometimes writing or working is the last
thing I should be doing. Sometimes, in
order to write better, I need to stop for a
while and give my mind time to heal.
CASEY MCQUISTON: To write toward
broad market appeal, even if yourWe all have books that have shaped
our perspectives. What was the fi rst
romance novel you ever read?
ONJULI DATTA: I stole my mum’s copy of
Sophie Kinsella’s Can You Keep a Secret?
when I was way too young for it, and I
was obsessed. There’s this scene where
the heroine steals a scallop from the
hero’s plate at dinner that I still think
about when writing food—it was such a
simple, sexy moment amidst the hijinks
and drama.
TIA WILLIAMS:A Rose in Winter by
Kathleen Woodiwiss. I was 8 years old, and
way too young to be reading a sweeping
bodice ripper. But the story defi nitely left
its imprint on the fi ction I’d grow up to
write: high-stakes, ultra- dramatic, live-or-
die, unreasonably romantic love stories.
What are the biggest misconceptions
people have about the genre—and
about writing it?
heart’s not in it. I don’t think you can
make good art when your main priority
is selling it. Write what you want to
write and what you want to read.
WILLIAMS: Stephen King is my absolute
writing idol, but he feels that fi ction
writers should remove adverbs from
their arsenal. How else do you explain
that someone “groaned inwardly” or
“sighed softly”?You all tell stories that combine the
fun and levity of romance with social
commentary. How do you fi nd a
balance between the two?
WILLIAMS: Honestly, it’s tough to be a
Black female writer in 2021 and not have
a lot to say, social-commentary-wise, no
matter the genre you’re writing in. Black