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This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer Raven Minyard, BA. Raven Minyard graduated from Sweet Briar College with a BA in English and Creative Writing in 2020. While in college, she served as co-editor-in-chief of Sweet Briar’s literary magazine Red Clay and has since gone on to write for publications such as The Zillennial Zine and Every Halloween night. Raven recalls reading articles from the early days of wikiHow during her childhood and is thrilled to now be writing for their content team. She enjoys learning about new interests and topics with each article she writes and hopes to help audiences of all backgrounds continue to learn new and exciting things. There are 15 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of all facts cited and confirming the authority of its sources. Find out more…
Whether you’re a long-time romance reader or new to the genre, you may have heard the term HEA and wondered what it means. HEA stands for “happily ever after,” and is an acronym often used by romance authors and readers to denote long-term romantic love for one another. In this article, we’ll teach you what HEA means, how it differs from HFN (good luck for now), and how to write your own HEA. Plus, learn which popular books have HEAs, whether romance books have to have HEAs, and other book-related jargon.
HEA is an acronym for “happily ever after.” It refers to the happy ending the main characters get at the end of a romance book, where they end up together in a long-term relationship. HEAs often come in the form of engagements or marriages.
Choose your romantic subgenre. All romance novels must have a central love story and a happy ending, but beyond that, there are many sub-genres and niches to choose from. Think about what kind of romance you like to read (eg: historical or contemporary) and choose which one to write. Some popular romance subgenres include:[6]
- Contemporary romance: set from 1950 to the present and primarily focuses on a romantic relationship
- Erotic romance: explicit sexual content is a central part of a love story and is necessary for character growth and relationship development, it may contain elements of other subgenres
- Historical romance: set before 1950
- Paranormal Romance: set in a fantasy world or contain fantasy, paranormal or science fiction elements as an integral part of the plot
Create compelling characters. A good romance starts with well-developed characters. Give your characters different personalities, motivations, fears and flaws. Make sure they are compatible, have chemistry and a believable connection. Remember that readers want characters they can root for, so make sure they grow and change and aren’t flawless.[7]
- In addition to developing your love interests, create a cast of supporting characters that add depth to the story. Consider giving your characters friends, family, and even enemies.
Build romantic tension. Don’t make your characters connect right away; give your readers something to look forward to. Create obstacles for love interests to face, such as external pressures, insecurities, mistrust, and misunderstandings. Allow their attraction to build slowly through the use of dialogue, body language, and inner thoughts as they react to the events of the story.[8]
Include popular tropes. While your story should be unique, don’t be afraid to use popular tropes, as romance fans tend to like their familiarity. Decide if you want your story to be friends lovers, enemies lovers, fake dating or any other popular love story. Consider combining a few to make the romance more interesting.[9]
Develop a strong plot. Create a loose (or detailed) outline of how you want your story to unfold, creating an effective beginning, middle, and end. If you’re not sure where to start with plotting, try coming up with these 5 plot points:[10]
- Inciting incident: This is a “meet cute”, where love interests meet for the first time or see each other again after a long absence.
- Draft point 1: The protagonist acknowledges their attraction as a love interest, even if it’s only to themselves.
- Middle point of the plot: Also known as “false victory” or “false defeat”, the course of a relationship changes for better or for worse.
- Draft point 2: This is the darkest point for the protagonist and usually results in a breakup.
- Peak: The moment when lovers declare their love for each other.
Write your happily ever after. Make sure your characters get a happy ending – your readers are counting on it. Make sure the characters resolve their conflicts and find happiness together, hinting at or outright stating a long-term future together. Consider ending your story with an engagement, wedding, or other expression of deep commitment.[11]
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Source: HIS Education