Writing Romance

As one of the biggest selling genres in the adult-fiction market, romance fiction today is all about smart, fresh, up-to-date and endlessly diverse storytelling.

Course director and tutor Heidi Rice has 14 years’ experience as a romantic fiction author and has sold over three million books worldwide. She is also an experienced teacher. As a USA Today bestseller and three-times RITA® award finalist, Heidi is an expert guide to the conventions and techniques you need to write vivid and engaging romantic stories.

You’ll learn how to create compelling protagonists and a unique opening hook to grab any agent or publisher’s attention, how to understand the relationship between internal and external conflict, how to build emotional (and sexual) tension, how to create convincing emotional turning points in your story to construct an engaging plot, and how to write authentic and compelling dialogue.

As you work through each weekly session you’ll collaborate with a close-knit team of fellow writers to develop the tools you need to explore your own potential within this evocative, exciting and constantly evolving genre while also getting individualised feedback from Heidi on your submissions.

You’ll learn from:

• Videos from Heidi Rice and other writing experts
• Written guidance from Heidi explaining the conventions and techniques of romantic fiction
• Reading extracts carefully selected to help you understand what works – and what doesn’t – in this genre
• Reading and viewing lists from Heidi
• Short quizzes to help you think about your own writing and test your learning
• Samples of Heidi’s writing plans and drafts of her novels to show how successful authors develop characters and plot stories
• Exercises to help you experiment and practise your own writing, from the first session onward
• Online discussions with writers in your group and the chance to share and give feedback on each other’s writing

You’ll need:

• 5-7 hours per week to work through the course
• A notebook and pen or pencil, if you like to make notes by hand
• A laptop or computer* with:
  • A reliable broadband internet connection
  • Speakers or headphones
  • The latest version of Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Edge, or Safari
  • Microsoft Word. If you don’t have this you can download Open Office free
  • Adobe Reader, latest version. Download free
  • QuickTime Player, latest version. Download free

*You can access the course from a tablet or smartphone, but we recommend using a laptop or computer, as this makes it easier to share your work files with your writing group.

Within our online alumni area you can:

• Rejoin your classmates on a private forum and access an archived version of your course materials and forum posts
• Meet alumni from other courses and groups and share your work for feedback on our alumni critiquing forum
• Join in on discussions about reading, writing, editing and ideas on our general discussion forum. This is also where we share news and useful info
• Retain access to our resources area, which has interesting and informative links
• Chat with other people online using the alumni area live chatroom. We also host live chats with guests here

Commission a report on your work
If you’d like to receive a personalised, detailed report on your final piece of writing from your course tutor, this is available at an extra cost. You’ll receive detailed written feedback assessing your ideas and writing, plus advice on what steps to take next.

Taking things further
If you’d like to continue on to another Professional Writing Academy course, we’ll give you a discount. Please get in touch for more details.

Writing tips from Heidi 

Why I love writing romance