Spotlight on Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance ~An Emerald Guide Giveaway!

This week we have author Kate Walker talking about her revised edition of 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance: An Emerald Guide. 

As Kate Walker is doing a series of posts on writing craft and this Guide, do check her other posts:

Romance Book Haven

Revisions & Editions

Learning to Write

Kate Walker on the Web:


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When I first  started writing  - way back in 1984 -  there were no 'how to write romance' guide books to help me at all.  I couldn't find one in print anywhere.  That was until my sister Lucy sent me a book for Christmas that stunned and delighted me - the very first How to Write Romance I'd ever seen in my life.  This book was published   even earlier than I'd written my first attempts at a novel - it was published in 1983 and - as you can see from the cover -  it had rather an old-fashioned approach to writing Romance.    

It also has a lot on practical matters - like word counts, editors' thoughts, details on the publishing process, a  glossary of terms - so that you know exactly the ranks and orders of those ranks of editors in a  publishing office. But there's very little about the actual writing of the novel that you need to do! There is a mock up of a sort of novel - with characters labelled Harvey Handsome and Gloria Glamorous . . . 

 One thing this book did for me, was it sent me away from 'How To'  books for some years - which really  wasn't a bad thing at all. Instead I learned so much more from grabbing as many published romances as I cold find and reading them - and then reading them again - and then reading some more.

This is the first step that I will always recommend  to any of my students or anyone who contacts me and  says they want to write  Romance - or any other sort of novel really: Read, read, read.

Since then  there have been more how to books published  - a lot of them. One of my favourites was always Mary Wibberley's To Writers With Love.   I used to love Mary W's romance novels  and  I was thrilled to meet her at one of the earliest speaking events I ever did and later became a friend.

One thing I learned from her book was that I actually wanted to read it - and I enjoyed doing so.  There was also a section where she deals with all those explanations that every procrastinating would-be author comes up with  to excuse herself for not actually writing anything. At the end of that section, you feel that every excuse has been knocked away from you - and you'd better start!

I never actually planned to write a How To guide of my own. In fact I never, ever saw myself as a teacher - but gradually over time I   found myself being asked to do talks, workshops, courses, weekends on writing romance. I kept all the  notes and the handouts I'd used and I found them so useful  every   time I stood in front of a class. One thing I learned was that, like Mary W's books, courses worked better if they were fun  - we laugh a LOT at my weekend courses and  everyone who walks past the classroom wonders if we're actually studying anything!  

But I also learned  that students don't learn so well from just listening - from talking, laughing and having fun! I was once given a mug from the Romance Writers of Australia  which has the message: Writers write, everyone else makes excuses.  (Jack Bickham).  So when I did start thinking about writing what became the 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance these ideas were in my head.

I had so many messages from people who couldn't come to my courses - they had problems with time, money - or they lived in another country, far too far away.  They all  tended to ask the same questions -  so I found myself writing the same answers every time. So in the end I decided to put all those answers into one book - and the 12 Point Guide was born.  I wrote it as if I was running one of my residential courses - putting in the answers to the questions people had asked.  But I also included  something else - something more that I'd taken from these classes.  In  a   writing class, I give students the information and the explanations they need and then - to make sure that they  really have learned, and absorbed, and understand what I've been teaching them on that topic, I get them to do a writing exercise. A writing topic on the subject we've just looked at - some questions to answer  - just an encouragement to put some words down on paper.  After all, they're all there because they want to write, aren't they?

This is what I've done in the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance.  Each 'Point'  - Emotion, Dialogue, Conflict, Characters . . . has a section all to itself. There's lots of information and advice - and then there are the special things at the end of each chapter - that make this book into more than a How To -  instead it's a Workbook as well. 

Each Point has  a series of 12   questions  at the end, to test your own approach to writing on this topic. Then there are the exercises  - Something to Think About. Then there is perhaps to most important exercise of all - Something to WRITE about.  I've always loved those times in my writing classes when I say 'Now I want you to write about . . . ' And I see everyone's head bent over their paper, pens in hand (or keyboards clicking) as they WRITE.

That's what I also have in mind when someone has bought the 12 Point Guide , read, studied, the first chapter - and got to the end. And there they are asked  to WRITE. We can all  hope to learn to write by listening to a tutor - or reading a guide book - but neither the tutor nor the guide book will ever write your own novel for you. You have to do that.

That's why I've included the special sections in each 'Point' chapter in the 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance - to make it a WORKbook not just a how to guide.   And I'll let you into a secret - whenever I'm struggling with my own writing, if the words don't flow, I got back to my own copy of the 12 Point Guide, find the chapter on the subject I'm having trouble with  - and I work my way through the exercises.  It always works!

And I hope it works for you too.

Would you like to have a chance to win a giveaway copy of the 12 Point Guide?  Leave a message in the comments to let me know what you feel you need most help with in your writing - and I'll pick one response who will win a signed copy of the book in the hope of helping you with that problem!

Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance: An Emerald Guide

In this comprehensive guide, Kate Walker, an established author within the Romantic Fiction genre, covers all aspects of writing Romantic Fiction, offering budding authors invaluable tips on producing saleable works of fiction, following her 12 point guide.

Buy on:

Amazon Kindle            Book Depository

Amazon Paperback

Amazon UK 

Amazon Aust