Love Story vs Romance: Key Writing Differences Explained

What’s the difference between writing a love story and a romance novel? Learn the key rules, endings, and writing tips for each genre.

Love stories and romance novels both include love, but they are fundamentally different types of books. So how do you tell the difference? More importantly, how do you write them? Firstly, let’s look at the differences.

Let’s take a deeper look at the difference between the two starting with Romance.

The umbrella genre of Romance has many sub-genres. Here is a very short list of romance writers from the UK, Canada, Australia, and South Africa.

And, if you’re looking for South African romance writers, there’s Joss Wood, Anthony Ehlers, and all the writers at Romance Writers of South Africa

What Do Romance Books Promise Readers

A lot, if you go by the fact that Romance is consistently the highest-grossing genre year by year. There’s escapism, hope, true love, everything turning out alright in the end, there’s someone for everyone, and of course, a happy ending. There are publishers that want these novels every month.

7 Things To Remember When Writing Romance

1. It is read by all ages, mostly women, and is said to prop up the entire book industry because it is so successful. It is the commercial genre of Romance/Love. Writing Tip: Decide what sub-genre your romance fits under and then read as many books as possible in the sub-genre, noting what works, what doesn’t, what are the readers looking for. Which are the bestsellers and why, and which books promise a lot but leave you feeling meh. A good start is to write the sub-genre you like to read.
2. The focus of romance books is on the relationship between the two main characters (usually the romantic hero and romantic heroine) and how they get together – whether this is all the way to the alter, or just as a couple. If the ‘will they, won’t they’ question isn’t answered with a resounding ‘YES!’ then it’s not a romance. Writing Tip: Stick to the progress of the relationship, keep sub-plots to a minimum, keep the cast small.
3. Some feel that Romance books are either trashy or give readers an unrealistic view of men or reality. This is such a tired old reaction, and I do wish we didn’t have to keep defending Romance books against the misogynists. We live ‘reality’, and sometimes a book that promises hope that true love exists, or just want a beach read, or romantic escapism, then Romance books are what readers are looking for. Writing Tip: Having said that we don’t read Romance for realism, there is still a fair amount of realism that is needed. Pregnancies still take nine months. Even if you have a private helicopter, getting from London to Edinburgh will still take a set amount of time. If you have a peanut allergy, you will still end up in hospital if you eat them.
4. Some people, men mostly, decry Romance books as too predictable – as if books where the detective always catches the criminal isn’t. Life is unpredictable, so it’s a delight to read a book where hope, joy, happiness, and the romance are predictable, even if the two main characters must jump through some hoops to get there. Writing Tip: You MUST have a happy-for-now, or a happily-ever-after ending if you want your book to fall into the romance genre. That’s why people will read your book, for that ending!
5. Romance books are easy reads, require no soul-searching by the reader, are commercially profitable, and a lot of fun. That’s why The Fault In Our Stars, Gone With The Wind, Romeo And Juliet are love stories and not Romances. The angst in Romance novels tends to be easily solvable. Not so in Love stories. Writing Tip: Easy to read doesn’t mean all fluff and no substance. Write as well as you can at ALL times. Remember, if you don’t (insert emotion here) when your write the scene, your reader won’t either. Avoid the mistake of making the solution to a misunderstanding or other angst a simple conversation. It irritates readers immensely.
6. Just because Romances are easy to read doesn’t mean they aren’t well-written and well-researched, funny, and delightful. Georgette Heyer is a prime example of Georgian Romance that romance readers return to repeatedly. I’d go so far as to say that any Regency or Georgian Romance written after Georgette Heyer is automatically compared to her books, and she remains on the throne. Writing Tip: Do your research. If your romance is between a barista and a customer who is a barrister, think about company policy at the coffee shop, the hours a barrister works, how much a barista earns vs how much the barrister may earn. That also comes down to realism as well. Think through the possible and realistic social, educational, life-goal ambitions, etc., of your two characters. How realistic is a happy-ever-after for them. I mean, it’s possible for sure, but think through the obstacles carefully. How will the barista hold their own at a dinner where everyone else are lawyers?
7. It’s often also men that disparage Romance books claiming that they ruin the chances for actual live men. Writing Tip: Mr Darcy did that two hundred years ago. Blame Jane Austen. And don’t drop your standards. Don’t write Mr Wickham and expect readers to see him as a hero unless you write a strong and believe redemptive arc for him.

Top Tip: Sign up for our romance writing course: This Kiss.

What Do Love Stories Promise Readers

Drama, potentially a lot more emotion than Romance, characters who are not looking to merely ‘hook-up’, a lot more other plot, possibly a fair amount of sub-plots, settings are often historical – from the recent past backwards, hopefully deep research into the history in which the book is set, possibly heartbreak, even tragedy, and an ending that may or may not be happy-ever-after. You won’t know until you get there. The book can include much heavier subjects than Romance, including war – civil or global, abandonment, slavery, societal norms and expectations, betrayal, adultery, divorce, sexual assault, and death. It often has a more literary feel than Romance.

3 Things To Remember When Writing Love Stories

1. Sub-plots and secondary characters matter. Because the romance happens with a greater environment within a historical context in which the politics or social norms will inform the plot, sub-plots and secondary characters are necessary. The focus is never just the relationship between the two main characters. And while I have strong issues with Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell, it is a good example of this. Because the book focuses on Scarlett’s attempts to survive as a woman used to a certain level of comfort and admiration during the civil war, her relationship with Rhett Butler is not the primary driving force in the book. And (spoiler alert) it doesn’t end well for her. Writing Tip: Remember that it is the factors beyond the main couple’s relationship that is driving the plot. They can be simple – the class difference between Mr Darcy and the Bennets, as well societal and family expectations, or multifaceted and dramatic – a civil or global war that with which main characters must contend.
2. Even though Love Stories generally have more gravitas to them, and, sometimes, a knowledge of the history in which the book is set, as well as an interest in events beyond the readers own experience, doesn’t mean that they can’t be easy to read. They may be uncomfortable to read, but they don’t need to be academic. Writing Tip: Flow, texture, and atmosphere are important. Writing for ease of reading matters. And while you don’t need and shouldn’t write in Middle English if your book is set in the late 14th Century, do your research in terms of jargon, slang, idioms etc of the day and avoid using the modern equivalents.
3. It is read by all ages, mostly women who want something more than just a happy ending. That’s not to say they don’t like a happy ending, they do, but they’re looking for more reasons why this is true love. The love must be earned, not expected. It is the more literary genre of Romance/Love. Writing Tip: Good research matters to readers of love stories, and you will be pulled up on it if you get it wrong. Don’t make assumptions, and don’t rely on movies or TV shows to give you truthful answers to your research. Unless you’ve heard it praised on sites such as History Hits or on other reliable history sites.

Here is a short list of love story authors that wouldn’t really be classed as Romance.

The Last Word

If your story is built entirely around a relationship and ends on a positive note, you’re writing a romance. If love exists within a broader, more flexible narrative, you’re writing a love story. Choose Romance if you want: a clearly defined genre, strong commercial appeal, and loyal readers with specific expectations. Choose a Love Story if you want: more creative freedom, flexibility in tone and structure, and the ability to explore complex or heavier themes

If you’d like to learn how to write a great book, sign up for one of the rich and in-depth courses that Writers Write offers and get your writing career off to a great start. Sign up for our romance writing course: This Kiss.

Source for image: Dupe Photos

by Elaine Dodge. Author of The Harcourts of Canada series and The Device Hunter, Elaine trained as a graphic designer, then worked in design, advertising, and broadcast television. She now creates content, mostly in written form, including ghost writing business books, for clients across the globe, but would much rather be drafting her books and short stories.

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