When I first starting writing romance, I generally thought of the three act structure as follows:

Act 1 - Boy meets girl (the meet-cute)

Act 2 - Boy does something stupid to love the girl (or vice versa)

Act 3 - Boy gets girl back (HEA)

What I quickly learned when writing my first paranormal romance trilogy is...

It's not that simple.

Oh, it can be that simple but then it'd be boring af.

What are the magic ingredients?

1. You need to make your characters (even supporting characters) interesting. Make the readers want to root for this couple with a vengeance (remember the Bella/Edward versus the Bella/Jacob fan fights?). If the readers do not like either person in the coupling, it's a no-go from the start. Unless you want them to root against one or the other (or both) but then it's not really a romance, is it?
2. Make the reader invested in the happiness of the couple, but... they can't be happy in love all the time because that would be BORING! They need a conflict - something to keep them apart (another potential love interest, misunderstanding, apocalyptic battle where one is presumed dead, and other endless possibilities).
3. Tease the reader with possibility that this pairing is not going to happen for whatever reason. Maybe make them question if they even want this couple together after all. I just spent nine books in a series going back and forth with wanting the FMC with one or the other potential guys in the series. I kinda had a clue which way the author was going, but dang it if I wasn't rooting for first one guy then another, only to be brought back to contestant #1 while I was still shipping for her to get with the...get this...skeleton dude. Yes, you read that correctly. But the hot fae king wins every time!
4. Give the couple some action (this can be between the sheets, against a wall, or completely "off-screen." But for the sake of romance readers' hearts and impatience, let them have some fun. Romance requires kisses, longing looks, butterflies in the stomach, all of it! GIVE IT TO THE READERS! I'll admit some of my own readers were a bit frustrated that my FMC only got one soulful kiss at the end of book 1. There were looks, innuendo, light touches, but it took some time to get any true action. Lesson learned - more is more when it comes to romance.
5. Most importantly, when writing romance, there is one non-negotiable requirement: Happily Ever After (HEA) or Happy For Now (HFN). In every day life we don't always get the HEA, but that's not why we're reading romance. We don't want reality in romance! Romance readers want (demand) the HEA.

There's more to writing romance, there's romance story beats to hit, specifics to crafting the three acts to get to your HEA, but I'll save them for another time for the sake of not blathering on and on.

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If you're looking for help crafting your own romance stories, I offer book coaching, manuscript evaluations, and other editorial services specifically geared toward romance. Need help, simply reply to this email and we can set up a free consultation.

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Until later, my lovelies!

KC