Writers on Writing is our regular conversation with a writer or industry professional about the writing craft, industry insights, and their own practice. This week, we spoke to Anne Gracie about how feedback improves her romance novels, blending romance with other genres, and what she’s learned after publishing 30 books.

How has feedback contributed to the development of your romance novels?

In this day of AI novels flooding the market, it’s more important than ever to work on your craft-of-writing, and to develop your own unique writing “voice.” “Voice” is not just about style and word choice, it’s about the kind of books you write, the aspects of character you explore, the issues and themes you return to and, in the end, the experience you deliver to your readers. It’s the “you” in the book.

Feedback from trusted readers or good editors is essential, and not just when you’re starting out. I recently finished my 30th book, and even though I’m self-publishing this one, I still got several trusted reader/writers to critique it for me.

The thing is, after you’ve been wrestling with a book for a long time, you’re too close to it to see the weaknesses — and its strengths — and a savvy, dispassionate, and knowledgable crit is invaluable.

The very first piece of editorial feedback I got taught me to go deeper into character motivation, letting the reader understand why characters do and think things, without actually explaining it. Giving readers access to a character’s thoughts and feelings, so they can be more deeply absorbed into the experience of the book.

Since that first book, I’ve continued to educate myself on all aspects of writing — mostly craft-of-writing— I have a stack of e-zines I subscribe to which help keep me fresh.  But aspects of publishing such as promotion (which most writers generally hate) and keeping connected with readers through social media are increasingly necessary.

As well, in my experience (two large international publishers and seven editors) a lot of editors in big traditional houses don’t do a lot of editing — they’re so overworked that they often accept a manuscript if it’s “good enough”. They generally don’t try to help you “polish” it, so it’s even more important for a writer to find good crit partners and learn to do it themselves.

I’ve also learned a lot from readers — not so much getting critiques, but learning what they respond to and enjoy.

The romance genre seems distinctly capable of being blended with other genres such as fantasy-romance, historical-romance, crime-romance and more. How can a well-written, interesting romance ignite the plot of any novel?

Romance readers read across a wide range of genres, as well as romance, and yes, romance is often interwoven in a lot of other genres. Take a couple of the hottest-selling fantasy novels — Fourth Wing, and Sarah J Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses series — both of which have strong romance themes in them. Even just a thread of romance in another genre will increase the satisfaction to readers, and expand your reach, I think.

Things have changed for the better since the bad old days when thrillers like the James Bond stories treated women as the token sexual reward at the end of the story instead of actual people. The romance genre puts women at the centre of of the story.

There appears to be a growing acceptance of depicting sex, or what the nomenclature calls ‘spice’ in novels. There’s even the rise of so-called ‘spice ratings’. What are some of your secrets to writing great sex scenes?

There has always been “spice” in many romances — even forty-plus years ago, romances could be divided into “sweet” (ie. closed bedroom door), and “sexy”. These days sex scenes are regarded as pretty normal, in the same way that we take it for granted that most people today will have sex long before marriage. It’s not an “add-on” — it’s an important part of the relationship. That said, there is no compulsion to write sex scenes — there is a huge audience (especially in the USA) for “sweet” romance.

As for writing sex scenes, it depends on the intent of the writer, and the purpose of the scene. In my view, it shouldn’t just be about the sex — it should deepen conflict, or reveal character, or show a transfer of power, or change things for the character(s) involved. It needs to be part of the story, not an add-on. If a sex scene is just a description of the sex, you should think about cutting it. As well, the success or otherwise of a sex scene depends on the build up. Romances are about the development of a relationship.

What is the biggest misconception about writing romance?

There are so many misconceptions, I can’t pick just one. People often believe they’re written to a prescribed formula — they’re not: “The Formula” is an urban myth. Romances are formulaic in the same way that crime novels and other genre novels are, but like those genres, there’s a huge variation, and writers are always expanding the boundaries of the genre.

People also assume they’re easy to write: they’re not. Like all novels, you need to develop good plots, create strong character arcs, and create an entertaining and absorbing reading experience, for people who are prodigious readers. 

People often think romances will be easy money. Sadly that’s not the case. The competition is huge, and now that so many writers are self-publishing — some even using AI to write — it’s even greater. But if you can break through, and build your readership, there’s a solid career to be had. Romance writing has supported me for more than 20 years.

With more than twenty-six novels published internationally, primarily by Berkley USA (Penguin Random House), Melbournian Anne Gracie is a national bestseller in the USA. She has won many awards, and her books have been translated into more than eighteen languages. Several have been studied at tertiary level in Australia.

A former teacher, Anne is also the former president and an honorary lifetime member of Romance Writers of Australia. She loves to talk craft-of-writing, and has delivered keynotes and workshops to national conferences in the USA, Australia and NZ, as well as conducting writing workshops for five state writers’ centres. Find her at: www.annegracie.com

Join Anne’s course, Online Feedback: Romance, on Monday 4 May – Friday 17 July 2026, online. 

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