This writing workshop, The Rules of Writing Romance with Melanie Saward, takes place at Writing NSW in Sydney.

There’s no denying that romance is absolutely booming right now: walk into any bookshop and you’ll be confronted by a wall of fun illustrative covers and cutesy titles. But despite this, publishers in Australia are lagging in the current romance boom, which means they’re desperately seeking on-trend romance.

Is this course right for you? Read our FAQ >

In this writing workshop with author and editor Melanie Saward, we will discuss the rules of writing romance: the structure, tropes, and different subgenres. Then we’ll break down the tropes and explore how to use them along with structure to plan an on-trend Australian romance novel. We’ll look at the traditions of romance and the ways in which writers can play with the rules (and sometimes break them) to create romance for broad and diverse audiences because love and joy is for everyone!

We’ll draw from the work of Australian romance authors like Jodi McAlister, Kylie Scott, Rachael Johns, and Claire Christian as well as international bestsellers like Abby Jimenez, Ali Hazelwood, Tahlia Hibbert and Emily Henry.

Please note, this workshop can get a little spicy so it’s adults only!

Expected learning outcomes

In this workshop, participants will:

1. Learn about romance and some of its subgenres
2. Gain insights into current market and audience trends for traditionally published romance
3. Learn the basic structure, tropes, and rules of writing romance (and how to break them)
4. Begin to plan their own romance novel.

This workshop takes place at Writing NSW in Sydney.

Participant requirements

Please bring pen and paper, or a fully charged device. Please read our FAQ before enrolling.

If you have questions about this course, please contact us.

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