A complete guide to writing a Romantasy novel

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Not in love

• Grip your reader right from the start by opening with some action.
• Introduce Hero 1 (your point-of-view character) in their everyday life. They must be compelling, but they do not have to be likable. They may be an anti-hero, or put the grump in grumpy/sunshine.
• Show us what their world looks like. Give us a slice of life before we get a whiff of trouble.
• Introduce Hero 1’s external goal — give us a sense of why it is important to them. It’s even better if Hero 1’s external goal is in opposition to Hero 2’s external goal (that gives you immediate tension).
• Hint at the broken thing in their world – the thing that needs fixing over the course of the story (this is the central conflict).

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Not in love

• Expand on your protagonist's external goal – show us why this is important to them, and make us care about them getting it.
• Hint at the thing that is going to change for them later, and which will subsequently force them to accept the call to adventure (that thing is called plot point 1).

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Not in love

• Hint at the thing that’s holding Hero 1 back from love. It might be a flaw in the way they see the world, or a thing that’s hurt them so badly they can’t let it go. Bonus points if this thing actually helps them get their external goal (because it means that when they start to choose love this will make the external goal harder to achieve).
• Hint that the last thing Hero 1 wants right now is a relationship.
• Further establish your protagonist as three-dimensional (they must have flaws, desires, problems, and a unique personality). This is a great time to show their sense of humour, establish that they care about people other than themselves, etc.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Not in love

• Introduce Hero 2 in their everyday life (also with some action happening).
• Show us what their part of your world looks like.
• Introduce Hero 2’s external goal — give us a sense of why it’s important to them. Again, it’s even better if this directly opposes the thing that Hero 1 wants.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Not in love

• Show us Hero 2’s perspective of the broken thing in your heroes’ world (the central conflict), which you first hinted at in Chapter 1.
• Hint at the thing that’s holding Hero 2 back from love. It might be a flaw in the way they see the world, or a thing that’s hurt them so badly they can’t let it go. Bonus points if this thing actually helps them get their external goal (because it means that when they start to choose love this will make the external goal harder to achieve).
• Leave us with a clear picture of who the Heroes are now so that we can clearly see how they’ve changed by the end of the story (this is the first beat of their character arcs).

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Meet cute

• Hero 1 and Hero 2 meet for the first time. They might know each other already, but this is the first time the reader sees them together.
• It may be sweet, or have a comedic element, though it doesn’t have to. It must be memorable. There must be something magic between them. Focus on all the senses.
• Show how the heroes’ external goals are in conflict with one another.
• Demonstrate the effect that the thing holding them back from love has on their ability to relate to each other.
• Hero 1’s initial reaction to Hero 2 is that they are not interested/impressed.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Orbiting each other

• Your heroes will need to come together to solve a problem. The inciting incident establishes that problem.
• Set up your inciting incident by first establishing something important to one or both of the heroes that the inciting incident will threaten. This will be the ultimate reason they decide to do something following the inciting incident, so it's important to first show us what the stakes are.
• Use this opportunity to make us like your heroes even more: add humour, and show their kindness/soft spots.
• Start to show us signs that the inciting incident is coming, and that all may not be well.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Orbiting each other

• Given the conventional theme of good vs evil in a romantasy story, this event will usually be an attack of some sort, and it may be on on character or on a group of characters.
• The attack can be something caused by the antagonist in your story, or it can be an animal attack or an act of god (a tornado, flood, wild fire, etc).
• The event/attack should either be life-threatening, or otherwise deprive your heroes of agency. It must be something that cannot be resolved on its own, and it must require direct intervention — but at this point the heroes (or one of them) will believe that it’s someone else’s problem to deal with. They may be behaving as if nothing has changed, and may be focused on other goals.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Orbiting each other

• Ultimately they will have no choice, but at this point your heroes are fighting against the call to adventure (and their own attraction). The fact that they are ignoring it means that lives are being threatened. Present how this event impacts the heroes and why they must step into action.
• There’s a turning point that leads your heroes to realise how serious things are. There might be another attack, or your heroes might find out something revealing about the initial attack, and helps them see the extent of the disorder.
• Show how the disorder challenges your heroes’ ability to find connection/love (their internal conflict).

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: No way

• One or both of your heroes voices the reason that they will never fall in love (and especially not with the other hero). This might be internal dialogue, or something that they state in conversation with another character. They are actively fighting against/denying/ignoring the attraction they felt in the meet cute.
• One or both of your heroes faces a choice between two bad options, or two mutually exclusive good choices (i.e. where choosing one thing means that they lose out on the other thing).
• They need to decide if they are going to continue looking out for their own interests, or if they’re going to accept the call to adventure in order to restore order to the world.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: No way

• Something changes for Hero 1 and Hero 2 (might happen independently, or as a result of the same event). They realise that they can no longer avoid dealing with the events of the inciting incident (though they are very much still avoiding dealing with their true feelings).
• The thing that changes must make it personal for each of them. They realise that the only real option is to confront the threat. This thing that changes for them is called plot point 1, and you would have already foreshadowed it in Chapter 1.
• Establish the consequences of success and the consequences of failure. Both will be important to motivate your heroes.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: No way

• Have your heroes accept the call to adventure, either willingly or begrudgingly. They know they have to do something, and they are going to have to work together on this.
• Your heroes currently believe that they already have the skills necessary to succeed. They are confident that they’ll be able to restore order pretty easily, and come up with what they believe is an easy to execute plan. This is the point where a lot of tropes are introduced: the heroes begin fake dating, have a marriage of convenience, or are forced into proximity.
• Before you wrap phase 1, refresh your reader's memory of the central theme or question of the story.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: No way

• Show us how your heroes are preparing themselves to solve the problem presented by the inciting incident (the central conflict).
• Present a minor challenge or roadblock for your heroes to overcome. They should not be able to overcome this easily, they may even fail. Make them struggle. They are still unsure of themselves and their abilities.
• Show us how dangerous the world the heroes have entered is. Consider introducing a character that acts as a bridge between the heroes’ old world and this new one — someone who can guide them or initiate them.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: No way

• Have one or both heroes restate the argument against falling in love. They are still convinced that love is an impossibility (or even a disaster-zone) for them.
• Mind you: they are tempted by one another. They’re just supressing it a lot.
• If you want to introduce a sub-plot, this is the place to do it. Some sub-plot ideas: a competition, breaking a curse, a prophecy, a romance between secondary characters, a new friendship, a smaller mystery or quest, a secret or misunderstanding that adds tension, or the reappearance of an ex-lover.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Inkling of love

• Hero 1 and Hero 2 are slowly getting to know each other.
• Create a small chink in each heroes’ armour — something small that makes them think twice about this person.
• Have one hero do something that upends the way the other hero sees them.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Inkling of love

• Bring in the rising action. Something fairly big (and connected to the central conflict) must happen at this point. Think of this as throwing a spanner in the works. This is not the main battle, just the first of three challenges they need to overcome, so size it accordingly.
• Your protagonist's preparations should shift to focus on this spanner, which needs to be overcome before they can properly address the central conflict. They believe that despite the challenges, they will overcome if they just stick it out.
• They are slowly warming to each other, and developing (a begrudging?) respect for the way the other does things. It’s one more small chink in the armour.
• Bring in some friends/allies who can help them. Though, as one or both of your heroes’ powers are developing, they may be alienated from some of the allies or people they’re trying to help. They might also be vulnerable to covert agents working for the antagonist.
• One or both of your heroes might become a target of the antagonist after they excel at overcoming a challenge, or the antagonist might identify them as a threat at this point.
• Before you kick-off Battle 1 properly, flesh out your sub-plot. How does it interact with your heroes’ internal and external goals at this point in the story?

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Inkling of love

• Battle 1 begins and your heroes and friends must actively engage with the big thing that has happened, and try to overcome it.
• The antagonist may either attack the heroes, or they might try to convince one or both of them to join the dark side.
• Make sure that your sub-plot has an escalation, and that it supports the overall story.
• Ultimately, this section will end with one or both of your heroes finally understanding how difficult it’s going to be to restore order and overcome the antagonist.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Inkling of love

• Your heroes and friends must continue the dance of the call and response. Test your protagonist and their allies. Put them through the wringer. Maybe some of them don't cut it.
• This is a good opportunity to show how your heroes are starting to make each other better people (i.e. the person they could be if they could just get over that flaw or thing that hurt them and is holding them back from love).

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Inkling of love

• This is the last push your protagonist and friends do before they finally overcome the first series of obstacles and challenges.
• The antagonist brings it. They assert a huge amount of power, and the heroes are overwhelmed. They respond in a way that the antagonist doesn’t expect in order to overcome the challenge, and it works.
• Give a small nod towards the sub-plot, so that your readers don't lose sight of it.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Deepening desire

• Your heroes realise that they can’t keep lying to themselves about the way they feel about the other. Inside their own heads they are struggling to fight it any longer.
• How they act on this is up to you, but have them take a step forward in their relationship (whatever that means for your story).

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Deepening desire

• Allow your characters to regroup after battle 1. Where does this leave them concerning their external goals?
• Consider where this leaves each character in their character arc. Have they moved closer to their internal goal, or further away?
• How does the outcome of battle 1 affect your sub-plot? Bring these consequences into play before you hit the mid-point.
• One or both of your heroes finally realise that things are never going to go back to normal, no matter what they do. The fix it and forget it mission is not going to work.
• Everyone is in a state of chaos. The are not sure what they are going to do to get themselves out of this situation. It’s clearly much more serious than they initially realised (note that from this point onwards, the antagonist will become more and more unhinged — possibly as a reaction to the heroes’ unpredictable actions).

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Maybe this time it could work

• In the midst of the chaos, make your heroes the calm centre. For the first time, they experience a moment of true intimacy (whatever that means for your spice level).
• They’ve seen each other in vulnerable moments, and nothing bad has happened. So, for the first time it feels like they’ll be okay if they give in to this temptation, and let go of their fear (though they haven’t let all the walls down just yet).

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: In love

• Show us a first glimpse that things could work out for the best. This is where you show your reader how high the stakes are. What could winning actually look like? What would it mean for them?
• Remind us about your heroes’ external goal, and raise the stakes of failure. Success must feel even more important now than it was before.
• Give your heroes a medium-sized setback (not minor, but not completely devastating). They still have confidence in their abilities.
• Have your heroes recommit to the goal in some way. They are adamant that they will go on, despite the remaining challenges.
• End this section on a high (it's a false high, of course, but your heroes don’t know that yet).

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Inkling of doubt

• Introduce your second plot point. This is the next big thing that your heroes will have to overcome. It should be bigger than the rising action event at the start of Act 2. This is the event that will push your heroes towards Battle 2/Confrontation 2.
• This event should also be unsettling for your heroes. They are no longer so sure they will reach their external goal.
• Your heroes’ focus is now on preparing to fight this next battle.
• At the moment things feel good relationship-wise, but it’s not going to last long. To make it hurt that little bit more, have your heroes really start to believe that this might be it for them. Love is real. They do deserve it.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Inkling of doubt

• For the romance arc: Have something happen that is designed to tickle the exact fear that was holding each of your heroes back from love. They will recall the fear, but push it away to begin with. They want to believe it’s right this time.
• For the central conflict arc: Have something happen that is either unexpected, or that your heroes can’t explain. It can be negative or positive, but it will be transformational for them in some way. The response your heroes have to this event will enable them to better deal with the chaos that they’ve been thrown into. Because they accept that they can’t know everything, they become more flexible and adaptable.
• Unexpected events will have a different effect on your antagonist. They will be thrown off course by the fact that they cannot maintain absolute control.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Deepening doubt

• For the romance arc: Your heroes are very attached to each other now. The intimacy is growing, but the seed of fear is still present.
• For the central conflict arc: Changed by the encounter with the unexplained, one or both of the heroes looks at the world differently now. They become more attentive to unexpected events as they happen. The heroes suffer a big setback, which means that someone is certain to die. One or both of your heroes is unsure what they’re going to do now/if the current course is the right one.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Deepening doubt

• For the romance arc: Neither of your heroes want to admit to their fear, but, they are starting to act a bit more guarded.
• For the central conflict arc: Hero 1 may need an intervention or moment of realisation to restore their confidence and conviction. You could do this by giving them a small win, or by having an ally hold them accountable/give them a pep talk.
• Let them consider how to move forward. They should feel like they need to formulate a new plan/approach. It's not business as usual.
• Spend some time showing where your heroes are in their overall character arc.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Retreat! Retreat!

• For the romance arc: One or both of your heroes are actively looking for signs that prove the other is going to do the exact thing they’ve been afraid of this whole time. And, they start to see those signs (though, of course they might be misreading them)
• For the central conflict arc: Now that death is imminent, one or both of your heroes begin to consider what they can do to make their death mean something.
• One or both of your heroes realises that in order to save everyone else, they may need to sacrifice themselves. This might also be a reason why they’re shutting down the relationship. They have to decide how they’re going to proceed.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Retreat! Retreat!

• For the romance arc: One or both of your heroes begin to pull away or build up those boundaries again. They may acknowledge to themselves or to a friend that they need to shut things down to avoid hurting themselves (or the other hero).
• For the central conflict arc: Your heroes and friends actively engage with the antagonist. Things begin to go awry, and may not be going according to plan.
• Provide some insight into your antagonist's character arc.
• Touch on your sub-plot.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Retreat! Retreat!

• Things go really wrong. Your heroes and allies may overcome some of these, but not all of them.
• Develop the arcs of your other characters, and let them flex a bit. Give them some opportunities to be badasses.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Retreat! Retreat!

• Things go really, seriously wrong. Put them through the wringer.
• Your heroes finally make their way through all the challenges (some of which have not gone well). Their spirits are still intact.
• Include a moment where you remind the reader that one or both of your heroes is pushing the other away or retreating to avoid getting hurt.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Retreat! Retreat!

• Hero 1 makes the decision to confront the antagonist and regain the agency that the antagonist has been depriving (this might mean freeing a captive, or might mean destroying the thing the antagonist is using to control and oppress).
• Both heroes are absolutely committed to the external goal, and are going to see this through no matter what.
• They are still pulling away from each other.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Shields up

• For the romance arc: Whatever your heroes’ worst fears about love were, they (seem to) come true now: Hero 1 leaves Hero 2 (or vice versa), Hero 1 can’t save Hero 2, Hero 1 finds out Hero 2 has been lying this whole time.
• For the central conflict: Hero 1 may need an intervention or moment of realisation to restore their confidence and conviction. You could do this by giving them a small win, or by having an ally hold them accountable/give them a pep talk.
• Let them consider how to move forward. They should feel like they need to formulate a new plan/approach. It's not business as usual.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Break up/Pulled apart

• For the romance arc: This is the final blow up argument, or the moment the other hero realises it’s over. One or both heroes have chosen fear over love (it’s not something that happens as a result of external factors, it’s a choice they make).
• For the central conflict: Allow your characters to regroup. Consider where this leaves each character in their character arc. Where does this leave them concerning their external goals?
• How does the outcome affect your sub-plot? Bring these consequences into play.
• Hero 1 must begin to prepare for the big altercation with the antagonist. They are prepared to die if they have to. They say their goodbyes.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Heartbroken/Separated

• For the romance arc: It’s all Tortured Poets, all the time. Your heroes might believe that they should feel better about their choice to end things, but in reality they’re down bad, crying at the gym. A friend might tell them they’re being idiots. One or both heroes might realise that they created a self-fulfilling prophecy for themselves.
• For the central conflict: They realise that the antagonist's true strength has been hidden until now. It must come as a surprise. It's great if you can connect the fact that Hero 1 didn't see this coming to their internal goal/conflict or a flawed perspective.
• The antagonist's victory must be both physical and mental. There must be no hope left as you end this section. Not even a tiny glimmer.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Heartbroken/Separated

• Hero 1 is at their lowest point, and now they need to put themselves back together. Have Hero 1 rally, and begin to prepare for battle.
• Hero 1’s life is threatened. They know that they can’t do this alone, and they are going to need to rely on others in a way they’ve never done before (perhaps even relying on Hero 2).
• If you want to really highlight the way Hero 1 has changed over the course of the story, a trick here is to make the life-threatening event mirror the catalyst in the beginning hook.
• The balance of power is with the antagonist.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Heartbroken/Separated

• Gather the team for the final battle.
• The stakes need to be at their highest. The consequences of failure need to be very clear.
• How are they going to overcome the strength of the antagonist now that they know its full extent?
• Show what your heroes have learned, and how they have grown. How are they going to use this to overcome the antagonist?

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Heartbroken/Separated

• The heroes re-engage the antagonist. This is the big boss battle. The most challenging confrontation to overcome. Make sure it's epic.
• Someone the audience cares about dies in order to demonstrate that the stakes of the battle really are life and death.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Heartbroken/Separated

• Give Hero 1 a choice. They either need to decide between two very bad options, or they can choose between two good options (but picking one, means sacrificing the other).
• They will struggle with the decision at this point, considering if the outcome justifies the action they are going to have to take. Is it worth it? Can they live with the decision?

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Heartbroken/Separated

• Give the reader a twist where the antagonist turns the tables somehow, putting the heroes on the back foot.
• Hero 1 needs to dig deep. They know they will have to make a sacrifice to overcome this challenge. Build tension and excitement as they decide to give it their all.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Decide to choose love over their fear

• One or both of your heroes realise that the current flavour of their misery is one they chose themselves. They are never going to find love if they can’t let go of that thing that’s holding them back.
• They decide to chose love over fear, but it’s not going to be easy to fix things. Especially because they do have some other pretty big stuff on their plates (they’re in the midst of their biggest battle, after all), and they are both still very hurt.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Risking everything for love

• Hero 1 needs to execute the new plan — they put it all on the line and makes a sacrifice in order to overcome the antagonist (but will it be enough?)
• Hero 1 is put in a position that seems impossible to escape from. This is the moment the antagonist is going to be ridding themselves of the nuisance posed by the heroes. This is an important event, and it should be satisfying and surprising.
• Hero 1 escapes by either outwitting the antagonist, or by physically overpowering them. They will succeed because of a new skill they’ve gained, or because they adapt an old skill.
• Show us the fate of the antagonist.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Risking everything for love

• This is the big pay-off moment your readers have been holding out for. Make sure that there’s risk involved (of life, of humiliation, of physical pain, or loss of a dream/goal). The risk allows for a moment of courage.
• Depending on how things played out between them, you may need both of your heroes to do some sort of grand gesture.
• This is where they get the happily-ever-after moment.

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Whole-hearted

• Take the central conflict full circle, and resolve your heroes’ external goals.
• Wrap up any sub-plots. Tie up loose ends.
• Resolve all your character arcs, and show how your heroes have changed (and that they’ve finally found connection).

Goal wordcount: 2000w
Stage of love: Whole-hearted

• Show the heroes back in their usual life, and show what life looks like for them now.
• The heroes are rewarded with some sort of external recognition.