Ideas for Writing Romance

Continuing with the topic of where we get our ideas, I want to share a brainstorming technique I came up with years ago. If you read Harlequin romances, you know some themes are more popular than others. In fact, I once saw a list on their site where you selected the ones you liked most. I believe it was intended for market research.


I decided to use their list for myself. Unfortunately, I later decided not to write category romance and tossed the cards. A decision I now regret since I've shared this technique multiple times. I know I wrote topics on index cards. For example, I might have written my heroes on blue cards. One card might have said Cowboy, the next Fireman...Soldier...Lawman... Other cards dealt more with themes and I chose another color, perhaps purple. One card might have said Twins, another Secret Baby...Secret Past...Bad Boy Past... For more topics you could read the blurbs on the back of romance novels, especially Harlequins. After I had a pile of cards, I was ready to brainstorm ideas for a book.


The brainstorming technique was easy and fun. I took my pile of cards and shuffled them, then I placed a blue and purple card on the table in front of me. Reading the cards, I would let my mind wonder to see if an idea came to me. If not, I would place down another card and see if it inspired an idea. Usually, I had a basic idea within fifteen minutes. From there, more ideas would come which would lead to a fuller, more complex plot.


This brainstorming technique could work for all types of books. I might create a stack for my mystery series with different colored cards for criminal types, weapons, motives, and locations. It reminds me of the game Clue. It was Colonel Mustard, in the library, with the candlestick.

Writing a Series: Ideas

Ideas for Series

I love this picture! I have felt this way before when trying to come up with an idea for writing a series.

Series are popular with readers, and therefore, with editors. When my agent pitches a proposal for me, she wants a synopsis for each of the three books in the series and the first three chapters of the first book.

Ideas can come from anywhere. Cozy mysteries, which rarely contain graphic murders, have a theme. The main characters could run a cupcake shop, crochet, remodel homes, or cook for the president. Each story, and book title, reflects on the theme. I keep a list of the themes being used and then brainstorm a list of possible ideas not on the list.

When I write a mystery series, I know I need a theme, three motives for murder, and a cast of characters. Any of these can come to me in any order, from any source. My first series came to me when I witnessed a feud. I decided to take the situation and place it in a fictitious neighborhood, with fictitious characters, and make it much worse than the real feud. An idea might be inspired from a news report, an incident from one’s past, or asking a what if question.

The idea for the first book in a series usually comes to me easily. The second and third books are a bit more difficult. I need a situation in which my cast of characters will be needed to investigate, so the murder must come to them. Then I need a motive. Several times I have written a list of reasons why people kill as a means of brainstorming. I’ll write greed, revenge, passion…and then I usually come up with an idea. Once I get started with the synopsis, the twists and turns come as a natural progression of the investigation and the killer’s desire not to get caught.

If I’m stuck, I find spending time outdoors, meditating, burning incense, or talking it over with friends helps.