---
product_id: 31381708
title: "Romancing the Beat: Story Structure for Romance Novels"
price: "C$1628"
currency: NIO
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.ni/products/31381708-romancing-the-beat-story-structure-for-romance-novels
store_origin: NI
region: Nicaragua
---

# Romancing the Beat: Story Structure for Romance Novels

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Romancing the Beat: Story Structure for Romance Novels [Hayes, Gwen] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Romancing the Beat: Story Structure for Romance Novels

Review: A to-the-point guide on writing romance novels - This guide is kinda short, but it does what it says on the tin and describes the structure of a romance novel. Note there is only one structure, not more than one, and she doesn't go into what would happen if you deviate from the specified structure. Still, it's a great guide. Hayes writes in a very personable way, full of pop culture references and humor. It may be a hit or miss in that regard. I personally wasn't a big fan of her style, but the information provided was still a gold mine. I'm used to reading writing guides that explain the structure of novels in general. But romance novels are slightly different from that mold and having her point out those differences was really helpful to me. Overall, I reccomend this book for people who want a concise guide to writing romance novels. I don't recommend it for veterans of the genre because it would pretty much explain the basics without going into much detail.
Review: Terrific Guide for Romance Writers - Original review posted on the Wordy Speculations blog (https://speculationsediting.com/archives/book-review-romancing-beat-gwen-hayes/) on September 5, 2017 Romancing the Beat is a concise book on story structure for the romance novel by author and editor Gwen Hayes, who herself confesses to loving "kissing books." As an editor, I read a lot about writing, so when I picked up Romancing the Beat, I sat down with paper and pen, ready to take notes. What I did not expect to find was a funny little book that made me laugh out loud while still actually learning something. I Loved It, and Here's Why What I love about Hayes’s book is that she distills the elements of romantic story structure down to their very bones and gives the reader/writer specific advice for creating the plot of a romance novel in a book you can finish in one evening. Romance novels, unlike most other genre novels, have a pretty specific formula. Now, don’t shoot me for saying that, but it’s true, and maybe that’s why romance novels are so successful. Readers expect certain things to happen, and when they happen, they’re happy. Without those things, readers are unhappy. They will be quick to tell you that what you have written is not a romance novel and shouldn’t be marketed as such. For example, if your lovers are cheating, you haven’t written a romance novel. If your lovers don’t get their happily ever after or at least happy for now, you also haven’t written a romance novel. Hayes doesn’t give you tips on crafting sentences. She doesn’t give you ideas for external plot lines. She doesn’t tell you how to create the perfect hero or heroine. She focuses on one element of the craft in one genre. Romantic story structure is all this book covers, but it covers it extremely well. Breaking It Down Gwen Hayes breaks down romantic story structure into bite-sized chunks: four phases, each with five beats. I won’t tell you what they are—you’ll have to read the book for that—but she goes through each phase and beat in its own mini-chapter. Then, at the back of the book, she provides an entire outline with these beats from one of her own stories. To be honest, I flipped to the end first and read this outline. Good, complete examples are often missing in writing books. You can call beats or moments in the story anything you want, but unless the reader knows what you’re talking about and can apply it to his or her own writing, it’s all sort of abstract, hard to pinpoint, and thus, useless. After reading Romancing the Beat, I honestly feel I could sit down and use it write an outline within an hour or so for a romance novel that would fit reader expectations. And with Hayes’s approach, it would probably be a lot of fun. In the meantime, this book is going to serve as an important resource any time I sit down to edit a romance novel, and I’ll have no compunctions about recommending it to my writer clients and friends. Go read it yourself.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #24,145 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1 in Romance Fiction Writing Reference #7 in Authorship Reference #9 in Writing Skill Reference (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,629 Reviews |

## Images

![Romancing the Beat: Story Structure for Romance Novels - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71Pggb0JZlL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A to-the-point guide on writing romance novels
*by G***N on January 7, 2024*

This guide is kinda short, but it does what it says on the tin and describes the structure of a romance novel. Note there is only one structure, not more than one, and she doesn't go into what would happen if you deviate from the specified structure. Still, it's a great guide. Hayes writes in a very personable way, full of pop culture references and humor. It may be a hit or miss in that regard. I personally wasn't a big fan of her style, but the information provided was still a gold mine. I'm used to reading writing guides that explain the structure of novels in general. But romance novels are slightly different from that mold and having her point out those differences was really helpful to me. Overall, I reccomend this book for people who want a concise guide to writing romance novels. I don't recommend it for veterans of the genre because it would pretty much explain the basics without going into much detail.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Terrific Guide for Romance Writers
*by E***H on September 2, 2017*

Original review posted on the Wordy Speculations blog (https://speculationsediting.com/archives/book-review-romancing-beat-gwen-hayes/) on September 5, 2017 Romancing the Beat is a concise book on story structure for the romance novel by author and editor Gwen Hayes, who herself confesses to loving "kissing books." As an editor, I read a lot about writing, so when I picked up Romancing the Beat, I sat down with paper and pen, ready to take notes. What I did not expect to find was a funny little book that made me laugh out loud while still actually learning something. I Loved It, and Here's Why What I love about Hayes’s book is that she distills the elements of romantic story structure down to their very bones and gives the reader/writer specific advice for creating the plot of a romance novel in a book you can finish in one evening. Romance novels, unlike most other genre novels, have a pretty specific formula. Now, don’t shoot me for saying that, but it’s true, and maybe that’s why romance novels are so successful. Readers expect certain things to happen, and when they happen, they’re happy. Without those things, readers are unhappy. They will be quick to tell you that what you have written is not a romance novel and shouldn’t be marketed as such. For example, if your lovers are cheating, you haven’t written a romance novel. If your lovers don’t get their happily ever after or at least happy for now, you also haven’t written a romance novel. Hayes doesn’t give you tips on crafting sentences. She doesn’t give you ideas for external plot lines. She doesn’t tell you how to create the perfect hero or heroine. She focuses on one element of the craft in one genre. Romantic story structure is all this book covers, but it covers it extremely well. Breaking It Down Gwen Hayes breaks down romantic story structure into bite-sized chunks: four phases, each with five beats. I won’t tell you what they are—you’ll have to read the book for that—but she goes through each phase and beat in its own mini-chapter. Then, at the back of the book, she provides an entire outline with these beats from one of her own stories. To be honest, I flipped to the end first and read this outline. Good, complete examples are often missing in writing books. You can call beats or moments in the story anything you want, but unless the reader knows what you’re talking about and can apply it to his or her own writing, it’s all sort of abstract, hard to pinpoint, and thus, useless. After reading Romancing the Beat, I honestly feel I could sit down and use it write an outline within an hour or so for a romance novel that would fit reader expectations. And with Hayes’s approach, it would probably be a lot of fun. In the meantime, this book is going to serve as an important resource any time I sit down to edit a romance novel, and I’ll have no compunctions about recommending it to my writer clients and friends. Go read it yourself.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A solid resource that you’ll find yourself referring to over and over.
*by T***. on November 11, 2020*

One of the panels I virtually attended at RWA this year recommended ROMANCING THE BEAT. I’m a devoted plotter, so I wanted to see how best to weave the romance beats into the greater story beats. Hayes’s book is short and sweet. She lays out the beats, where they fall in the three-act structure, and gives a brief description of what each one needs to accomplish. Because it’s so short, you can read it easily in one sitting and be ready to plot or revise your next romance novel. However, because it’s such a quick read, it’s short on details that would have been nice. Whether you’re new to writing romance or have been at it for awhile, there are some great tidbits in here for every romance writer. Bottom Line A solid resource that you’ll find yourself referring to over and over.

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*Product available on Desertcart Nicaragua*
*Store origin: NI*
*Last updated: 2026-03-08*