Hey, Anjali, I have a plot, a start and an end but I don’t know how to write Act 2 of my romance!
Well, you are at the right place. Now, I am no genius at writing the second act, especially in romances. From the first meeting to the happily ever after- renowned author Elisabeth Wheatly says all romances have a happy ending- there are quite a few stages. I have written a single romance novella though, which is probably not the best idea culturally speaking since I am not Greek, and Girl, Goddess, Queen tackles the same myth with much better writing. Yep, we are talking about my Hades- Persephone re-telling Abduction of a Queen.
And guess what?
I am not going to tell you what I did right with the middle of that novella. Because I think I did a lot wrong and it would be fun to share that. We can learn from my mistakes together, right? We are all pals here. But before we jump into the middle, let’s quickly go over the traditional structure of a romance.
Traditional Structure of a Romance Novel to Identify Act 2
While it differs slightly from sub-genre to sub genre, such as say best-friends to-lovers might skip First Meeting. Yet, usually you can give your romance these points.
- First Meeting
- Falling in Love
- Denial of Feelings
- Acceptance and Confession
- Conflict
- Happily Ever After
When we look at this structure it becomes evident that the second act would ideally fall somewhere right before the acceptance of love by our main leads. Let’s look at Abduction of a Queen and where I went wrong with this, now shall we?
Identifying Act 2 in Anjali Roongta’s Abduction of a Queen
Kore meets Hades when she is running from Zeus’ proclamation that she is to marry. After this, to keep her safe, Demeter restricts Kore’s ability to travel and Hades sneaks in to visit the lonely goddess and keep her company, during which the two fall in love. Beyond this, Kore is taken by Hades to his realm where at first she is mad at being manipulated and duped but eventually accepts that she is the Queen of Hades, the realm, and that Hades, the god, truly did try to love her.
All this? I finished in a chapter or so. Two whole acts. Sigh.
And while some say that worked for my book, here is how I could have written a better middle, if I were inclined to follow the traditional structure.
Kore or Persephone meeting Hades ended the First Act. The Second Act or the middle of the work begins with their hidden meetings, which I think covered in two paragraphs. There was no denial of feeling- which I felt were unnecessary for this work- but I could have shown a longer, more detailed courtship, had I wished. This act would have ended with Kore being taken, but I ended it with the conflict with Hades, the god, and her hurt at being duped, as well, as the resolution to the same, a choice I feel worked for the book. Yet, unlike in earlier drafts, in this one, I resolved it quickly, which I could have drawn out, until I ended on the eve of Zeus and Demeter finding Kore, which would put us in Act 3’s start for my book. Aka the Conflict stage and of course, after this we have resolution and the winding down of the story.
Does anyone else feel putting the big confrontation with Zeus and Demeter in the last act is bad idea? Just me? Let me know in the comments!
Now, see, you don’t have to follow the traditional structure. Sure, it helps but books have done great without it too. For example, in The Seedling, which we see characters deny their feelings, it is working simultaneously and feeding the extremal conflict of miscommunication due to cultural ideas that are opposing in nature. Self-denial is the least of their problems, in that story.
What Goes into the Second Act of a Romance
A romance essentially flirts with the idea of will they won’t they, when readers know that they will, and are actually reading for how the characters will come together or reconcile. For example, in Beauty and the Beast, everyone knew the two would end together, but how would Belle come to love the Beast? How would they escape the villagers and Gatson? These questions make a romance a romance. Thus, the start is all about seeing the characters and their love blossom, but the middle is where you introduce these questions and start piquing the readers interest. We have gone from the how do they fall to how do they recognize and come together stage. After all, Act 3 will be all about defeating the conflict and getting their happy ending, so where do we build and slightly fight self-denial or external conflict?
Act 2.
Does anyone else feel I missed the Act 2 of this blog? Well, let me know in the comments. Remember, Act 2 of a romance isn’t impossible to write. You can do it, just build up the denial or conflict or both and put obstacles in the characters’ way to their happy ending to keep the angst gods happy. And stay tuned to Anjali’s Musings for more romance writing advice.
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