Romance Writing Prompts for the Chronic Procrastinator
- evemrileyauthor
- Jun 18
- 2 min read
UNLOCK YOUR imagination with these writing ideas!
Top Tips:
One of the hardest things about writing is getting started, particularly when there is no deadline looming.
If the empty page is intimidating, try dictating. That way, you don't even need to look at all that white space until there's a nice covering of words on it! It's also super helpful when writing natural direct speech. Word has a pretty good text-to-speech function (although it sometimes struggles with "nonstandard" accents 🙃 – perhaps this is an excuse to cosplay as Lady Whistledown's voiceover?)
Set an egg timer and write until it goes off. You may not put down the pen or take a break; just write "umm" if you need thinking time. The editorial brain is a marvellous thing, but only when we actually have something to edit!
There must at all times be a good supply of food, water and caffeine. It is not possible to write a good romance while hangry. I have tried.
Character Prompts:
What does your MC carry with them? Do they throw it all in the handbag or have carefully selected compartments for tissues and wallet? If they emptied it, would they discover a week-old banana peel and their grandmother’s necklace? Write or draw it out.
Your MC is being interviewed by Rolling Stone about their life. What is their fashion strategy? How are they feeling? And what secret is the journalist spending the whole time tiptoeing around but desperate for the scoop about?
Mini Prompts:
Your MC has been receiving someone else’s mail for like, an embarrassingly long period of time. They’ve started to really get to know and love this mysterious pen pal. Write the letter they finally send back.
A private chef is cooking for a rich older woman. Write about a time when they overstep the boundaries.
One MC is cautiously looking into dating again after a leaked photo threatened their career. The other is a photographer compulsively documenting every moment of their life. Write their first date. (Full disclosure: this is the premise behind the fourth instalment of my Techboys Series, The Photograph: but the brilliant thing is that a single premise can go off in so many directions!)
Longer Prompts:
Everyone knows the story of Romeo and Juliet, two young people who fall in love but whose families are mortal enemies. Reinvent the story by changing the conflict (and maybe even giving them their HEA).
Two people fall in love. It then transpires that the world has been infiltrated by shapeshifting aliens who look remarkably human. How does this impact the couple’s blossoming relationship?
Imagine you are a water cooler. Chart the course of the workplace romance you see fizzling in between two coworkers vying for the same promotion: arguments first, then maybe some building romantic tension or a steamy post-work hookup?
Happy writing!
Love, Eve x
P.S. If you're looking for more short-form romance inspiration, sign up to my mailing list to receive instalments of my serial. Liquids.
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