hello! anon here who asked about the appropriate beginnings to a romance novel. must all romance novels end happily? i got struck by the line in your answer where you said romance ---> hea. it's because in mine, the girl and guy doesn't end up but i definitely want to focus on their romance (or at least, how one-sided it is anyway :3).
I’m gonna put my foot down and say, yes.
A romance has to have a HEA (happy ever after) or at least a HFN (happy for now).
Pointing to the definition by the RWA Romance Writers of America. Further explained by the bookriot: If It Doesn’t Have an HEA (or HFN), It’s Not Romance.
You can write a tragedy or a sad love story of course but then it’s not a romance.
You can also write a story with a romantic sidestory but then your main focus is not the romance but some event/obstacle/problem they deal with. That’s not a romance, that’s a crime/mystery/scifi/whatever with a romantic sideplot.
Absolutely nothing wrong with writing that of course.












