Did you know romance is the highest-selling novel genre? By, like…a lot?
Everyone loves to be in love. The next best (or better?) thing is reading about love! It requires no emotional effort AND no one comes into your house to eat your food and leave wet towels on the bathroom floor.
Best of both worlds.
Romance is basically the perfect genre to read. Which could also make it the best genre to write!
Here are 34 romance writing prompts to get you started:
- A bookstore patron falls for one of the booksellers, but is too shy to speak to them. One day, they buy a book with a note tucked inside.
- A distant member of a European royal family crashes their car outside a woman’s house in a rural area.
- Two high schoolers who hate each other get stuck doing community service together after a senior prank goes wrong.
- A woman’s on her way to her date an hour early and chats up her Lyft driver. He’s handsome and charming, and soon she realizes he’s the man she’s supposed to meet later.
- Write a love story between two patrons at a cafe from the perspective of the barista.
- A farmer hires a mercenary to guide her to the next town through a monster-infested forest. Their relationship is strictly professional…until it’s not.
- Groups from both sides of a war clash at a crypt, searching for an ancient, powerful artifact. In battle, the crypt collapses, trapping two knights from opposite sides. They have to learn to work together if they’re going to make it out alive.
- A student on a study abroad trip falls in love with the bartender at the pub down the road, and on the last day of classes before she leaves, she confesses her feelings.
- While exploring an ancient castle, a woman falls down a tower. She wakes up in a monster’s lair. At first, she’s horrified, but it turns out they’re both trapped down here, and the monster isn’t so bad.
- When people turn 20, a tattoo appears on their wrist–a clue to lead them to their soulmate. On your character’s 20th birthday, their wrist remains blank.
- A woman is torn between man and woman vying for her affection, and when she tells them, they confess that they have feelings for one another, too.
- At the party after their high school graduation, one graduate works up the nerve to confess her four-year-long crush on someone else via Snapchat. The next morning, she realizes she sent the message to the wrong person, who says that the feelings are mutual.
- At a ball, a woman waits for her crush to ask her to dance. They disappear, but when the party’s ended, they meet the woman in the empty ballroom for a last dance.
- A caterer regularly works at a CEO’s lavish parties and falls in love with a recurring guest.
- Your character has a crush on someone in their apartment building. They find excuses to be in the common areas when the neighbor comes and goes.
- A woman studying for her history degree uncovers a series of letters in a digital archive written between two lovers fighting on the European front during World War One. What do the letters say?
- Your character loathes one particular coworker. They’re both working late when something traps them in the building for two days. How does their relationship change?
- A high school student’s best friend and crush reveals herself to be a werewolf.
- A knight swears his fealty and hand in marriage to his queen. But on his very first quest, he falls in love with a fellow knight…
- While her partner is at work, a woman decides to try to cook dinner as a surprise for them. It goes spectacularly bad.
- Write about a long-distance pair off the internet meeting for the first time in two years in a fast food parking lot, all from the perspective of an employee at the restaurant.
- On an airplane, a woman strikes up a conversation with a stunning person and regrets not getting their number when the plane lands. When she boards the plane for her return flight, the person is in the next row over.
- Two interns scouting out a possible five-star hotel for their CEO to stay on a business trip get snowed in. Luckily, the company agrees to pay for them to stay the weekend–but there’s only one room available at such short notice. And that room has only one bed.
- In a failed attempt to woo a beautiful baker, your character ends up with a job at the bakery. Unfortunately, they know absolutely nothing about baking.
- On a road trip across the country, a woman meets an intriguing traveler at a rest stop.
- A man spends his life obsessed with a woman from a Renaissance painting. He becomes a successful scholar, researching the painter and painting. One day, he meets a woman who looks exactly like the woman from the painting.
- Every night at the same time, a woman plays her violin in the town square, and a stranger puts the same amount of spare change in her case. They grow to look forward to the woman’s performances. One day, the woman vanishes.
- A woman dresses to attract a man who won’t pay attention to her, but draws the attention of his best friend instead.
- When his upstairs neighbor keeps blaring music, Trevor blares his own music in return. His neighbor starts incorporating Trevor’s favorite songs into his rotation. One day, Trevor goes to ask him about it.
- Two people fall deeply in love. One night, one partner has a dream where, in dozens of past lifetimes, they’ve found each other and fallen in love before.
- On a tour bus driving through beautiful countryside, a tourist strikes up conversation with the guide, since all the other travelers are quiet. Turns out, they have more in common than just their interest in history.
- After months of building up the courage to ask out a coworker, the date goes horribly wrong.
- It’s the last day of filming for the latest Hollywood rom-com. Just as they wrap things up, the actress realizes she’s got feelings for her co-star.
- Your character accompanies their friend to a speed-dating event for moral support. While they aren’t interested in the dates in front of them, they find they can’t stop peeking at their friend across the room.
Use these prompts for short story or novel ideas, writing exercises, or warm-ups! Remember you can always edit prompts, take one part of it, or interpret it in a different way.
Don’t restrict yourself into the confines of the prompt, but let it spark an idea you’re excited to write about.
Happy writing!