Is It Romance or Women’s Fiction?
The overlap between romance and women’s fiction is a juicy territory. It’s where characters grow deeper, learn more about why love is important, and develop into better human beings. The story may show how they plunge off a looming cliff of disaster but grow wings as they fall. In the overlap between romance and women’s fiction, a story involves the main character’s growth as a person.
Why do we love stories about romantic love? Because it’s a building block of a meaningful life. We’ve all “fallen” in love in one way or another. Here’s my post on why love stories matter. When love stories are simply told in the romance genre — stories of mutual attraction that end happily — that’s one category of story. And it’s fun. Falling in love is a universal experience, but it’s not the only form of love story.
In women’s fiction novels, a love story is told with a close focus on a character’s emotional journey. She must find a better, way of overcoming obstacles to love in order to reach a satisfying conclusion. When it’s romantic love, the overlap area fills out with deeper feelings, bigger consequences, and doesn’t necessarily wrap up to a “happily ever after”. Perhaps the story ends with a “wiser ever after”.
Love and Romance — Writing in the Overlap
I like to write in the story of a woman’s life journey, including her romances. How she grows through them to become a bigger person, one more capable of love, and of sacrifice for others. Stories that take a wider focus on the world and life surrounding a romance intrigue me. The social sphere in which she finds herself and the historical context. Which is why time travel, with its quandaries and paradoxes, is a genre I write in. It brings historical context to a woman’s present moment and presents unusual obstacles to her progress to her goal.
Context deepens a romantic plot. Books like Jane Austen’s Persuasion take a look at the social world surrounding the would-be lovers. In this case, the story focuses on love lost, and the remote possibility that it may be regained. Romantic stories in the overlap area include greater obstacles than will-he-won’t-he plot turns. It’s not just about their mutual attraction and the obstacles to its fulfillment. The pair may share a broader goal, working together for a greater purpose. In this kind of love story, getting together is a by-product of the main plot.
Publishing in the Overlap – Categories of Romantic Fiction
Book categories on Amazon don’t give much wiggle room for these complex tales in the overlap. As a self-published author, I do the heavy lifting in marketing my books and deciding on a book’s categories and keywords. I write in overlapping categories: women’s fiction, romance, and fantasy romance. My stories often include speculative elements. But when I seek categories for a book, I try different ones before I find the sweet spot.
Women’s fiction is a literary category. But it’s the true name of the overlap between a story of love and larger life issues, when the protagonist is a woman. However, it’s hard to compete with the mostly traditionally published novels in this category. Sub-genres of women’s fiction, or of romance, may work better. Here are the sub-genres where my magical realism or time travel stories that include romance best fit:
1. Time travel romance
2. Single women fiction
3. Alternate history
The key is testing. Find your story in the glorious overlap between Romance and Women’s Fiction. My novel Undoing Time is happy in that overlap, currently doing well under Alternative History, Historical Fantasy Fiction, and Time Travel Fiction. And it definitely features a romance sub-plot!
I also love to write romance and women fiction especially strong female lead. It give me more motivation to write and focus on writing.