I write fantasy, and recently also started writing romantic fiction.
I used to think world-building is only for fantasy novels, but after completing the first draft of my second erotic romance, I now think differently.
Fantasy writers build fantastic worlds you can’t visit.
Romance authors build worlds you swear you’ve been to.
A camping trip to an exotic destination in Cape Town. A hospital ER at 3am. These aren’t fantasy, but they require just as much construction.
What does the area look like? How does the hospital smell?
Readers will feel something if you get the details right.
Community is World-Building
A romance series will usually build a social ecosystem.
Not just one couple, but a whole friend group. A town. A workplace where everyone knows everyone’s business.
My idea is to write a whole series of novels with cross-over characters.
This is world-building through relationships:
- Shared history
- Inside jokes
- Old grudges
- The friend who always knows when something’s wrong
Readers come back to revisit a place that feels like home.
The Small Details Matter Most
Romance builds worlds with textures:
- The smell of coffee at a bookshop
- The sound of rain on a tin roof
- The weight of family expectations at Sunday dinner
- The specific humiliation of running into your ex at the grocery store
These details do two things.
First, they make the world real.
Second, they create the emotional landscape where love happens.
Why Invest In Detail?
Generic settings breed generic stories.
A romance that could happen anywhere doesn’t feel like it’s happening at all.
A love story rooted in a specific place, time, and community feels inevitable.
Like these two people were always going to find each other, right here, exactly like this.
Romance authors theoretically build worlds you could visit tomorrow.
Which somehow makes it harder.
Fantasy readers will forgive inconsistent magic systems.
Romance readers won’t forgive a bakery that doesn’t smell right.
