How to Write Romantasy: A Step-by-Step Guide (2026 Edition)

Romantasy is one of the newer genres to be recognized over the past few years. However, it still maintains a top spot in terms of popularity and it continues to garner new readers every day. In 2026, if you want to commit to writing a romantasy book, then there are a few things you should know before you get started. Romantasy is not the same as romance with fantasy or fantasy with romance. There’s a more formulaic approach that matters to romantic that affects reader perception. So, today’s post will help you learn how to write a romantasy book step-by-step in 2026. 

I’ve been writing fantasy and science fiction for over a decade (check out my series, The Fallen Age Saga), and I’ve watched romantasy evolve from a small subgenre into a publishing powerhouse. One of the biggest challenges writers face when starting a romantasy project is understanding how to balance the romantic and fantasy elements without one overshadowing the other. That’s where proper planning and world building become crucial.

If you’re just getting started with romantasy, be sure to grab my free 20 romantasy writing prompts right now and get inspired today.

Be sure to also pick up a copy of my Ultimate Guide to Writing Romantasy so you can learn from over 160 pages how to go from concept to fully-fledged romantasy book in no time!

What Makes Romantasy Different from Fantasy Romance

Romantasy isn’t fantasy with a romantic subplot tacked on. The relationship drives the plot forward, influences major decisions, and shapes the story’s resolution. Remove the romance, and your plot will fundamentally change or collapse entirely.

Think of it this way: in traditional fantasy, romance might be a reward after saving the world. In romantasy, the relationship itself becomes part of how the world gets saved, challenged, or transformed. Without romance, romantasy doesn’t exist. It would just become a fantasy book. 

However, the amount of romance also matters. In a fantasy with romance, you might have a subplot of romance that doesn’t necessarily impact major events in the story but is something that serves as a way to develop your main characters. However, in romantasy, without the romance, your story won’t actually be a romantasy. 

If you check out my 50 romantasy writing blueprints, the pack actually includes two plots per prompt: A fantasy prompt and a romance prompt. Each half is combined to form one plot, but they are separated to help you visualize that the idea of romantasy is the balance between fantasy and romance. You can also grab it in a bundled discount deal alongside my Ultimate Guide to Writing Romantasy so you can turn those prompts into a full story!

Understanding Your Reader’s Expectations

Before writing a single scene, you have to identify the emotional journey you’re promising readers. Some readers want slow-burn tension that builds over hundreds of pages. Others prefer instant chemistry with external obstacles. You want to make a sort of decision as to what precisely you will be following, as your choice will shape the way your story unfolds. 

Here are some guiding questions that can help you think more about this: 

• Will tension come from internal or external forces?
• What sort of themes does your story intend to explore?
• How does physical and emotional intimacy progress throughout the story?

Thinking of these things before you start writing will help you determine what precisely makes the most sense for your story. 

World Building Needs to be a Priority in Romantasy

The biggest mistake new romantasy writers make? Creating fantasy elements that exist separately from the relationship. Your magic system, political structure, and world rules should actively push your characters together or pull them apart.

For example, if your magic system requires emotional bonds between users, it naturally creates intimacy. If your political system forbids relationships between certain groups, it adds immediate stakes. Every world building choice should create opportunities for romantic tension.

Remember this: You are still writing a fantasy book. This means that the story needs a high level of world building. World building is the framework that your story actually exists in, which means that it’s extremely important to think about. 

So, if you want to learn more about how to world build, check out my Ultimate Guide to World Building! It’s a 340+ page workbook that includes tons of instructional information, content, and helps to teach you everything you need to know when world building for any story. 

Step-by-Step Framework for Writing Romantasy

Step 1: Develop Complete Characters First

Start by creating two fully realized individuals. Define their fears, goals, flaws, and strengths before they ever meet. You want your readers to experience people changing each other, not characters fixing each other. 

Give each character:

• Personal goals beyond the romance
• Specific fears that the relationship will challenge
• Skills or knowledge the other lacks
• A compelling life that existed before page one

If you want more information about how to develop strong, living characters, then check out my Ultimate Character Creation Guide. It’s a 150+ page workbook that includes everything you need to know about how to create a character from the ground up and fit them nicely into the rest of your world and story. 

Step 2: Create Natural Relationship Dynamics

Initial attraction alone won’t sustain a full novel. You need deeper forces at play. What fundamental need does each character fill for the other? What keeps them apart beyond simple miscommunication?

Strong relationship dynamics might include:

• Opposing loyalties that create genuine conflict (enemies-to-lovers)
• Power imbalances that shift throughout the story
• Complementary strengths that only work when they cooperate

You want things to feel as natural as possible between the characters so that the readers can actually root for the success of this relationship.

Step 3: Design External Conflicts That Mirror Internal Tensions

Your main plot should reflect what’s happening between your characters. If trust issues define their relationship, betrayal should feature prominently in your external conflict. If they struggle with vulnerability, your plot might force them to reveal hidden aspects of themselves to survive. You don’t want the whole plot to be based around their internal tensions, but it adds more depth to your story. Basically, your readers will feel that the romance matters because it actually connects to other elements of the story. 

An issue that some romantasy books have is that they tend to shift most of the weight to the romance when there’s a lot that’s supposed to be going on in the fantasy side of things. The book Zodiac Academy surprisingly did this part well: There is evidence of a romance building, but the story revolves around the two main characters having to navigate the challenges of a world they don’t understand and a cutthroat magic school. You can check out my review on the first book of Zodiac Academy here!

Step 4: Map Out the Relationship’s Progression

Something that I think is helpful is to try and map out how your characters will progress alongside the relationship’s progression. Each plot event should shift their relationship in meaningful ways. Don’t just add romantic scenes between action sequences. Instead, weave romance into every major moment. 

Sure, you can include fluffy cute moments, but you need to think beyond this. Romance isn’t just about “aw how cute.” There’s more to it than that: You need growth, connection, change, etc… If you’re writing a story about two friends who eventually fall in love, we know that they are friends, but what would make them hesitate before becoming lovers? What sort of conflicts stand in their way? Is there a love triangle? What else exists in the characters’s lives that could affect this point?

Step 5: Build Intimacy Through Consequences

It can be tempting as a romance writer to just want to include romantic scenes where the characters profess their undying love and kiss and all that. However, you need to understand that a romantasy reader is also craving the action and excitement that comes along with fantasy. So, it has to be more than just intimacy. There needs to be some level of danger and consequence and conflict alongside all of this. Simply put, if intimacy makes things easier, you’ve reduced tension too early. 

You want to consider things like how intimacy between these two characters might actually complicate their lives. If they are forbidden lovers (i.e., a knight and princess) what does this actually mean? What could happen to either party if they are discovered? Ultimately, how does this forbidden romance and tension actually impact the fantasy side of things? 

Step 6: Use Separation Wisely

Distance, betrayal, or opposing goals deepen romantic tension when deployed strategically. Separation should challenge what characters believe about each other and themselves. Time apart might reveal how much they’ve changed or what they’re willing to sacrifice.

Avoid separation that feels random or due to silly miscommunication (please don’t do that). Instead, make it inevitable based on who these characters are and what they value. The reunion will then become more powerful because the separation wasn’t for a trivial or nonsensical reason.

Step 7: Interweave Your Climax

Your story’s climax should force characters to make a vital decision. The romantic resolution and plot resolution need to feel inseparable. Solving the external conflict should require the internal growth your characters achieved through their relationship. The climax and the romantic element of the story basically need to go hand-in-hand. 

For example, this might mean that your characters will end up choosing love over their previously held loyalties. They may need to sacrifice individual goals for shared ones. However, you also want to be careful with this. For instance, the trope of a female character losing her powers for love is considered trivial to most readers. You want to avoid making a decision that could end up ruining all the awesome story you’ve been building. 

From there, you want the ending to actually feel earned. Check out this post to learn more about how to write a proper ending for a book. 

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Romantasy

Surface-Level Romance

Adding romantic scenes without integrating them into your plot creates pacing issues. Every romantic moment needs to advance your story, reveal character, or shift dynamics.

Instant Resolution

Removing all relationship tension too early kills narrative drive. Even after characters commit to each other, new challenges should test that commitment.

Passive World Building

Creating a fantasy setting that never impacts the romance ends up wasting opportunity. Your world should constantly create situations that force romantic development. That’s where my Ultimate Guide to World Building comes in handy!

Unearned Emotional Moments

Big romantic revelations need proper setup. Build toward emotional peaks through smaller moments of connection and conflict. Those small moments build up and can actually be very memorable for your readers. 

Balancing Romance and Fantasy Elements

The key to balance lies in integration rather than alternation. Instead of switching between “romance chapters” and “action chapters,” create scenes that serve both purposes simultaneously. Romantasy basically means a blend of romance and fantasy, not a separation of them. 

A negotiation scene can reveal political intrigue while showing how your characters protect each other. A battle can demonstrate trust through fighting styles that complement perfectly. A quiet moment can carry equal weight to an epic confrontation if it fundamentally shifts the relationship. These things all actually end up impacting your story in the long-run and mean a lot to the reader. You need to essentially bridge the two elements of your story. 

Crafting Your Unique Romantasy Voice

While romantasy follows certain conventions, your specific approach should feel fresh. You don’t want a reader to discard your story aside as being a copy of other books. You can take inspiration from other books out there, but avoid basically just rewriting popular romantasy books and coming off as a copy. Consider what unique angle you bring:

• Maybe your magic system directly ties to emotional states (grab a copy of my Canva template to build a whole magic system for your world)
• Maybe your world’s politics revolve around alliance marriages
• Your characters might share an ability that only works together
• The romance could develop through a specific cultural lens

Whatever your angle, commit fully. Readers respond to romantasy that feels intentional and cohesive rather than checking genre boxes. That’s also another issue with just basing a story off of tropes: You don’t want your book to feel like a checklist of things just to hop on a trend. Write your story with intent and passion and it’ll last in reader’s minds for a long time. 

Conclusion

Writing successful romantasy requires treating both elements with equal respect. Your fantasy world needs the same attention as your romantic development. Your relationship needs the same structural importance as your external plot. When these elements work together rather than competing for space, you create stories that satisfy on multiple levels. Readers stay invested because they care about both the relationship and the world it exists within.

Be sure to grab a copy of my 20 free romantasy writing prompts so that you can get started right away with your next big idea! 

Don’t forget to also pick up a copy of these workbooks and guides to help you with planning and writing your next romantasy book: 

• The Ultimate Guide to Writing Romantasy
• Magic System Builder Canva Template
• The Ultimate Guide to World Building
• 50 Romantasy Story Blueprints
• The Ultimate Character Creation Guide

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