In a Romance Book, the end is the happily ever after. Love changes the characters. It makes them grow, individually and together. Love conquers all.

I actually believe that’s true. Love can conquer all, or make it all bearable.

Photo by Marin Tulard on Unsplash

It’s the “all” love must conquer that I’ve been struggling with in my latest work in progress. Both my main characters, male and female, have been wronged by the same antagonist. They have a common enemy.

And I want, I mean, they want to destroy him.

This last few weeks, they began to plot. But that presents a challenge for me. For my characters to create a revenge plot, I, as the author, have to know the details of how it’s supposed to work out, and how it actually works out–beyond the Happily Every After. I have to strategize the details and know the end, so they can work toward that culmination. (Surprises included).

As a discovery writer, this goes against my usual process, this figuring out the end before I go through everything that brings my characters there.

  • photo by luca-nicoletti on unsplash

It is fitting that I’ve been facing this challenge in January. My characters have a stated goal, a resolution. But they can’t just say they’ll do it. They have to decide the steps and the timing, work out the things that might stop them and have plans to overcome. And, perhaps most importantly in a romance book, they must work together.

What plotting and planning have you done this first month of 2026? (I’m hoping it’s not revenge). Most of all, I’m hoping all of the details of your plan and the adjustments you must make along the way lead you to greater happiness–I want you to have your own Happily Ever After–Or, in this case, a rich and rewarding year!