In On Writing, Stephan King says, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” Essentially, King suggests that reading is how writers learn the craft of writing.
As a romance writer, you should be reading romances. And while you can read them for pure enjoyment, you can improve your skills in plotting, character development, and stringing words together if you turn your reading into a study. A great way to do that is by annotating as you read.
I know what you’re thinking. “Jenna! I can’t write in my books!” The good news is that you don’t necessarily have to mark up your book to highlight elements you want to pay attention to or study.
If you’ve ever finished a book thinking, how did this author make me feel that way, annotating is how you find the answer.
Why Romance Authors Should Annotate Books
Annotating a romance novel turns passive reading into active learning. It helps you see the patterns behind the emotions, the structure behind the swoon, and the craft behind the story. And the best part is, it doesn’t require extra time. You’re already reading. This just makes that time work for you.
Romance novels may feel effortless when you’re reading them, but they’re built on very intentional decisions. The pacing of the relationship, the timing of emotional reveals, the placement of the first kiss, the way tension is sustained over hundreds of pages. None of that is accidental. Annotating helps you slow down enough to notice those choices.
It also trains your instincts. The more you see how other authors handle chemistry, conflict, and emotional payoff, the more naturally you’ll start to do it in your own writing. You’ll begin to recognize when a scene is dragging, when tension is dropping, or when a moment needs more emotional depth.
And just as important, annotating reinforces genre expectations. Romance readers come in with specific desires. They want emotional connection, rising tension, satisfying payoff, and a happily ever after or happily for now. When you study how successful books deliver on those expectations, you’re better equipped to do the same.
This isn’t about copying another author’s work. It’s about understanding why something works so you can apply the principle in your own voice.
What to Look for When Annotating Romance
The key to annotating effectively is knowing what you’re looking for. You don’t need to mark everything. In fact, you shouldn’t. Focus on the elements that directly impact your writing or that you want to work on. For me, that’s often word choice. But for you, it could be how characters are introduced or how highly emotional scenes are handled.
Note that your notes don’t just have to be things you see done right. I’ve sometimes annotated areas I felt fell short in a novel, as a way to remind myself of what not to do.
Here are a few things you can study:
The Romance Arc
At the heart of every romance novel is the relationship arc. This is the backbone of the story. As you read, look for the key turning points in the relationship. Where do the characters first meet? When does attraction shift into something more meaningful? What moment changes how they see each other?
Pay attention to the midpoint. This is often where the relationship deepens or takes on new stakes. Then look at the black moment, when everything falls apart. What causes it? How is it set up earlier in the story? If you’re writing a cozy romance, how are these difficult scenes done effectively to convey emotion without too much drama?
Finally, study how the resolution unfolds. What does the grand gesture or reconciliation look like, and why does it feel satisfying?
When you start seeing these patterns across multiple books, you’ll begin to internalize what it takes to write a strong romance arc.
Character and Emotional Development
Romance is driven by emotion, so this is one of the most important areas to annotate. Notice each character’s internal conflict. What are they afraid of? What belief is holding them back from love? How does that belief show up in their choices?
Look for moments of vulnerability. When do they open up, even slightly? When do they retreat?
Also, pay attention to how attraction builds over time. It shouldn’t jump from zero to one hundred without progression. Instead, it should deepen through shared experiences, conflict, and emotional reveals.
These are the moments that make readers feel invested, and they’re often subtle. Annotating helps you catch them.
Tropes
Romance thrives on tropes, but what makes a book feel fresh is how those tropes are executed. As you read, identify the main trope or tropes. Is it enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, forced proximity, or a second chance? Then look at how the author introduces that trope. How quickly is it established? What scenes reinforce it? How does it evolve over the course of the story?
Pay attention to how the author avoids predictability. What small twists or character-specific details make the trope feel unique?
This is especially helpful if you’re writing within a specific trope. You’ll start to see what readers expect and where you have room to surprise them.
Dialogue and Chemistry
Notice how the characters talk to each other. Is there banter? Tension? Subtext?
Look at what’s not being said. Often, the most powerful moments come from what the characters avoid saying out loud.
Also, pay attention to the balance between light and serious moments. A good romance often shifts between playful or lighter interactions and deeper emotional conversations, keeping the relationship dynamic and engaging.
If you ever struggle with writing chemistry, this is one of the most useful areas to annotate.
Scene Structure and Pacing
Scenes are where your story lives, so understanding how they’re built is essential. As you read, notice where scenes begin and end. Do they start in the middle of an action or a conversation? Do they end on a question, a shift, or a moment of tension?
Look at the balance within each scene. How much is dialogue, how much is action, and how much is internal thought?
Also, pay attention to pacing. When does the story slow down to focus on emotion, and when does it speed up to move the plot forward?
Annotating these elements helps you see how a story maintains momentum without losing emotional depth.
Intimacy and Romantic Payoff
One of the most satisfying aspects of romance is the build-up to intimacy. Notice how long it takes to reach the first kiss. What scenes lead up to it? What emotions are in play?
If the book includes sex scenes, look at where they’re placed and how they function in the story. Are they purely physical, or do they deepen the emotional connection?
Most importantly, pay attention to the emotional payoff. By the time the characters come together, it should feel earned. Annotating helps you understand how that payoff is built.
Other & Miscellaneous
Depending on what you write, there could be other areas you want to study. This can include things like:
- Humor
- Foreshadowing
- Backstory
- Dialogue tags or other rules we’re told not to break
- Prologue use
- Plot points
- Action (e.g. fight scenes, spicy bits, etc)
How to Annotate Without Making It Complicated
One of the biggest reasons authors avoid annotating is that it feels like too much work. The good news is, it doesn’t have to be.
1. Decide What to Annotate
If you’ve mastered dialogue, you might not need to study it. Instead, focus on the areas you feel you want to improve on. For me, it’s always word choices. I’ve always felt I have a limited vocabulary, so when I stumble across words or phrases that do a great job of delivering action or emotion, I like to note them.
2. Decide How You’ll Annotate
Watch videos or check out Pinterest boards for ideas, but… warning…some readers have turned this into an art form.
However, for our purposes, it doesn’t need to be fancy, neat, or artistic. I just needs to help you learn what you want to know about writing.
Develop a system to mark the page and what on the page you want to note. Here are a few samples:
👉You don’t need to write in your books. Below are two ways you can annotate: 1) one that involves writing in the book, and 2) one that doesn’t.
Annotating by Marking Up Your Book
- Sticky tabs to mark the pages you’ve annotated
- Highlighters – Various colors if you’d like to color-code what you’re studying. For example, pink could be an emotional element, and blue could be character development.
- Pens – Use these to underline or circle. You can color-code these as well.
Note: Test your highlighters and pens to find those that don’t leak through or smudge.
Annotating without Writing In Your Book
I’ll admit, it’s hard for me to write in a book, so my method has moved to using the items below:
- Sticky tabs to mark the pages I’ve annotated
- Highlighter sticky strips – I have long strips that I can cut and a few highlighter sticky tape rolls (like washi tape, only highlighter)
- Transparent sticky notes – These are great to take notes on the page without writing on it. Note that many pens will smudge on these. Sharpies work best on these stickies.
- Reading journal or notebook – This allows me to journal about the book once I’ve finished and note the most important things I learned. It’s also useful for when you can’t annotate a book because it’s not yours, such as ones borrowed from friends or the library. (I have a mini-Happy Planner reading journal, but I don’t see it on their website anymore).
You can get all these on Amazon. You can piece your kit together as I did, or buy a kit that includes most of the items you need.
Here is a picture of my reading annotation kit:
Make an annotation key so you know what each color means. I usually put sticky tabs on the book’s interior cover page and write what each color means. For Christmas, my daughter bought me Annotation Key Bookmarks, and now I just put the sticky on the element it represents. For example, a yellow sticky tab over “Character” on the bookmark.
Here is one of my Annotation Keys. You’ll see I whited out one section and put my own. You can make these yourself or get them on Etsy.
Here is another example of an Annotation Key:
Annotating Ebooks
If you read on a Kindle, you can still annotate using the highlight and note feature. (I use it to read my galley copies as well.) I have a Kindle Scribe, so I can use the “pen” to annotate, but regular Kindles can be annotated by typing onto your screen. (Oh dear, I just saw they have the Kindle Scribe in color!)
If you use something other than Kindle, check your e-reader or e-reading app for information on annotating.
When annotating ebooks, I often have my reading journal with me as well to note items that I want to be sure to review again.
3. Keep It Simple
You don’t need to mark every page. In fact, if you try to, you’ll burn out quickly. Focus on moments that stand out. A line of dialogue that feels sharp. A scene that hits emotionally. A transition that works particularly well. Think of annotating as collecting examples, not documenting everything.
Here is an example of an annotation I did in The Wicked by Rebecca Johnpee.
4. Ask Questions as You Read
The most important part of annotating isn’t what you mark, but how you think. As you read, ask yourself why something works. What emotion is this scene creating? How did the author build tension here? What specifically made that moment land?
If you come across something you feel fell flat or didn’t work, note that too and why it didn’t work.
Turning Your Annotations into Better Writing
Annotating is only valuable if you use what you learn. Start by looking for patterns across multiple books. You might notice that first kisses often happen around a similar point in the story, or that black moments are set up in specific ways.
Then create your own reference. This could be a simple document or your reading journal where you collect favorite moments, notes on structure, or examples of strong emotional beats. I keep lists of words or phrases that I think do a great job of conveying action or emotion. (Note that I don’t plagiarize. I simply made my own phrase book.) Over time, this becomes your personal romance playbook.
Most importantly, apply what you learn as soon as possible. If you notice how an author builds tension in a scene, try that approach in your own work. If you see how emotional conflict is revealed gradually, look for ways to strengthen that in your current manuscript.
For example, early in my writing, I studied spicy bits and discovered that some of the best ones mention body parts very little. It’s less a play-by-play of moves and more drawn out with sensation and emotion. So that’s what I try to do now.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
One of the biggest mistakes is over-annotating. If every page is covered in notes, it becomes overwhelming and less useful.
Another is focusing too much on plot and not enough on emotion. In romance, the emotional journey is the story.
Some authors annotate but never revisit their notes. If you don’t look back at what you’ve marked, you’re missing the real benefit. This is why I often move my notes from the book into my reading journal. In one notebook, I can synthesize what I’ve annotated.
And finally, avoid comparing yourself to the author you’re reading. This isn’t about measuring up. It’s about learning.
How to Make Annotating a Habit
You don’t need to annotate every book you read. In fact, it’s better if you don’t. For example, I started annotating The Wicked because it’s a dark mafia novel, and I wanted to see how the author dealt with violence and relationships. As it turned out, my favorite annotation concerned the use of backstory.
But the last story I read, A Matter of Taste, by Nikki Davenport, I didn’t annotate at all. I just read for fun.
Choose one book at a time to read as a writer. Annotate a chapter or two in a sitting. Or focus on one specific element, like dialogue or pacing, for an entire book.
You can also pair your annotating with your current writing project. If you’re struggling with tension, read a book known for strong chemistry and study how it’s done.
Writing courses and books can be a big help in refining your craft, but I find studying writing in the wild offers some of the best instruction on what works and what doesn’t. When you start reading like a writer, you begin to see the structure behind the emotion, the intention behind the scenes, and the craft of using words to convey it all. And once you see it, you can’t unsee it, which, admittedly, can be problematic, in that it can lessen the fun of reading simply for joy. That’s why I suggest being intentional about what books you’ll study and mixing them in with books you read for the fun of it.
Do you study romance novels? Do you annotate them?
