Romance Inc. → If you could ...
Pages 1
Hey everyone!
If you could give a new aspiring romance writer some advice, what would be your number one "rule"?
Mine is:
Establish the male and female protagonists as soon as possible.
The reasoning behind this is you don't want romance readers wondering who's meant to have the happy ever after and to get the reader as soon as possible on their side to get together.
Number 1 rule: Do extensive research on WRITING for that genre. Romance is probably one of the more stringent genres for formula expectation. Knowing those expectations ahead of time saves a ton of time/frustration. And your suggested rule, Janet, is the largest of the formula 'must haves' at #1.
This isn't a "craft" piece of advice, but the first thing I'd tell any new writer is: Find a good critique circle.
Don't fall back on stock characters.
Think about them as people and try to bring out their true qualities.
Stereotypes are for children's books. Not novels.
Break the mold and don't write formula. It gets old fast. But do create strong protagonists & antagonists right off.
Not sure if this is always true or possible, but based on my struggles to get my first chapter on its legs, I've realised it's probably a good idea to give both the male and female MC's a "voice" in the first chapter. This is mostly based on how Stephanie Laurens writes - my all time favourite romance author. It would be interesting to hear everyone's thoughts on this approach.
Not necessarily Janet. It depends on what you want to do. One of the most successful romance novels I've read keeps the males mc's poverty until almost the last chapter of the book because not knowing what he's thinking drives the tension. It really depends on what you're story is about and what the reader needs to know. Keeping Mathew's pop out for a while and keeping Catherine and the reader guessing his intentions might be something to think about.
Bimmy
And I agree with the other Janet.
By formula, I'm not suggesting your writing needs to be cookie cutter. And if you are going the self publish route, none of it matters. BUT, if you have interest in shopping a romance novel, there are concrete formula expectations that must be met if you want a chance of having it looked at.
Join a group of romance writers. You can go to Romance Writers of America and probably find a chapter near you, maybe. Not sure if there is some similar group in Australia, but the RWA organization has online training classes (usually less than $50), writing contest, and online groups where you can ask questions and have those published mentor you.
I joined RWA and the Alabama state chapter, Southern Magic. We physically meet once a month and they bring in someone to talk or do a training session. I've learned a lot from the group in the last 2-years that helped me learn the craft (still learning) and built great friendships with like-minded people.
TNBW is great for establishing critique partners and learning the generic craft of writing, but you still need the human touch with others. This is by far the best critique process out there, but I already had my book written before I started posting. I don't believe in writing by committee; I believe in writing the story on my heart and in my head. Then edit, re-write, edit, re-write, edit, re-write, ect... I've read and been told that the first novel is the hardest to write. After that, the others are much easier because of everything you learned.
Strong beginning strong middle strong end. Write like your hair is on fire. You can't get better if you don't write. And finally it's not the work that's important it's the writing. Know when to move on. 
I want to expound on something:
If you don't have a strong beginning, the reader won't read the book.
If you don't have a strong middle, the reader will lose interest and put the book down.
If you don't have a strong ending, the reader will feel cheated and probably think twice about buying another book written by you.
Pages 1
Romance Inc. → If you could ...
