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The Universal Fantasy List: Romance
The Universal Fantasy™ Romance is a highly requested companion guide to the hugely popular writing resource, 7 Figure How to Use Universal Fantasy to SELL Your Books to ANYONE. This valuable writing tool will help romance writers—and those who love to work with romantic story elements—“butter up” their storytelling by breaking down the Patron Saints (and a few little saints) of Romance and defining what makes them so incredibly delicious. This list is perfect for commercial writers who wish to craft gripping, irresistible stories that truly entertain a wide audience—even if you’re writing in a niche genre. Level up storytelling today with 7 Figure How to Use Universal Fantasy™ to SELL Your Books to ANYONE and this companion guide, The Universal Fantasy™ Romance .
- GenresWritingNonfictionCrafts
216 pages, Paperback
Published October 18, 2023
110 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
About the author
T. Taylor
3 books19 followersTheodora Taylor is the bestselling author of the 50 Loving States Series. Despite writing within a niche genre (interracial romance), she has earned six KDP All-Star bonuses and grown a fanbase of rabid readers through the power of Universal Fantasy.
Her book, 7 FIGURE FICTION: How to Use Universal Fantasy to SELL Your Books to ANYONE was an instant #1 non-fiction bestseller in the Writing Category on Amazon and has since been certified as Great by the world’s largest online bookseller.
Most importantly, this book has become a valued and treasured resource for writers around the world.
Theodora has been invited to give presentations on Universal Fantasy by NINC (Novelists Inc.) Conference, RAM (Romance Author Mastermind), and Inker’s Con. She’s also a highly sought-after podcast guest. She’s made appearances on The Creative Penn (hosted by Joanna Penn), Six Figure Authors, #AmWriting, Wish I’d Known Then, and SPA Girls.
She adores talking about Universal Fantasy and can’t wait to tell you all about it.
Her book, 7 FIGURE FICTION: How to Use Universal Fantasy to SELL Your Books to ANYONE was an instant #1 non-fiction bestseller in the Writing Category on Amazon and has since been certified as Great by the world’s largest online bookseller.
Most importantly, this book has become a valued and treasured resource for writers around the world.
Theodora has been invited to give presentations on Universal Fantasy by NINC (Novelists Inc.) Conference, RAM (Romance Author Mastermind), and Inker’s Con. She’s also a highly sought-after podcast guest. She’s made appearances on The Creative Penn (hosted by Joanna Penn), Six Figure Authors, #AmWriting, Wish I’d Known Then, and SPA Girls.
She adores talking about Universal Fantasy and can’t wait to tell you all about it.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 25, 2023
Very helpful, albeit very jargon heavy. Best if read immediately following "7 Figure Author" so that Taylor's terminology ("butter," "bake," "serve," "YOU," myriad acronyms, etc etc etc) isn't a stumbling block.
August 16, 2025
I must admit Theodora Taylor did take feedback on board, she even mentions it in the book.
First of all, she admits the book mostly encompasses romance tropes and the kind of romance she writes rather than claiming it's a general writing guide.
Secondly, she admits romance doesn't have to always follow these blueprints she quotes and be exclusively cishet. She even includes queer examples like Heartstopper or Red White & Royal Blue. It's a welcome inclusion.
Thirdly, she showcases how to conduct analysis of non-romance genres for those enjoyable tropes, based on an example of her husband and his hard sci-fi tv show.
Fourthly, I'm really impressed she managed to include an example of a divisive but successful story including non-traditional portrayal of masculinity in a MF romance. Even though it's a Pixar family movie, not a romance novel, I so rarely see praise for non-traditional masculinity in MF-romance-centric circles I was really warmed by the inclusion of this chapter.
For that, I'm giving this book 4 stars, even though otherwise if you're trope-savvy and understand foreshadowing and build up, you likely won't find anything new here. Things like "your character shouldn't make a 180 degree turn from a hateful jerk to devoted lover, you need to give the reader the hints this character has a heart of gold / potential to change all along". So yes, foreshadowing / breadcrumbing. Or things like kicking your character down so the victory can be so much sweeter (character is lonely / down on their luck, or starts from things immediately getting worse for them like getting fired all the way to 3rd act break-up so the reunion can feel grander).
I still get a major ick towards "punish me, daddy" trope esp. in a romantic context, but at least the author prefaces the whole book with explanation the "universal" fantasies aren't really universal, more like widely appealing, and okay, fine, that trope sells like hot cookies, so there's truth to it.
And at least she acknowledges two types of protagonist: self-insert blank slate and an escapist character where you know you aren't them, but wouldn't it be cool to see things from their perspective? The latter are usually both big heroes and villain protagonists too, the appeal is to relive their thrills safely from your couch. I must say I'm 100% camp no. 2. Even when I actually self-insert, for example playing role-playing games, I always want to make a super-cool character I can't be irl than some boring blank slate. Even when I read in first person, I don't feel "I'm doing this", I feel "someone is telling me their life story". Maybe that's why I'd struggle forever with majority of the romance that's written for a "self-inserting reader".
Anyway the most pertinent advice here is: find your guilty pleasure and find which genre / sub-genre caters to it. For me, that's usually fantasy. It's been over 1,5 year since I've read her previous book and since then I've realized there's less point trying to swim upstream and more point to finding my own side pond where I can have fun.
She also mentions the importance of comps, i.e. check whether other people did it already and did it sell. I feel I'm also less worried about this aspect now that the market started accommodating more stories that seem to be written for people just like me. Y'know, the stories too queer for straights, and too straight for queers.
First of all, she admits the book mostly encompasses romance tropes and the kind of romance she writes rather than claiming it's a general writing guide.
Secondly, she admits romance doesn't have to always follow these blueprints she quotes and be exclusively cishet. She even includes queer examples like Heartstopper or Red White & Royal Blue. It's a welcome inclusion.
Thirdly, she showcases how to conduct analysis of non-romance genres for those enjoyable tropes, based on an example of her husband and his hard sci-fi tv show.
Fourthly, I'm really impressed she managed to include an example of a divisive but successful story including non-traditional portrayal of masculinity in a MF romance. Even though it's a Pixar family movie, not a romance novel, I so rarely see praise for non-traditional masculinity in MF-romance-centric circles I was really warmed by the inclusion of this chapter.
For that, I'm giving this book 4 stars, even though otherwise if you're trope-savvy and understand foreshadowing and build up, you likely won't find anything new here. Things like "your character shouldn't make a 180 degree turn from a hateful jerk to devoted lover, you need to give the reader the hints this character has a heart of gold / potential to change all along". So yes, foreshadowing / breadcrumbing. Or things like kicking your character down so the victory can be so much sweeter (character is lonely / down on their luck, or starts from things immediately getting worse for them like getting fired all the way to 3rd act break-up so the reunion can feel grander).
I still get a major ick towards "punish me, daddy" trope esp. in a romantic context, but at least the author prefaces the whole book with explanation the "universal" fantasies aren't really universal, more like widely appealing, and okay, fine, that trope sells like hot cookies, so there's truth to it.
And at least she acknowledges two types of protagonist: self-insert blank slate and an escapist character where you know you aren't them, but wouldn't it be cool to see things from their perspective? The latter are usually both big heroes and villain protagonists too, the appeal is to relive their thrills safely from your couch. I must say I'm 100% camp no. 2. Even when I actually self-insert, for example playing role-playing games, I always want to make a super-cool character I can't be irl than some boring blank slate. Even when I read in first person, I don't feel "I'm doing this", I feel "someone is telling me their life story". Maybe that's why I'd struggle forever with majority of the romance that's written for a "self-inserting reader".
Anyway the most pertinent advice here is: find your guilty pleasure and find which genre / sub-genre caters to it. For me, that's usually fantasy. It's been over 1,5 year since I've read her previous book and since then I've realized there's less point trying to swim upstream and more point to finding my own side pond where I can have fun.
She also mentions the importance of comps, i.e. check whether other people did it already and did it sell. I feel I'm also less worried about this aspect now that the market started accommodating more stories that seem to be written for people just like me. Y'know, the stories too queer for straights, and too straight for queers.
April 9, 2025
Taylor keeps upping the game with these books. I learn so much from each page that I have to set it aside as I read and just sit there thinking. This one is the same. Butter on every page and whoa moments every other line. I can't recommend this enough. I'm sure I'm going to return to this book over and over again each time I plot or edit or do my personal 'butter pass'.
Thank you for another brilliant and at times funny installment. (the new glasses story made me hoot out loud.)
Thank you for another brilliant and at times funny installment. (the new glasses story made me hoot out loud.)
June 20, 2024
I love this as a companion to the original Seven Figure Fiction Universal Fantasy book. While I'm mostly researching Universal Fantasies for applications after writing and editing my books at the moment, I can *definitely* see using this to outline and write future books. Great tips on how to build and expand universal fantasies throughout your book so every book is as buttery and rich as you the author desire.
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November 16, 2024The list and explanations of some common “butters” Taylor teaches us about in her first book on universal fantasies. Reading this one I realized the “emotional vacuum “ was just the thing for the book I was working on—I was dancing around it but couldn’t quite pinpoint it. Now I can!
October 23, 2023
As with everything Taylor writes or teaches, this book was pure gold.
November 1, 2023
This is book has become one of the most valuable assets in my writer's toolbox!
November 2, 2024
Love this book. Wish I had read it back when I first started writing romance. It helps me answer that big question that eats away at me while drafting—will anybody like this?
October 19, 2025
great resource
A long list of Universal Fantasies to use in romance plots. gave me lots of inspiration for my own work.
A long list of Universal Fantasies to use in romance plots. gave me lots of inspiration for my own work.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews