The girl he longed for back in school, all grown up and prettier than ever.Ī. A beautiful widow who wonders if she’s ready to risk her heart again. (“A Bend in the Road,” “The Rescue,” “True Believer.”)į. The pretty and perky elementary school teacher/next-door-neighbor/town librarian. A lonely but defensive waitress with a Terrible Secret (“Safe Haven”)Į.

A beautiful woman whose husband’s just left her for Someone Else (“Nights in Rodanthe”)ĭ. A hardboiled reporter with a broken heart and a longing for romance (“Message in a Bottle”)Ĭ. A smart, pretty high school girl from the other side of the tracks (“A Walk to Remember, “The Best of Me”)ī. Your hero can have some other glamorous, macho occupation, like the highway patrolman in “A Bend in the Road.” But remember – keep him Manly but Sensitive.)Ī. A brave but sensitive firefighter whose only fear is to take a chance on love. A tough but sensitive military man who’s seen too much carnage. A sea-hardened but gentle sailor, quietly mourning the death of the love of his life. (“A Walk to Remember,” “The Best of Me”)ī. A bright but troubled high school student flirting with self-destructive behavior. With that in mind – and in honor of the upcoming release of the movie version of Sparks’ set-in-Southport novel, “Safe Haven,” on Valentine’s Day – we thought we’d offer our version of How to Write A Nicholas Sparks Novel.Ī. Still, if you survey Sparks’ 17 published novels, you find that most of them conform to a certain pattern. Many of the millions of fans who buy and read Sparks’ books are not AARP members, and at least some of them are guys. We don’t know if that’s the whole secret. North Carolina’s own local best seller, Nicholas Sparks, once told a writers’ conference that the secret to writing a blockbuster was to figure out how to make little old ladies cry.

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