5 Secrets from Julia Quinn on Writing Bridgerton

Dearest gentle readers, are you just burning to learn the secrets of author Julia Quinn, the mastermind behind the steamy and scandalous Bridgerton series?

All was revealed to our writing community at The Novelry during an exclusive live class with Julia Quinn.

Julia Quinn is the New York Times bestselling author of nearly 40 romance books, and there are over 20 million copies of her books in print in the United States alone. Her Bridgerton series was adapted into a record-smashing Netflix series by Shonda Rhimes in 2020—the hotly anticipated Season 4 is due to premiere in 2026. As part of our Fall season of events, The Novelry hosted Julia Quinn for a live class on all things Regency romance.

In this article, we expose five secrets from Julia Quinn on writing Bridgerton and more. Speaking to our writers at The Novelry, Julia explained how the famous Lady Whistledown character came into being, why the Regency era is the perfect setting for her romances, and how she willingly falls into research rabbit-holes when writing one of her bestselling novels. Her insights will prove reassuring to writers of all genres, especially romance writers, whom Julia encourages to ignore the naysayers—write what you love.

For more events with internationally bestselling authors, sign up for any class at The Novelry and receive one-on-one coaching and access to a thriving writing community. Now, for five secrets from Julia Quinn!

1. The best devices are borne out of necessity, i.e., Lady Whistledown

Perhaps the most recognizable feature of Bridgerton is the witty, sharp, and all-knowing voice of Lady Whistledown, the anonymous gossip columnist who reports on the rising scandals of the ton. Voiced by Julie Andrews in the Netflix series, Lady Whistledown defines the sensationalist and provocative appeal of Bridgerton—a key component of what makes the series so addictive both to binge-watch and read.

Bridgerton fans might be surprised to learn that, actually, Lady Whistledown was a device borne out of narrative necessity, rather than a foundational concept of The Duke and I, the first book in the series.

When asked about the origins of her iconic omniscient narrator, Julia answered:

Lady Whistledown... I do remember how she came about. I was trying to avoid an info dump!

An info dump is when you very awkwardly put out all your expository information. The classic bad info dump is when you have two characters reminiscing about the past in a way that they would never actually do so in real life.

And, you know, I’m always telling people—you need to remember that your characters are speaking to each other, not to the audience. But at some point, I just realized that if I had a gossip columnist, it was her literal job to dump info. And I remember doing that and getting all my information out there about how, oh, there are eight Bridgertons, and they look alike, and they’re alphabetically named. And I’m thinking: how on earth has nobody figured this out yet?
—Julia Quinn

This eureka moment of Julia’s led to a cult following of readers who, after finishing the first of the Bridgerton series, The Duke and I, were desperate to find out who Lady Whistledown was. Sometimes the best narrative devices are discovered from necessity; often, when you’re onto something good, you’ll be asking yourself why nobody has figured this out yet!

2. Finding the setting sweet spot

Whether you’re writing a romance, historical, fantasy, or children’s book, creating a vivid and convincing world will be at the top of your priorities. And especially if you’re working in the historical space, you’ll know how important it is to establish that specific feeling of a cultural moment.

So why did Julia Quinn choose the Regency period for her series of scandals?

It was what she loved to read for pleasure, but it was also because of the imaginative fecundity of this historical period. Julia allowed herself to use the Regency period with some leniency, acknowledging that the world she was presenting would not be entirely authentic to reality—but it gave her the opportunity to be imaginative and creative while still working within a familiar historical setting. So why was this period so perfect for storytelling?

I think that the Regency period is at this real sweet spot where it’s far enough in the past that we allow ourselves to give it a fairy-tale quality... But at the same time, it’s modern enough that we can have our characters think and behave in ways that are fundamentally familiar.
—Julia Quinn

When writing historical fiction, you’ll be thinking of the balance between historical detail and dialogue while keeping your language accessible to a modern reader. Finding your perfect setting, as Julia did with the Regency era, will allow you to present the consistency of human behavior across time while also enjoying the fantastical quality of a temporally removed setting.

All this to say, your setting is a fantasy—treat it as such!

3. Falling into the research rabbit-holes

As writers, we’re used to being told only to include essential details. Usually, this means unwillingly parting with all the information we’ve gleaned from hours of tumbling down Wikipedia rabbit-holes.

While it’s true that these details are often superfluous, Julia advised writers not to sacrifice every morsel of information gathered from their research. In fact, including some of these little historical details might add the depth and complexity you feel your setting is missing.

For example, Julia described a moment in her writing where a character shares his familiarity with a painting, prompting Julia to fall into a research rabbit-hole. She admits that it might not have been entirely necessary for the plot, but she decided to include it because it contributed to the overall world-building of the series.

I had to know if maybe, somehow, the hero could have actually seen this painting in person. Because the painting was on the continent and he had been on the continent, so I spent hours looking for the provenance of the painting. Like, where was the painting at all times, and could he have seen it? And let me tell you, this is absolutely not necessary for the book. The book would’ve been just fine without this. But I couldn’t stop. And I’d like to think that it’s sort of the sum of all these little details are what adds to the whole milieu.
—Julia Quinn

4. Ignoring the romance naysayers

Romance readers and writers will be familiar with the usual criticisms of their genre. Romance suffers from the unfair perception of being ‘low-brow,’ while its writers tend to receive a tougher time from critics than most other genres. In response to this culture of romance-bashing, Julia shared a piece of wisdom from the former executive director at Seattle Public Library, Nancy Pearl:

Literary fiction is always judged by its best examples. And romance fiction is always judged by its worst.
—Nancy Pearl

Julia emphasized this to our writers as a reminder to ignore outdated stereotypes surrounding their chosen genres. She added:

I just think that’s something to remember because, whatever you choose to write, I assume you’re writing it because that’s what you love—and that is valid.

So don’t let society in general tell you what’s important or not.
—Julia Quinn

So, if you are writing a romance, romcom, or romantasy, apply Julia’s advice and approach your work unapologetically. When those moments of self-doubt or anxiety creep in, surround yourself with a supportive writing community. Along with step-by-step guidance on how to write a romance novel, joining The Novelry grants you access to our buzzing community of aspiring writers, published authors, and publishing professionals, all there to uplift and encourage one another through the writing journey.

There are far too many reasons to fall in love with romance to let the naysayers bring you down.

5. There’s no one right way

At The Novelry, one phrase that our coaches and editors consistently offer to our writers is tools not rules.

You will find plenty of valuable writing advice online: learning about the intricacies of story structure, for example, equips you with tools to use in your writing. But it’s still important to remind yourself that everyone approaches their novel differently. If a particular technique works for you—for example, writing a thorough outline and sticking to it faithfully—then stick to it, and avoid adopting someone else’s approach simply because they declare it to be the right way. Julia follows her own advice, and she even stressed that the way she writes won’t necessarily be the best method for many writers.

In particular, Julia’s writing process is relatively unique: rather than accumulating countless drafts, as many published authors do (Bonnie Garmus wrote 36 drafts of Lessons in Chemistry), Julia continuously edits a single draft—which eventually becomes her final manuscript.

You have to remember there’s no one right way to write a book. Because what works for me may not work for you at all.

I’m somebody who edits as I go along constantly. So, my first draft is my only draft. But believe me, it’s been edited. Because I can’t just jump in. I have to go back... So you have to figure out what works for you.
—Julia Quinn

Writing a novel is a deeply personal experience, and so, at The Novelry, we always recommend you think of the advice of your favorite authors as tools, rather than rules.

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Bonus tip: It’s okay to have bad days

Writing may be one of the most coveted pursuits in the world, but that doesn’t invalidate your struggles as a writer.

Knowing the difference between feeling stuck and needing to push through, as opposed to feeling stuck and needing to rest, is critical for healthy writing. Julia Quinn—a prolific writer of over 30 years—‘hates’ her job sometimes, and takes breaks when necessary. Clearly, the breaks she has taken haven’t diminished her productivity.

Everybody wants to be a writer. You know, we’re allowed to have more than writer’s malaise, you know, we’re allowed to hate the job sometimes. And we’re allowed to say: I need a break. I’m having trouble doing this. And so I did.
—Julia Quinn

If you are struggling with writer’s block, you might find this article written by detective series author Emylia Hall helpful. And if you’re struggling with self-doubt or self-sabotage, this article by Alice Kuipers helps you understand and defeat self-sabotage to find the joy in writing again.

For more examples of live writing classes at The Novelry, see this blog with romance author Talia Hibbert on writing spicy romcoms, or this exclusive interview with the bestselling author of The Women, Kristin Hannah. Members of The Novelry can find the recorded session with Bridgerton author Julia Quinn in their Catch Up TV library.

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