Writing romance books for young adults

Source: shaynelinden.blogspot.com

Writing romance in books for young adults can be tricky when you’re no longer a teenager.  There’s a fine line between creating a cheesy chick lit romance novel and writing a compelling and realistic teen romance. Just like characters in every book need to be individual and unique, so must the romantic relationship in any story.

A love story is based upon the interaction and attraction between characters.  Even in paranormal romance books, the readers want the relationships to seem real and human. Edward and Bella are a perfect example—despite Edward’s superhuman strength and proclivity for blood, their relationship seemed real, as they endured conflicts and uncovered mysteries about each other, as you would do in a real-life romance.

To get started on your romance story, it’s best to take the first necessary step in writing books for young adults, or any books for that matter: create a profile or biography for your protagonist. Beyond his or her physical description, you’ll want to empower them with talents, strengths and skills, while humanizing them with flaws and weaknesses. You’ll want to know their likes and dislikes, as well as their hopes, dreams and so on.

Next, you’ll want to create a profile for the love interest if your protagonist. Give their charismatic hero (or heroine) the same attention you give to the protagonist. Even if your goal is to write one of the best fantasy novels of all time, the attraction between the pair must feel genuine and should make some sense. While it is important to have something in common that may bring them closer together or make them able to relate to one another, it would be uninteresting for them to be too similar. For example, imagine a series of paranormal romance books that features two vampires with the same backgrounds, who come from similar families and have the same wants and desires.

As you may know from reading some of the best fantasy novels, even in the most fantastical world or circumstances, characters act the way they do because of who they are. To create tension in the story, the characters should contradict each other while at the same time fulfill a need in each other. A great example of this is the relationship between Eden and Bramford in Revealing Eden. Eden seems to hate Branford in the beginning— in fact, the feeling seems mutual. Yet there is a need they both have for each other, and despite their tendencies towards conflict, there’s an almost palpable romantic tension. That’s how it works when romance is done right!