Teen love stories or romance novels for young people, or young adults (YES), are currently a huge market. The demand for YA love novels is growing in popularity, in part because of Stephenie Meyer's wildly popular Twilight series. The market for teen love stories is full of diverse and highly competitive titles as many writers create popular YES love stories for teens and they are an immediate success. However, the exact details of a teen love story require an understanding of the YES love genre, a clear outline of the story, and a solid first draft.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Preparing to Write
Step 1. Understand the genre of teen love
Teen love story writing focuses on the process of falling in love in adolescence, which is a special and intense experience that most teenagers want or will experience. Most YA novels feature a main character who is under the age of 18 and is written from the perspective of a teenager.
- The target audience for YA novels is teenage readers aged 13-18 years who are facing problems of love and passion in life. This genre can give teens access to these emotions through fictional characters and stories, and help them deal with their own feelings of love.
- Most teen love novels feature a female lead because many YA novels are written by women and are targeted at young female readers. However, there are some well-known YA love novels written by men and featuring a male lead.
Step 2. Read examples of teenage love stories
Learn about the genre by reading the bestselling teen love novels. For example:
- The Twilight Series, by Stephenie Meyer. This four-book series is one of the biggest selling teen love stories in publishing. Meyer creates a strong and unique female protagonist (Bella Swan) and gives her common teenage problems such as a strained relationship with her father, adjusting to a new city, feeling isolated and alone. These teen issues are combined with supernatural elements to create a love story that appeals to teens, such as a boyfriend who is a handsome vampire.
- The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green. The story of the cancer-stricken teenager, Hazel, and her encounter with Augustus Waters, is a favorite novel among YA readers.
- Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell. The story of two 16-year-old teenagers in love uses two strong main characters to tell a classic love story.
Step 3. Analyze the main character and his loved ones
How is the development of the main character or protagonist in the book? For example, despite being both female protagonists, the main character in Twilight, Bella Swan, is very different from Hazel, the main character in The Fault in Our Stars. However, both books deal with the dark side of teenage life (loneliness, isolation, death), another major element of the YA novel.
The person whom the main character falls in love with in Twilight follows the standard image of the man he loves in a YA novel, which is very, very handsome. Same with Augustus in The Fault in Our Stars, who is described as "sexy" by Hazel and enters the familiar figure of a handsome and mysterious man
Step 4. Determine the obstacles or problems between the two characters
A good love story must have conflict and tension. Conflict can be a deep hatred or dislike for each other that eventually turns into love, or a misunderstanding or mistake at the beginning of the story that makes two lovers separate or drift away from each other. Usually, the higher the suspense, the more attracted the reader is to the story.
For example, in the first book of Twilight, tensions rise as Edward and his family defend and save Bella from a sadistic vampire. The main character is placed in danger, and her relationship with the man she loves is put to the test. This conflict then becomes an ongoing tension in the other books in the series
Step 5. Look at the ending
As a reader, are you satisfied with the ending of the book? Did you find the book's ending too slow or too predictable? How did the author put the narrative sequences from the previous chapters together to create a reasonable and satisfying ending?
The story of The Fault in Our Stars doesn't have a happy ending for Hazel and Augustus, instead allowing dark themes like death and suffering to be part of the ending. While not following the familiar structure of a love story, this ending fits the style of the YA novel, in which the main character may not get what he wants, but he undergoes a transformation or enlightenment
Part 2 of 3: Creating an Outline of the Story
Step 1. Create the main character
While many YA love novels focus on a female protagonist, you shouldn't limit yourself to a female protagonist either. A male protagonist or a non-gender-identified protagonist is also an option. However, when creating your main character, try to avoid cliché or familiar territory. You need to create a protagonist that is interesting and unique enough to keep the reader loyal.
- Avoid writing “Mary Sue”, which is a symbol in the world of YES for the selfish and shallow female protagonist. Mary Sue is usually a straight character, who never goes wrong and all the plots seem to be set up to either let her get what she wants or get the perfect man. Writing like this not only creates a flat main character that readers can't relate to themselves, but it also turns off all the suspense of the story and tends to make the story predictable.
- Instead of letting the main character's feelings or passions define who he is, develop him as a fully formed character, separate from his feelings. Think of the main character as the foundation of the love you will build on in the book. Make him someone the average reader can recognize, has anxieties, clumsiness tendencies, and teenage impulses.
- Use a teenager you know as a model, or think back on how you felt as a teenager. Most likely you don't feel perfect every day or always get what you want. Give the main character deep difficulties and convey his anxiety to the reader so that they will sympathize and can relate themselves to the main character.
Step 2. Develop the character whom the main character loves
Since most teen love stories are enjoyed by female readers, the person the main character loves tends to have the important feature of being very handsome.
- Most traditional teen love stories feature an attractive, physically attractive love target, usually called “Gary Stu” (as opposed to “Mary Sue”). However, physical attractiveness and charming attributes should not be developed to the extreme. Cliche descriptions of men such as “tall, dark skinned, handsome” or “handsome as a Greek god” or “so sexy” should be avoided.
- While you may have to give your main character's love interest a high degree of physical attraction, you should also emphasize the personality or attributes that make him or her attractive. Try to keep the character down to earth by giving him anxiety and problems similar to the main character's problems. While there has to be an element of fantasy to this love interest, you need to keep it natural and similar to real people who have their own problems.
Step 3. Think about how the two met
Create a connection between the two characters through shared hobbies or interests, mutual friends or acquaintances, or even awkward conversation while waiting in line. Avoid clichéd situations like “love at first sight” or how the guy makes the female lead fall in love with him instantly.
- A couple should connect immediately, but it doesn't have to be positive right away. Maybe they didn't like each other at first, or didn't think much of each other's existence. Or, they may clash and argue. Let their relationship develop slowly throughout the story. Oftentimes, young love involves a lot of longing, miscommunication, and awkwardness.
- One of the mistakes in many YA love stories is that the two characters stare at each other like electric shocks and love suddenly. On the other hand, allowing the tension between the two characters to develop over time will create a more effective story, and give the reader a reason to keep turning the pages.
Step 4. Think of one problem
No story is without problems, especially for teenage love stories because two lovers are usually placed in conflict or face obstacles that test their love and loyalty to each other. Problems can also cause them to admit or realize feelings of love.
- Problems in the story should serve as a way to reveal more about the protagonist and/or his love interest. Problems are also supposed to create conflict for the protagonist and for his loved ones.
- Create problems that match the suspense of the story. If you're writing a teen love novel that involves supernatural elements, initial problems can be created from the moment the main character discovers that the person he loves is a vampire. If you're writing a love novel about a cancer patient, the problem might be how much time you have left to be with your lover.
Step 5. Make a plot summary
Use the Freytag Pyramid to structure the story. Outlining your story structure before you start writing will help you see the big picture.
- Introduction or Exposition. Provide an initial picture. Let the reader meet the main character. Introduce the protagonist and setting to the reader.
- Generating events. It's what keeps the story flowing, or the events that start the action. This section should imply the beginning of the main conflict. In most teen love stories, this is when the character who is the target of love is introduced. For example, your main character, a 16-year-old cancer patient with only a few weeks to live, meets a 17-year-old cancer patient with an even shorter life remaining and then they connect.
- Action Enhancement. This is when the story gets complicated. The tension of the story should start to increase because of the main events or problems in the story. This part can be expressed by showing two characters getting closer, or farther away. It could also be in the form of a quest, like Hazel and Augustus' trip to Amsterdam in The Fault in Our Stars.
- Climax. The high point in the story. This section or chapter should have the highest tension and be the most interesting moment or event in the book.
- Drop Action. The main conflict has been resolved, or not, and there are events that occur as a result of the climax.
- Resolution. The protagonist resolves the main problem or conflict, or is resolved for him.
- End. Closing the story and letting the last details fall into place. The remaining statements or problems in the book are resolved or answered here. In some books, the author will end the story on one theme or hint at other possibilities for the characters, beyond the last page.
Part 3 of 3: Writing the First Draft
Step 1. Write for the reader
Keep in mind that your readers are 13–20 years old, and usually have severe teenage problems around love, loneliness, and passion. Avoid formal terms and language, and use descriptions that seem easy for teens to understand.
- Instead of lowering your level of language intelligence, listen to how the teens you know talk and interact. The goal is to create a natural dialogue and reaction between the characters. You have to let the readers see what they have in common with the protagonist and his view of the world.
- For example, in Twilight, there is a scene where Bella tries to seduce Jacob, a 15-year-old boy who turns into a werewolf at sunset. Their dialogue is awkward and hesitant. Bella is embarrassed by her attempts to seduce him and tries to hide her attraction to Jacob. Many teenagers had experienced this scene, and understood how Bella felt. This makes Bella an effective protagonist of the story.
Step 2. Show, not tell
These are the basic writing rules for all genres, not just teen love stories. Instead of telling the reader directly how the characters feel in a scene, express their emotions through action and dialogue.
For example, instead of telling the reader, “Bella is mad at Jacob. He feels betrayed, “You can use his actions and dialogue to show those emotions. Bella rolled her eyes at Jacob, her hands clenched at her sides, her mouth pursed in a frown. 'I can't believe you did that!' she shouted at Jacob."
Step 3. Pick up a big theme
Think about what teens might face at their age. Usually, teenagers try to know their future when they are adults. They may experience major life problems, such as moving to a new city, realizing feelings of passion and love, and struggling with sexual attraction. A good YA love novel looks at the larger themes of teenage life, and incorporates them into the novel.
Consider a major theme you might want to explore in your teenage love story. For example, a simple theme is like a protagonist with abilities that he hides so that he feels like a stranger or isolated. Or, your protagonist grapples with themes like death, unrequited love, or discovering his true identity
Step 4. End with a transformation, rather than happily ever after
Create an ending that shows the transformation of the main character as a result of experience, not an ending that provides a happy ending for the protagonist. At times, the happy ending in which the protagonist gets exactly what he wants feels wrong or unrealistic.
