So happy to have YA author Melissa Knight back! As a romance author, she’s the perfect writer to give advice for writing clean and sweet romance. The stage is yours, Melissa!
As a romance writer, a Valentine’s Day mentality is always on my mind! As a Christian YA romance writer, however, must passion be scaled down or sanitized to the point where love seems bland or blah?
It depends on your definition of romance, of course. There are plenty of suggestive scenes in both adult and YA books that depict the steamy, physical side of mutual attraction. Is that romance? How about the longing looks, the deep, dreamy sighs, the stars-in-her-eyes forgiveness of the big red flags signaling trouble ahead- is that true love?
In my YA world, I strive to keep the romantic interactions clean and sweet. I don’t go beyond holding hands, hugs and a few light kisses. My audience knows what’s out there, however. They hear their friends talk about going much farther than that, in their relationships. Perhaps they’ve made those choices themselves, with no regrets, and scorn a point of view teaching about sexual purity and waiting until marriage. How on earth am I going to engage, and hopefully influence, those readers?
The answer goes back to my original question, I think. What is romance, really? What moves a relationship from “I like you” to “I love you”? One we want to last forever?
As a Christian, I ponder the gold standard of what true love looks like, and go from there.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
There are a bunch of verbs and actions in that passage! Protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres! Is patient and kind! Is not proud or selfish! Wow, what young girl wouldn’t want a guy like that? This passage is also a writer’s dream, because it outlines one of our cardinal rules:
SHOW, DON’T TELL
Love isn’t just words, it’s action. So what does that look like, when writing a Christian romance that will intrigue even non-Christian teens?
I try to focus on all those verbs we just read. Yes, the female main character will notice the way the guy looks, the sound of his voice, his roguish smile, the spark in his eyes, the way he gives her butterflies with a single look. There may be teasing or tension in their conversations. They may have shared interests or projects to move the relationships along. But what will make them last, beyond a surface attraction? What will make the reader want to claim the guy as her book boyfriend?
Personalities influence actions, of course. The arrogant guy is gentle with the girl, when she is upset. The popular guy is kind to the girl’s younger sisters, becoming their friends and treating them with respect. These aren’t unusual actions, but that’s kind of the point. Though flawed, perhaps with pasts riddled with mistakes, the young men show kindness, forgiveness and protectiveness. It’s part of who they are, revealing their hearts to the young women through their everyday decisions, not in some showy one-off display of showering the girl with candy and flowers, or eloquent flattery.
That is the kind of guy every girl should expect. The kind of boyfriend we want our teenage daughters to dream of!
Romance is surely one of the simplest, yet most complex subjects to capture in words. Perhaps the Creator of romance intends it that way, always a work in progress.
Thank you, Melissa! To read her previous guest post on writing for teens, click here.
*****
If there’s a formula to great relationships, will Casey ever figure it out?
Lots of life changes mean much stress when Casey moves to a new town and high school, complete with a new stepfather and stepbrothers. Add broken friendships and a possible new romance to the mix, and the potential for things to go horribly wrong- or amazingly right- is yet to be decided!
And then there are the hard questions- is the faith in God that I used to have as a child still there? What does God really want from me?
“Feelin’ The Chemistry” is the first book in the Christian Contemporary YA series High School 101.
*****
I have spent most of my adult years surrounded by kids of all ages, having taught in public schools at almost every grade level. I did some writing “on the side” through the years, publishing articles and short stories in various magazines and publications for children and teens. I kept collecting ideas and writing down what I hoped were cool scenes and characters.
Our teens deserve clean books that not only entertain but provide clarity in a chaotic culture. My aim is to write fiction that is real, relatable and attracts young adults to Christ!
I live with my husband in the heart of oil country, west Texas, have two amazing adult children, and am looking forward to adding a son-in-law in the not-too-distant future!
You can connect with me at these links: Amazon , Facebook , Goodreads , X
