Many of you know that in addition to writing paranormal novels, I also write YA contemporary romance. Well, on January 22, my first novella in the Game. Set. Match. Heartbreak series releases through Swoon Romance. Yay! So I thought I'd talk a little about writing romance.
Here's what I learned while working on the GSMH series. First, you can't write emotions without feeling them. I had to become sixteen again to write Love All. Why? Because that's when I first fell in love. First loves are incredible. They are all-consuming. You feel like your heart will stop every time your boyfriend (or girlfriend) walks out of the room. I had to tap into those feelings and relive them.
In Love All, Meg has a great boyfriend named Ash. He's the kind of guy you want your first love to be. But here's something you should know about me. I've been in a few love triangles. I hate to admit that, but I'm an open book on this blog. My involvement in them stemmed from my own insecurities, and so does Meg's. Meg's past, complete with a cheating boyfriend, has left her with little confidence. I've been there. I've felt that heartbreak. Yes, I cried a few times while writing this series, but I had to.
So here's my advice to you. If you want to write a romance, be prepared to relive first love, heartbreak, infatuation, attraction, longing... The list goes on. It's not easy to make yourself that vulnerable, but you can't write a good romance without being willing to go there.
Do you agree?
I completely understand what you're talking about. It's true that if you want to write a YA contemporary romance, you really need to get back to the time when you felt like that yourself. That's the best way to get into a character's head. I also understand where your MC, Meg, is coming from with a love triangle based on her own insecurities. I was like that as well at a time, and I think more teens struggle through this than they'd like to admit.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the open and honest post. Have a Happy 2013!
Majanka, sometimes I wonder if I'm too open on here, but I can't help it. I am who I am, right? Meg and I don't have that much in common, but the initial set up did feel a bit familiar, even if it didn't happen that way in my own life.
DeleteWhen I write my YA fiction, I have to remind myself how I felt as a 14 year old. Immortal and willing to take the most ludicrous risks to get things done. It's simply amazing that I made it to adulthood alive.
ReplyDeleteLOL. It's amazing any of us made it to adults. ;)
DeleteI think it goes for writing anything -- you have to be there emotionally to write about it. Good post!
ReplyDeleteTotally agree. You have to write truth or it just doesn't do the magic a book can do and the book will flop! I am glad you are willing to go there!
ReplyDeleteYou have to be willing to go there. Otherwise, it's just words on a page.
DeleteSo so true. I'm much more comfortable writing about crushes than about actual romance, but maybe one day I'll be willing to make myself that vulnerable. :-)
ReplyDeleteIt does take a lot of vulnerability. Definitely!
DeleteYes, it's a lot like method acting, isn't it? Not just in writing romance, but any great character.
ReplyDeleteYes, exactly! I love that.
DeleteOh thanks for sharing this. I too am exploring writing romance from a YA perspective and am working on another one coming out this summer and it's really caused me to dig deep and think about how I reacted or how friends felt and everything. The hardest part for me is writing the boy's perspective, so I've asked my teen son his thoughts and reactions to help me develop the teen male voice. It's been fun! And I can't wait to read your new YA romance :-D
ReplyDeleteThanks, LM. Good luck with your YA romance.
DeleteA great reminder to tap into those feelings. I agree whole-heartedly, whether you're writing romance or not!
ReplyDeleteYes, that's true. You have to tap into the feelings whether you are writing romance or not.
DeleteI had this prob with one book I wrote.
ReplyDeleteWas it that you couldn't relive those emotions?
DeleteI'm not into YA romances, but when I think back in the day on my first, omg, I still would like to kick myself in the pants! I do love the Harlequin romances, well, use to. I tried to read a couple of the modern day ones, but I always pick the wrong ones. If I read romance, it has to be an alpha male. I can't stomach the emotional, whimsical type of guy.
ReplyDeleteIf you have any recommendations based on that, I'm all eyes! I could use another romance. I'm trying to get the latest King story out of my brain!
LOL. My romance coming out has an alpha male and a more emotional male.
DeleteTo me the fun in writing romance is going back and reliving those feelsing and experiences. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, it's fun and heart-wrenching at the same time for me. ;)
DeleteAbsolutely! Good romance always involves a little heartbreak, and you are so correct that the best way to write that is to write it from the heart and from our own experiences. I've certainly had my fair share of high school drama and trauma to draw from.
ReplyDeleteSame here, Kiersi. LOL
DeleteIt's clear to me that to write well in a genre you have to be an avid reader of that genre and be open to immerse yourself in its reality. No doubt you do, and how gutsy to go to that place again, the one of teen do-or-die love.
ReplyDeleteTeen do-or-die love<--I like that. Very true!
DeleteI'm not a romance writer, but I appreciate those who do it and do it well. Here's to success writing about those intimate moments of youth.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lee.
DeleteI have been thinking of writing a YA romance for a change. Usually I just write MG and YA adventure or fantasy stories. I usually have to ride the emotions in my books when I write them, so I'm not surprised to hear that romance will likely be the same. I will have to draw on college though, in high school I was not interested in romance but focused/driven on my academic goals.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to you if you do decide to try writing romance.
DeleteIt all seems so very long ago now........ :) xxx
ReplyDeleteI've had a hard time writing romance since I was always anti-romance growing up. I told my mom I was NEVER going to get married (I think she's kept a signed contract of me stating that). I didn't waste a lot of time on boys in high school. Getting into the YA romance mindset has been a challenge!
ReplyDeleteI can see how that would make it a little difficult for you, Nickie.
DeleteI have tagged you on my blog, it is a questionnaire in regards of new upcoming books. You can repost and pick 5 writers to pass it along. :)
ReplyDeletehttp://authorjtbrown.blogspot.com/
Enjoyed reading through your post. :) Great topics. :)
Thanks, JT. :)
DeleteSimple advice and so true. Two-thirds of the way through my current MS I realized I was writing romance, much to my surprise. It was an interesting adjustment but I have to admit the more I got into it, the better it got - IYKWIM!
ReplyDeleteIsn't funny how the manuscript can turn out to be something you never intended. :)
DeleteEmotiion - so very true. Best with 2013,
ReplyDeleteYou are awesome with emotion, Brenda. :)
DeleteWhen I was drafting my MG novel last year, I did feel all the old insecurities coming back to haunt me. And I thought maybe they never really left. All-consuming, indeed.
ReplyDeleteThey never really left<--That could very well be true. I never looked at it that way, but I think you're right.
DeleteYou're right. But I'm still young, and it's not that big a problem.
ReplyDeleteLittle jealous. ;)
DeleteI get emotional when I write. I have to tap into the past to get things right in a manuscript.
ReplyDeleteSame here. I'm a very emotional person.
DeleteYes, definitely. It's been so long since I was a teen I have to really search my memories for that moment. One thing I know, you never quite forget your first love.
ReplyDeleteNo, you never do. Luckily, my memories of my first love are good ones. We ended as friends and still talk every once in a while.
DeleteSo true. I first tried to write a romance into my series when I was about fifteen years old, but it didn't work at all because I had never been in love. These days writing the romance is much easier.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's tough to write something if you haven't felt those emotions.
DeleteWhile my solo writing is squarely in the thriller genre, I've been co-authoring what's definitely an adult romance novel. Completely different fields.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! Good luck with both.
DeleteExcellent advice. I like how you put it too.
ReplyDeleteI will have to get this book. I am dying to know which one Meg chooses. Or if she chooses either one...
ReplyDelete:) Only a few days left until you can find out.
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