Depending on your audience ... a LOT.
LGBTQIA+ rights, women's rights and autonomy, economic disparities, racial prejudice, environmental destruction, politics in general, military aggression, police brutality, hate crimes, sexual assault. OMG the list goes on forever.
I think the only point I want to make is this: don't shy away from subjects just because some readers may take issue with it! Go ahead and disturb the comfortable, and let other readers know you see them and support them.
Anyway. In a love "triangle" *sigh* one person has to make a choice. The most common sequence of events that I've seen in love triangle dramas is when the center person is already dating someone and a new person comes into their lives that they are interested in. Do they stay with the person they're already with, or do they dump that person and go with the new person?
My first instinct is to say: go with the new person. If you were really in love with the first person, you never would have noticed the second. That seems the easy answer.
One of the ways I've seen the drama build is when the central person can't think of a good reason to break up with their current partner. That person hasn't done anything "wrong" per se. They're just not the right person. But if you realize the person you're with is "wrong for you", that should be a good enough reason to break up with them. Yes, you're probably going to hurt their feelings, potentially even break their heart. But you're not doing them any favors by staying with them out of shame or pity. And you're doing any favors to the person you want to be with by avoiding that relationship.
Worse, sometimes these dramas will have the central person actual cheat on their current partner with the new love interest. Please, please, please break up with someone rather than cheat on them. They will be far more hurt by the cheating than you breaking up with them to be with someone else. And the person you're cheating with probably feels like crap, too, being the side piece and all.
All that being said, I have written love triangles a time or two, because they do feel so realistic. This is something that people face out here in real, 3D life, so it should be reflected in fiction as well. In one romance, I did an unrequited love triangle, where the central person stays with their current partner because they never developed an interest in the second person who was yearning for them. But in the other story, I had the central person make the switch, and it was a very angsty moment for him, which is always fun to do to my characters.
I feel that this trope is definitely a standard for a reason, and will remain as such. I just wish it was named correctly.
I tend not to like this particular trope. I don't really like bully redemption stories, and a lot of lovers to enemies stories involve that. I don't really like stories where people are denying their true feelings by acting out in anger, either. It seems disingenuous.
So, naturally, the latest story idea I got and was compelled to start writing down is a YA enemies to lovers romance. *sigh*
As I'm writing it, and getting into the heads of my characters, I'm beginning to understand better how this whole trope works ... I think. My main character is physically attracted to the love interest right away, but dislikes his personality. Meanwhile, the love interest is projecting a negative attitude because he thinks he dislikes the personality of the main character. In reality, both of them are projecting falsified versions of their personality for different reasons. Their true personalities are actually very compatible.
Creating a false persona can be common in teen years, as people are still trying to figure out who they are, what matters to them, and how to fit in with their peers. Judging people on the surface is common as well. Feeling comfortable enough to be yourself around someone can be particularly difficult if you don't feel like you can trust them.
It's difficult to write, though. I want to make sure their growing feelings for each other make sense and feels natural to the reader. The passion they feel for each other from the beginning is actually always an attraction.
For example: in the YA series I'm currently querying, my main character starts dating during his junior year of high school (book 2). That relationship goes poorly and he ends up dating someone else his senior year (book 3). That relationship goes very well and they're still together when they graduate. But this isn't the person my main character is going to spend the rest of his life with. He meets that person after college (not sure what book number that will be). But my MC loves his book 3 LI. He's devastated when they break up in book 4. It's just a fact of the human condition, most high school sweethearts break up.
I recently started a YA romance one-shot, and I'm having more trouble with this one. The problem I'm coming up against is that I don't want to think about my MC and his LI breaking up, EVER. They're great together and they really love each other. But they meet when they're 15. If this were the real world, what would be the chances that they stay together for the rest of their lives? Pretty much none. It's fiction, so I can pretend they stay together forever.
But I'm also a bit of a realist. (Not a helpful personality trait for a writer.) I want to write my romance books with a hint as to what comes after "the end". For an adult romance one-off I recently wrote, I ended it with a proposal. That's about as close as we can get to "and they lived happily ever after" in modern fiction. I can't exactly do that with a couple of teenagers. Maybe showing them going off to the same university? Do an epilogue of them 10 years in the future when they're having their first kid? Ugh. Then there's my brain telling me that there's no way these two would stay together all through high school and college without at least temporarily breaking up and trying their own things; dating other people or moving away for a few years. That can be part of healthy development.
What to do, what to do, oh, what to do? I guess I just write the story that's living in my head and hope the readers can extrapolate the kind of future I envision for the characters.
So, I have a day-job. I'm lucky enough to get to work from home 3 days of the week. But my commute into the office is about an hour, so on the days I go in, I lose 2 hours of my life to sitting in a car.
Then there's family obligations. I live with family, and I enjoy spending time with them. I want to make sure they know that I love them and cherish them, so I try to give them time and attention.
When do I write? Well, every chance I get. I've heard it said that you should set aside a set time every day that you can focus on writing. I've tried that, but too often, things get in the way. A work project runs late and I can't just step away. There's a traffic accident on the freeway and it takes me an extra half hour to get home. My sister asks me to pick up my niece from ballet. We completely ran out of bread and I need to make an emergency trip to the store, so I might as well pick up the other things we're low on (literally happened just yesterday).
Instead of trying to carve out writing time, I set myself up so that any moment of the day could be writing time. I have a notebook and pens in my purse. I put a notebook specifically for my WIP in my work bag and take it to the office. I keep a notebook and my laptop next to me when I'm watching TV. Any little moment when inspiration might strike, I have a tool at my side that will allow me to start writing. Yes, I try to stick to a writing schedule as well, but I don't rely on it. Instead, I take the available moments as they come and keep myself prepared. It's served me well thus far.
Now I have to rewrite the first 3,000 words or so in order to switch perspectives, but I think the story will make a lot more sense and be more compelling with this change of main characters. Sometimes the story tells you how it's supposed to be written, and we, as writers, just have to sit back and listen.
I just hit 34,000 words on the story, so I'm getting close to something of a complete draft. Most of the major scenes have been written. I have a few more outlined, then I just need to tie it all together. With how easily this book has flown out of me, it could theoretically be done rather soon. Some of the last scenes to write, however, are about the MC I don't like. I have to write from her point of view, and it's getting harder as the story goes on and she gets more and more frustrated with the situations I'm putting her through. I started writing a particular scene last night and had to stop because I realized I was getting mad at my MC for how she was behaving.
This character is my own invention and I'm getting mad at her. Sheesh.
But it's a common problem that writers face. How do you put yourself enough into the mind of someone you dislike in order to be able to write from their point of view? We experience this with antagonists a lot, but they usually aren't the MCs. We just write them tangentially. When the character you don't like is the one narrating the scene, how do you get around that dislike and find something to connect to? Their passion. Their distress. Their insecurities. You have to make yourself care about them in order to give them a voice.
I'm currently querying my first novel (please cross your fingers for me that it gets picked up). It's the first in a young adult series that I've already mapped out 5 books for, and I'm thinking I will need to include content and or trigger warnings in most of the books.
Book 1 includes a physical attack on a young gay man. Does that need a trigger warning for gay bashing?
Books 2 on include underage drinking and mentions of sex (nothing explicit). Does that need a content warning, as my target audience is the teen and young adult crowd.
Book 2 also includes questionable consent and Book 4 includes an attempted rape. Those should probably have content/trigger warnings.
I don't know that I've ever actually seen a content or trigger warning in a book. But I also can't remember the last time I read a book that might have needed one or the other. Do publishers have rules about these things? Until I get picked up by a literary agent, I'm not sure who to actually ask.
So, what do I do? I set aside my series and begin writing a romance novel, something I've never done before. I hardly even read romance - only if I want a quick, silly, pick-me-up. Sure, I have romantic elements in the stories I write, but I've never made it the focus of the piece. Somehow, someway, working on my YA series and dealing with teen romance inspired me to come up with an adult romance storyline that is quickly turning into a full novel. In 2 1/2 days, I've already written over 20,000 words! If this was NaNoWriMo, I'd be kicking everyone's butts.
I want to finish my YA series, of course. I want to get the 2nd book done soon enough to entice literary agents to pick up the project. But I have to follow inspiration when it strikes. Maybe this romance novel will continue to fly out of me, as it has over the last couple of days, and I'll be done with it soon enough that it will be like I hardly stepped away from my YA series at all. I have to let this play out and see.
I'm writing the story in 3rd person, as I'm not fond of books that change perspectives but maintain the 1st person narrative. That seemed to be a popular thing with middle grade books when I was young, and I don't want to repeat their mistakes. But that doesn't really solve the conundrum of how to maintain a consistent perspective when both main characters are in the same scene.
I'm thinking it makes sense to introduce one character at the start of the scene and try to keep them the narrator of the scene that follows, even when the other character has a strong role in the action. It's a difficult balance, and I'm not even halfway through my first draft, so I've got time to work it out.
The problem I'm having is that I can crank out romance stories a lot faster than the other books I write, because they're very trope heavy and predictable. I don't spend weeks and months doing complicated character building. I don't do series arcs. I just write fun little stories about people meeting and falling in love. I'm beginning to wonder if I should be querying my romance stories in addition to my YA novel, and, if so, how would that go over with readers and literary agents?
I'm worried that literary agents and publishers won't want someone to put their name on both bon-bon romance paperbacks and more serious novels. If my spicy romance novels get published, will people take my other novels seriously? Ideally, I would love it if I could get every manuscript I actually finish to be published, regardless of the genre or the audience. I just want people to read my stories and enjoy them. But I don't know of many authors who cross the line between straight up romance and serious fiction. I would consider using a pseudonym for the romance novels, to keep them separate from my other works, but I don't want to be disingenuous. I write what I write, and I write all over the map. Do I present myself to literary agents as an all-around author and hope they're willing to work with me in each genre? Do I focus my time and energy on only one genre at a time and try to build up a readership there before branching out? It's a conundrum.
Studies have actually shown that people work better under pressure than when given free rein to set their own schedules, so procrastinating is fairly common. The anxiety produced by waiting until the last minute actually heightens senses and makes the brain work faster. Which is good news for those of us who are perpetual procrastinators.
But there's some good that comes from procrastinating when it comes to creative writing.
When I'm intentionally not working on my writing by distracting myself with other activities or doom scrolling the internet, my brain is constantly reminding me that I should be writing. It comes up with short snippets of the scene I'm supposed to be working on. It shows me emotions that my character might be feeling while under pressure. It reminds me of plot holes that need to be filled in. My fingers may not be actively writing, but my brain is still working on the project. Then, when I finally sit down to write, I usually have the first few sentences ready to go. Once I get started, the words tend to flow.
Procrastinating can just be a passive way of actually getting things done. So don't sweat it too much if your hands aren't on your computer or you haven't picked up a pen all day. Your brain might be working for you.
But we all experience writer's block at some point in time. Lots of things can cause it: being tired from day to day life, characters aren't talking to you, inspiration fatigue, just finished a work and don't know what to do next, etc. Plenty of reasons exist for why the creative juices might dry up.
In my case, one of the leading causes of writer's block is depression. I happen to have bipolar disorder. My mood is fairly well controlled by medication and therapy, but there are times when I still fall into a depressive episode and can't just will myself out of it. It's incredibly difficult for me to write when I'm depressed. I lack motivation to do much of anything and my mind is too numb for inspiration to strike. But not writing causes me to feel more depressed, because writing is the greatest joy in my life. It's a terrible spiral that makes me feel worse and worse until the depressive episode ends and I can write again.
In August of 2023, I completed a "final" draft of a manuscript for a novel and sent it to a beta-reader. I spent time editing it and writing a few scenes for its sequel. Then depression hit and I stopped writing. At first, I thought I wasn't writing because I'd just completed a work and wasn't ready to move on. Maybe my brain was stuck in editing mode. But time went on and I still wasn't writing. I came up with ideas for the next book, but I just couldn't get myself to write them down.
This depressive episode lasted until February 2024 - the longest major depressive episodes I've had since I started medication. I was miserable the entire time. And I didn't write a single word. I managed to journal a few times, as my therapist kept encouraging me to do, but I'd usually only get a page of "I don't know what to write" before I'd give up.
After a few medication changes that did nothing, my shrink came up with a cocktail that finally worked and I came out of the depression. It was like a weighted blanket was removed from my creativity and I was suddenly writing again. And I wrote a LOT. I've nearly finished the sequel to the novel I'm now querying with literary agents and written some key scenes for the 3rd book in the series.
It's easy to blame myself when I have writer's block. There must be something wrong with me. Unfortunately, with my troubles with my mental health, it's sometimes true that I'm the cause of my writer's block. But that doesn't make it my fault. And it doesn't mean that the writer's block won't lift if I just keep trying.
Yes, writer's block hits all of us. But I've realized something: I ALWAYS come back to writing. No matter how many times I've stepped away from my notebooks and laptop, I always come back. That's the part that matters to me. Pauses are temporary, and sometimes necessary to deal with other things going on in my life. But I know that I'll always return to writing. I just can't stay away. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
So, we have to write characters that greatly differ from our own experiences. We use our imagination and research to fill in the gaps between what we "know" and what we want on the page. It's what makes us creative types.
But what if you want to create a voice that's traditionally underrepresented and greatly differs from your own?
The main character in the book I'm querying is a young, gay boy who is both an artist and a basketball player and I'm ... none of those things. Seriously, not a single one. But I feel I do a good job at writing his story from his point of view (it's in 1st person). How can I write something that is largely underrepresented in literature and something I have no personal experience with?
Empathy.
Probably a writer's greatest tool is the ability to empathize with people who greatly differ from us. Frankly, the more underrepresented, the easier it is to empathize, because I know what it feels like to be seen as the "weirdo" in a group, to hide a part of yourself from friends and family so you aren't ostracized any more than you already are. I don't let anyone I know read my writing. I didn't even tell anyone I'd written a book until I started querying it. I understand what it's like to be a creative-minded person and feel disconnected from the world around me. In that regard, I feel greatly connected to my main character.
I've done a lot of research on art and basketball so I can write scenes with some sense of realism - enough that people who do know about such things won't immediately go "that's not how that works." I'm queer and I was once a teenager, so I can relate to the struggle of accepting one's sexuality and how to go about coming out to friends and family. But my ability to empathize is definitely what allows me to bring my character to life on the page. It's a tool that's greatly useful in the real world, too, but is downright necessary for writing realistic characters.
Sometimes the prompt inspires me to write about the main character in the work I'm currently querying. I've written scenes that took place in his past, long before the book takes place. These scenes help me better understand my character's thoughts and motivations as I move the story forward. They also help to better understand the side characters and how my MC interacts with them on a regular basis.
However, there has been a time or two when a prompt has inspired a scene that's actually made it into the book. I'll be writing from the prompt, as per usual, and I'll suddenly see how it ties into the story and can actually build upon the work I've already written. It can help tease out relationship dynamics. It can create a new tension between characters. It can help me see a side character in a new light that I want to bring out more in the book. I'm always surprised when a prompt inspires an actual, usable scene.
I highly recommend doing prompts to anyone struggling with their writing. You just never know what you're going to get.
They both know that a break-up is the best thing for them. Despite loving each other, they do understand that they're not "in love" - like the forever, get married kind of love. But they care very deeply for each other. On the one hand, that makes it easier to accept that they want what's best for each other, and give each other the chance to meet someone great in college and find someone that they could be "in love" with. But at the same time, they really don't want to give up what they have, because it's so special to both of them.
I've been running through possible scenarios for how they break-up, and all I know for sure is that it's a very emotional and difficult decision for the two of them to come to, but they both saw it coming. I can't decide who brings it up, though, so I'm having a hard time sitting down to write the scene.
...
Maybe I should just write out the dialogue without assigning lines to either person until I figure out who's saying what.
I think part of my hesitation is that I don't want to split up this couple. They've been really good for each other and supported each other through difficult times. It's been a healthy relationship from the beginning. Sure, they had their ups and downs, but they always worked through things because they cared about each other more than getting their own way. After previous relationships I've put both these characters through, it was a big step, emotionally, for both of them.
But now they need to move on. They have to continue to grow on their own so they can be ready for the next relationships I have planned for them.
I've never personally experienced an amicable break-up. I'm not still friends with anyone I've been involved with in the past. I'm using my imagination to write the emotions each character is going through during the break-up. I wish I had a bit more to go on, but I wouldn't be a writer if I wasn't decent at extrapolating from my limited life experiences to create life experiences for fictional people in fictional situations I can only barely relate to. So, that's my plan for this scene - don't write what I know, write what they know. Because my characters have a tendency to run the story themselves anyway.
I actually attended a private school all through middle school, so I have some personal experience with the culture there. It is very different than public school. The teachers are different. The expectations on grades and extracurricular activities are different. And the mindset of the students is different. I wasn't immune to it - when you get in to a private school, you automatically think a little better of yourself. "I'm special." "I'm better than the public-school kids." "I deserve to be treated better." It's really hard not to think like that at first. Some kids grow out of it, depending on their interactions with the outside world. Some just don't.
Currently, in the novel that I'm querying, I refer to the kids who think grandly of themselves as the "plastics." I know that term has been used a few too many times already, so I'm open to suggestions on what else I should call them. But the truth of the matter is, there are a LOT of them at private schools. Usually they come from upper-class families and have been told they were special since the day they were born. Some of them are academically gifted or particularly good at sports, and may have gotten a scholarship to the school, thus "proving" they are better than those kids still stuck in public schools, and even better than the kids at the private school who aren't on scholarship but simply paid their way in. However the mindset was formed, they persistently think they are better than others, and lord it over them whenever possible.
These plastics (or whatever I end up calling them) make for excellent villains in YA novels. Some have the chance of being redeemed, if shown the error of their ways. Some remain "evil" throughout the story and must be defeated in some way. But they stand opposed to the "good guys" in the story by their very nature. You see some of this in public schools, as you always have bullies and those who think highly of themselves, but the tight-night environment at private schools, and the addition of socioeconomic disparities, make these schools much more intense when it comes to bully culture.
Take, for example, the artistic gay. The guys who do drama or dance or paint. They are often depicted as being of either a gentle or dramatic nature. They may have a certain lilt to the way they speak. They may care an awful lot about their appearance. And, frequently in fiction, they are canonically not-straight.
Then we have the jock. The guy who's most comfortable getting sweaty and a little dirty. The one who actually enjoys working out and will still run a few laps for fun after a long practice in the gym. These are the guys who are naturally attractive, even if they don't try. Their fit bodies are attractive to the girls in their circle, and they're never short on options when it comes to dating. Which is why fiction writers love subverting stereotypes by making these characters gay. Though, usually their storylines focus on coming out of the closet and dealing with any backlash from the public that thinks jocks must inherently be straight.
What happens, however, when you have a character that is both artistic and a jock? That is a dilemma I'm exploring in the novel I'm currently querying. My main character is a gay teen who is both an artist and a basketball player. How does he balance the expectations his schoolmates place on him from each side? It's been a fun journey, figuring this out with him, and things get very hairy as the series progresses. How will things shake out? Hopefully I'll get picking up by a publisher soon so you can find out!
It's a strange occurrence in this country that fathers don't usually get primary custody of their kids in a divorce. There are some states, or so I've heard, that the courts don't even bother asking the divorcing couple what their plans are, they just automatically award custody to the mother, and the father has to petition to change that.
When working on my debut novel, the parents of my teen main character had just gotten divorced. The mother wanted custody so she could move her son with her out of state. But the teen had a scholarship to an elite school in his hometown and the father wanted to make sure he could stay and finish out his school years there. So, Dad gets primary custody. Ta-da! Trope averted. I didn't do it that way to intentionally go against the trope - it happened to make sense for the characters and I needed to create tension between the teen and his mother.
I'm enjoying the challenge that comes with writing a single father. He has to contend with his ex-wife butting in on how to care for their son. Eventually he will begin dating - though probably not until book 3. And there's very little in the way of examples in literature on how to do this. It's minimally-charted territory!
My parents divorced when I was in high school, which is part of the inspiration for my book. My mother got primary custody of me, and there are many times when I wished she hadn't, for reasons that I will not be putting in this blog. I enjoy the opportunity to fix my family’s mistakes in my fiction. That's part of why I write, I guess - to make the world that I wish I could have lived in.
