"Writing Realistic Teen Romances" by Haleigh Wenger- Guest Blogger

Writing Realistic Teen Romances

One criticism I hear a lot when referring to teenage romance novels is that it’s not realistic for love interests to always end up together and have a happily ever after. 

Here’s what I think: It’s absolutely realistic. Because when you’re a teenager, and when you’re in love in general, it feels like forever. I can so clearly remember being sixteen and in love, writing in my Live Journal about my intense feelings while waiting around for someone special’s name to pop up on my AIM. Even as a happily married adult, I still get butterflies thinking about those first crushes and how life changing they were.

Let’s give teenagers more credit. I think they understand that not all sixteen-year-olds have a happily ever after, the end, that’s it. But we should trust them enough to know for themselves what they’re feeling and how serious those feelings are. Teens should see healthy romantic relationships in the books they read. For some of them, it might be the only place they see that a happy ending is possible. 

In April a hashtag started by the #Novel19s made the rounds on Twitter. Young Adult writers shared pictures of their prom, with and without their dates under the tag #YAGoesToProm. What was interesting was the amount of people that are currently married to their prom date. But, even if teen love doesn’t turn out to be forever love, it’s still okay to write it like it could be. When we do this, we’re validating teenager reader’s relationships and telling them that, yes, your romantic feelings are real and big and important. We’re preparing them for future relationships that will last, and showing them positive relationship role models. 

If you are a reader of Young Adult fiction who supports happy endings, check out THE ART OF FALLING IN LOVE, out August 13 from Literary Crush Publishing.

- Haleigh Wenger, author of The Art of Falling in Love