My story revolves around two high school seniors, one from an evangelical Christian family and another that is apathetic to religion, with a fairly liberal worldview. In my story they will fall in "love" (as it pertains to teenagers), and although the relationship will not work out in the end (spoiler alert haha) I want to use the plot as a way to explore forbidden/first love, and the dynamic of two people falling in love despite major differences. My main concern is that with most high school-set fiction, it will get draggy and routine. I plan to switch POVs between the two main characters, as a way to show their differences in perspectives. I was wondering if anyone had any tips or ideas for me to keep my story moving and keep it exciting without falling into the dull routine of the high school in which it is set. Thanks!
well im doing a book currently with two people's POV's. one is a prince and another is a peasant girl (though this book is not your average midevial theme the boy is a werewolf and the girl is a victim of a raid upon her village by said werewolves). usually i'd just keep focus on making each person unique and have them think about the other occasionally -throw in some conflict in random places and you'll keep people on their toes!
Before you begin this, ensure that your characters are fully fleshed out. More importantly, avoid building stereotypical characters. Falling into cliches and stereotypical characters with a story like this is easy, so it's crucial that your characters have interesting, dynamic personalities. Characters drive the story. If the characters are interesting and the themes well developed, the story will probably intrigue the reader. That established, some sort of plot is necessary for the characters to react to things and convey their personalities. You have the main plot (forbidden romance), but you don't seem to have subplots. Subplots help the story progress more naturally and interesting because it allows you to focus on things other than the main plot. Things tend to get unrealistic and dull if the characters' lives completely revolve around the main plot.
or not. I prefer to minimally define characters beforehand, and let the story bring out their details. With characters fully fleshed out beforehand, there s a greater risk of over-constraining your characters. I do agree about a need for plots. A plot forces one or more characters to overcome obstacles to reach a goal. In doing so, you bring out the essential traits of the character in how he or she responds.
The perfect example of this would be Across the Universe, by Beth Revis, the first chapter is from the boys perspective, then the second chapter from the girls and just like that through the whole book. Check it out!
However you do it, the most important thing is to develop the characters really well. We have to understand what they see in each other, and why, despite their differences, they are still attracted to each other.
I agree that too much characterization and revelation of backstory too soon within the story itself is detrimental and holds the writer to a contract he can't fulfill. Still, I like having a detailed character before I start, altering their history and/or 'quirks' as necessary, because I find it that it makes it easier to gauge how the character would react when faced with X.
