Stephanie’s answer to “hiii!! i'm a teen writer and i'm just wondering if you have any tips for writing romance that's chr…” > Likes and Comments
3 likes · Like
Pray a lot about the controversial topics. If it's for an adult audience, there shouldn't be a lot of difficulty if you handle it through the lens of the Word of God. If it's for teens/young adults, bathe it in prayer, and know your audience. Sometimes the biggest part of the writing journey is learning who your reader is, and that can take time. I still don't have it all figured out. I know that I don't market to everyone because I have a good idea that adults and teens who don't care for single point of view present tense won't enjoy mine (it's also why I've never delved into adult historical fiction--there are reader and genre expectations for it, that God has not led me to write so far). For teens or young adults, it's not that any topic is off the table, it's more how it's handled. Not everything needs to make it on page. And how consequences are handed out. I have readers who don't feel like my characters are punished enough--lying is often present, and I understand their objections. I also believe that God deals mercifully with me often and doesn't always give me the punishment I deserve so it's a balance of showing God's grace and His intolerance for sin.
Book recommendations: Laura Frantz is my favorite author and her historical romance books are full of rich, immersive detail and unmatched historical settings. The romance is often slow burn and she often has the characters marry somewhere in the middle so readers can see their love and faith grow after the marriage. For anyone else who may be reading this, she writes for Christian adults, but if you've read Francine Rivers, I think you'd enjoy her. My top favorites (and it's really hard for me to narrow it down) are: Courting Morrow Little, A Heart Adrift, The Mistress of Tall Acre, A Bound Heart, and her novella A Fierce Devotion (though that one might make more sense if you read The Seamstress of Acadie). But really, pick up any of her books and you will likely want to read them all.
Another book that isn't as strongly romantic but is such a great book that demonstrates the organic faith being woven throughout is Jocelyn Green's Mark of the King. Again, this is for an adult audience, but Rivers is too, so I don't think there's anything that would be surprising for you.
Other good historical fiction for Christian adults are The Lady and the Lionheart by Joanne Bischof and Burning Sky by Lori Benton. These all have about the same amount of romance.
For specifically Teen/YA (which is what I usually recommend) are Tiger Queen by Annie Sullivan. This is maybe low fantasy, but the world felt very historical to me which is one of the reasons I love it. I enjoyed the cross purposes of the characters.
Follow the Dawn by Rachelle Rae Cobb, and Stephanie Morrill's historical fiction books (Within These Lines and The Lost Girl of Astor Street) are also favorites of mine.
That can get you started, and if you need more along the way don't hesitate to ask. I'm happy to help you grow that tbr.
yes, you're right 🩷 and i'm definitely praying a lot about it and will continue to pray. for now i'm mainly working on simpler topics to practice writing meaningful stories and characters well, and i'm saving the more sensitive topics for the future. but i have fleshed out most of those stories and they're very close to my heart, so i'm going to keep praying and i'm going to stick to it, even though i know it's going to be hard (:
ahhhh thank you so much for all these recs!! i'm definitely going to look into them and i'll reach out if i ever want more. thank you again!!
You're so welcome! Happy reading and writing.
back to top
date
newest »
newest »
Pray a lot about the controversial topics. If it's for an adult audience, there shouldn't be a lot of difficulty if you handle it through the lens of the Word of God. If it's for teens/young adults, bathe it in prayer, and know your audience. Sometimes the biggest part of the writing journey is learning who your reader is, and that can take time. I still don't have it all figured out. I know that I don't market to everyone because I have a good idea that adults and teens who don't care for single point of view present tense won't enjoy mine (it's also why I've never delved into adult historical fiction--there are reader and genre expectations for it, that God has not led me to write so far). For teens or young adults, it's not that any topic is off the table, it's more how it's handled. Not everything needs to make it on page. And how consequences are handed out. I have readers who don't feel like my characters are punished enough--lying is often present, and I understand their objections. I also believe that God deals mercifully with me often and doesn't always give me the punishment I deserve so it's a balance of showing God's grace and His intolerance for sin. Book recommendations: Laura Frantz is my favorite author and her historical romance books are full of rich, immersive detail and unmatched historical settings. The romance is often slow burn and she often has the characters marry somewhere in the middle so readers can see their love and faith grow after the marriage. For anyone else who may be reading this, she writes for Christian adults, but if you've read Francine Rivers, I think you'd enjoy her. My top favorites (and it's really hard for me to narrow it down) are: Courting Morrow Little, A Heart Adrift, The Mistress of Tall Acre, A Bound Heart, and her novella A Fierce Devotion (though that one might make more sense if you read The Seamstress of Acadie). But really, pick up any of her books and you will likely want to read them all.
Another book that isn't as strongly romantic but is such a great book that demonstrates the organic faith being woven throughout is Jocelyn Green's Mark of the King. Again, this is for an adult audience, but Rivers is too, so I don't think there's anything that would be surprising for you.
Other good historical fiction for Christian adults are The Lady and the Lionheart by Joanne Bischof and Burning Sky by Lori Benton. These all have about the same amount of romance.
For specifically Teen/YA (which is what I usually recommend) are Tiger Queen by Annie Sullivan. This is maybe low fantasy, but the world felt very historical to me which is one of the reasons I love it. I enjoyed the cross purposes of the characters.
Follow the Dawn by Rachelle Rae Cobb, and Stephanie Morrill's historical fiction books (Within These Lines and The Lost Girl of Astor Street) are also favorites of mine.
That can get you started, and if you need more along the way don't hesitate to ask. I'm happy to help you grow that tbr.
yes, you're right 🩷 and i'm definitely praying a lot about it and will continue to pray. for now i'm mainly working on simpler topics to practice writing meaningful stories and characters well, and i'm saving the more sensitive topics for the future. but i have fleshed out most of those stories and they're very close to my heart, so i'm going to keep praying and i'm going to stick to it, even though i know it's going to be hard (: ahhhh thank you so much for all these recs!! i'm definitely going to look into them and i'll reach out if i ever want more. thank you again!!
You're so welcome! Happy reading and writing.
also, i definitely think whimsy made the right decision in uncertainty of fire. it was hard for me to reconcile with my fangirl-level obsession with keller XD but i was proud of her at the end, if a little heartbroken. an unconfirmed report was very healing to read <3
as for recs, i'm not very picky about genre, though i'm not as into high fantasy as i used to be. i love historical and contemporary romance, and i also love anything whimsical, so more like low fantasy? but seriously any of your top recs would be appreciated <3
again, thank you so much! this means so much to me (: