#writumblr

WHAT IF…(prompt)

What if pre-buff Jungkook meets his buff and flirty s/o in the gym while he tries the treadmill. He gets so flustered by their words that he loses his footing and his s/o falls in love with him <3

Like I often repeat, I write YA fantasy. 

Most of my writing time goes to “Dear Dragon” which at the moment is one book but part of a larger series. As a series there’s a lot going to happen. And something I find frustration with long YA series, is when character’s spend book after book with just the one single big arc. 

It drives me insane. 

Not always, but often enough. Because character’s grow and learn, and they don’t always grow and learn in the same direction. 

Let’s say your character needs to learn to believe in them self and realice they are the leader the revolution needs (cliché but works as an example), do they really need six books to realice this? Maybe the answer is yes and you have a good reason. But consider this: how much more interesting would it be if they realised they were a capable leader, they begin to lead, and because of this they stop paying attention to others and have to learn to let other’s help out? 

One character arc can lead into another. 

Or perhaps new problems pop up out of nowhere with new arcs. 

I also want do a quick throwback to how character arcs happen before the books begin, character arcs can sometimes go on in the background with side characters and character arcs will continue after the book ends. 

I mentioned it in a post once upon a time and I stand by that. Often times we believe the most interesting characters are the ones that grow and change during a story, but to use an example everybody knows: in Harry Potter, many of the most interesting characters are teachers or grown ups who have already grown and learn very little over the course of the books. 

Character’s can also take breaks from their arcs to pursue some other lesson. Or character’s can learn something then unlearn it only to learn it again (don’t go over the top on this, but sometimes it can make a point even more powerful, a good example of this is Zuko from atla, he changed but when given the chance to redeem himself in his father’s eyes cannot help but take the chance. It is only once he is back that he realises this isn’t truly what he wants and changes sides properly!) 

Character arcs do not have to be linear. They do not have to last forever and they do not have to be standalone. 

Have as many arcs as you need. 

Let them wonder away from the arc then wonder back. 

Let them realise that the things they’re trying to learn isn’t worth it. 

Let character’s be more like real people. Sometimes it can be way more interesting than a walking lesson. 

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here.

What are your favourite character arcs from media? Or better yet, what’s your favourite character arc you’ve written? 

For me it’s perhaps a draw between Henry Warren and Elizabeth Owen. They both grow a lot in different ways and often together. 

It is surprisingly rare in the real world how many relationships consist of people the same age. (The older you get, the more rare it is, which makes sense as age is relative and what not). 

For today’s reference I’m focusing on a minor age gap. As usual I’ll be talking from experience so for context sake I’m 23 and my partner is 30. A seven year gap, pretty common especially where I am. I’m saying minor because it’s the average, but averages vary depending on locations and culture so take that in mind. 

With all this said, here’s a list of things that happen due to this age gap: 

1.- Different shows and music growing up, different games too! My first pokemon game was Diamond on the DS, my boyfriend was around to play pokemon red. That’s like, the first one! 

Similarly sometimes my boyfriends and friends start going of about an old show I’ve either never heard of, or binged as an adult because it wasn’t on television when I was a kid. 

Sometimes it’s the opposite and I start going on about a show they never saw because they were too old. Or shows that I watched they will laugh at because, when it was on television it was “little kid’s show”. 

This leads to both me and them discovering a lot of amazing new shows. I view this as a total positive. But if a relationship was not willing to give new things a chance, this could be a barrier, less things to talk about. 

2.- General different childhoods. I’ve had internet since I was like six or seven. My boyfriends grew up without it. If you’re writing fantasy, this can be replaced with any important technological advancement. 

Because of this specific one, I’m more technology dependant, I use an ipad instead of paper for example, where he is better at using dictionaries and maps. 

3.- Language differences. I’m fortunate enough to have grown up with plenty of terms that weren’t in use when my boyfriend was young. Some are technological, while other’s are mental health or sexuality related. Because of this when we’re discussing news I tend to speak in a more “politically correct” kinda way. 

This also affects expressions, I’m going to use an example in Spanish because I can’t think of an English equivalent, “Chachi,” is a word that means cool. There’s a lot of words like that in Spanish (Guay, mola, súper, lindo…). And it’s a term that my generation used a lot in High School, my boyfriend was older, didn’t use it and now it is not a normal part of his vocabulary. He’ll said mostly “mola”. 

It doesn’t really make a difference. It’s just a difference I’ve noticed and thought could be fun to implement in a story. 

4.- Fashions choices is obvious and I don’t think needs an example. 

5.- Playgrounds songs and games. It’s kind of upsetting that I have more overlaps with my little sister than most of my friends. But it’s also kind of funny. 

6.- Schoolling! This is a big one. We learnt different subjects, under different rules. Sometimes these differences are minor, back when he was in school he had to study religion. I studied ethics. But other times the entire educations system is changes so that now a degree is worth less and I am forced to not only considerbut consider almost mandatory getting a masters degree. Thank you politicians. 

7.- Politics. We are one the same side of politics but the politics we have experienced and lived through are very different and that’s something you can tell when we talk and discuss stuff. I was too young when my country was in crisis to truly understand what was going on. It was just a word to me. He suffered the consequences. 

This one is probably the one that can be incorporated the best into a fantasy setting. And now that I’m thinking about it, I believe Poison Study did quite a good job at doing it. Not going to spoil anything too big, but basically there’s a big political incident that happens before the books and the main character barely remembers it, while the love interest lived it. I highly recommend you give Poison Study a read! It’s one of my fave books of all time (even though I haven’t read it in years). 

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here.

Are you in a relationship with an age gap? What’s your experience? Feel free to add to this post! I sometimes struggle with what differences are due to age and which are due to culture so I left quite a few things out.