Young Writers Society

Hello all!

So, in my most recent novel "Immortal Darkness", the two main characters eventually fall in love. It's a New Adult book and doesn't have much sexual content so that won't be an issue here. What is an issue that my co-author Logan and I have been arguing over is the age difference between Styxx and Ryder. Styxx, the older character, is over a thousand years old. Ryder is twenty-one years old. I know other books have done similar things to this but my issue is that I'm not sure if it's something I should do for this particular novel. Should I just cut the romance aspect of the novel completely? The romance aspect is a big part of the novel but I think we could probably work around it if we had to. So what does everyone think? Should we cut it or just keep it?

ShadowPrincess16

If the romance is such a big part of the story, why are you considering cutting it out? Why is the age difference even an issue? From what you've mentioned in your other thread, immortality is a thing at least one of these characters possesses, so why would the age difference be an issue to them?

Basically, if you want our relevant opinions on whether or not to keep the romance, you'll need to give us a lot more context about how the romance fits into the story as well as the reasons why you are considering taking it out.

Why would you not do it? If you're unsure for any reason because of the age-gap then instead of avoiding it, use it. Explore the personal conflicts the characters would go through, the way society would see it and how that affects their relationship. It sounds like a great plot device to use if you're brave enough =]

If Styxx doesn't look like a 200-years old guy and is more like a hot man in his 20/30/40, then it doesn't matter to me. The problem is how they would manage that when they're marriaged to each other and have kids and all. The society's can disapprove as much as it wants.

I think you should go for it, just be careful about credibility. Take it slow. Your thousand-year-old character Styxx has probably met a lot of people and seen a lot of things in their life, so if Styxx treats Ryder like some kind of special snowflake (think "I've never met anyone like you before") than it loses a lot of credibility, since someone who's lived that long as almost certainly met someone like Ryder before.

However, if you take the romance slowly, and have Styxx gradually fall in love, it's a lot more believable.

This article gives some helpful tips along those lines.

Styxx is over a thousand years old (He hasn't revealed the exact age to me yet) but he looks as if he's in his twenties. In all his life, he's only had one lover and doesn't know too much about being in love. He knows that he's starting to fall for Ryder but he's hesitant to actually be with him because he thinks that Ryder deserves someone that hasn't gone through the terrible things that Styxx has. Styxx has kind of a dark past (his past won't be revealed fully until Book Two of the series but it's very relevant to the entire series.) Ryder, for his part, is likewise falling for Styxx. His issue is that he doesn't think he's good enough for Styxx. He thinks he's nothing but a second born son and that Styxx deserves someone else. So they both have issues and I really want to explore it but my co-author kind of thinks it's a bad idea. I think I'm going to go for it because it will add depth to the story. So thank you guys.

Imma put my two sense in because I want to. It's not that I don't want the romance aspect in the series because I do. It's going to add a ton of depth and it'll give Helena (the villain) another reason to hate them. Our villain is Ryder's mother and the fact that her son is homosexual really, really makes her want him dead all the more. It's just that I wasn't sure if the age difference was too much to work with. Lily (@ShadowPrincess16) has proven me wrong yet again and so now we're gonna work with it. So thank you to everyone who wrote in and helped us.

The summary you just wrote, shadowprincess, sounds really compelling.

I mean, it sounds kind of like the twilight thing- Edward is like, 500 years old. Which is creepy.
Since your older character looks young, it LOOKS acceptable... so I guess it's fine. Just remember that while your old character looks young, they are still old, old, OLD, and the age difference should show in the relationship you're portraying.

Erm...the romance part of this is nothing like Twilight. I mean, first of all neither Styxx nor Ryder are anything like Edward Cullen. Styxx, the older of the two isn't a whiny teenage brat. (Sorry to those of you who like Twilight.) He's got a lot more depth than Edward did. And the actual romance...well it is between two men and Ryder is certainly nothing like Bella. I'm sorry if you do find the age difference creepy...but it really isn't. Styxx and Ryder are perfectly matched though they are of two different ages.

Well, the thing is, in the real world there's awkward age gaps all the time- obviously not as big as this here.

My math teacher is nine years younger than her husband, they figured that out late in dating. I know another couple who the man has got to be forty something, and the lady is 21 or something.

Age differences happen when love is involved. It really doesn't matter what everyone around them thinks; you have to figure out if your lovers are willing to accept their age difference, because they're really the only ones that count.