The wacky part of YA romance is trying to retro-fit adult romance stages into teen circumstances. It’s a tricky balance. I see a lot of adults readers call out YA for being slow burn, but I think they forget what it’s like to be a teen...

You’re shy and revealing feelings is brand new. You have homework and sports and after school jobs. You have parents who make you leave your door open and instill curfew. You often have to share your car with a sibling or parent.

Physical intimacy, for the first time and particularly with a person you are only just getting to know, moves in much slower stages. First a peck, then a real kiss, then some hands over clothes, then some hands under clothes... when combined with aforementioned timing issues...

Things take a while to happen. And when writing a YA story, that covers maybe two or three months of time, you might not realistically cover everything an adult reader would expect. I don’t know if that’s slow burn? It’s most certainly not sex-negative, IMO. It’s just timing.

Anyway. Just something I’ve been thinking about. Oh! On the flip, there are some really wonderful YA stories that focus on intimacy and sex... and I don’t think they fast forward things, unrealistically. They absolutely have their place, too.

I guess what I am saying is I don’t know that slow burn necessarily applies. More like, “everyone-moves-at-their-own-sometimes-awkward-pace-burn”.

Thoughts?