How can I pull this off?

Lady Ice, I think it has a lot to do with having you keep your characters as you've established their personalities, etc. Not knowing how you've approached it, I couldn't precisely say, but maybe have them not quite know what they're doing but believe that they do? Rather than, for the younger set, know that they don't know quite what they're doing?

Just a thought.

Maybe make the 18-year-olds indistinguishable from adults on many, many topics. But when it comes to sex, make them have the nervous excitement than can go away when older (the nervous part).

I don't know if it fits, but I think young adults can also show naivete in politics, workplace issues and a few other things where they may be more idealistic, less jaded (or realistic). Oh, and love! They don't tend to be as jaded by relationships.

They can also stay up for days on end -- I miss that

All four of them know about inserting tab A in slot B, so the mechanics, while maybe different in smoothness and efficiency, should probably be avoided or downplayed. Ask youself what would be different here, and what comes up most is experience. The older couple likely has much more experience in relationships, a more mature outlook on the world, and likely experience in the sack. And this could mean that the emotional aspect of the act for these two may be quite different. Guess which one just might have the wild emotions and which ones the lesser ones? I'd concentrate on the emotional aspects, and they depend on how you set them up in other ways with your previous characterization events. And age and experience don't always produce the most predictable reactions to such events, so you still have total freedom as long as you set it up properly.

Interesting.

The irony is that it's the middle-aged couple who'd likely be more nervous approaching first time consummation - afraid to expose their lived-in bodies, afraid they won't live up to previous lovers their partner may have had. The young ones are still in that stage when they don't yet know what to fear.

One of the strongest indicators of innocence can actually be confidence - and going that way might help the problem of your R and J appearing to be about 14. To them it's all still glorious and shiny and new. To them it's intoxicating to discover the power they have to excite the other, so that she is a beautiful sex-goddess and he is a potent sex-god.

Bless...

Louise, who is no longer young

Every character's reactions and actions should be in character and determined by the experiences of that character.

So, the younger versions of the characters are absent the life experiences of the older ones - and that should be reflected in their actions and reactions.

The teen characters should be in and of themselves organic and realistic for their ages, regardless of the other contrasting characters in the book - ie, the character should be written the same way no matter what other characters are there.

So, one approach, if you are having trouble keeping the characters' voices and experiences separate in your head, would be to first write the younger characters' story. And then put it aside and write the older characters' story. And then weave the two together in revisions.

If you used an outline of of signposts of the overall story, you should be able to keep both stories moving forward.

BUT, if your real question is how to make teen characters sound and seem like real, age appropriate teens, then you have research to do - read a whole lot of recent, contemporary, well-reviewed YA novels; go hang out at places teens frequent and observe; etc.

~suki

A friend of mine did it really well (the writing...get your minds out of the gutter!) by showing the fumbling: unhooking her bra, opening the condom packet, bumping against the headboard. It was the first time for both, and she wrote the scene absolutely beautifully. Don't know if that helps at all.

Terie said:

A friend of mine did it really well (the writing...get your minds out of the gutter!) by showing the fumbling: unhooking her bra, opening the condom packet, bumping against the headboard. It was the first time for both, and she wrote the scene absolutely beautifully. Don't know if that helps at all.

Click to expand...

This is good if it is what the story calls for, but there is a huge risk here that will totally miss the mark nine times out of ten if I'm reading the story. Concentrating on the mechanical events like this could well present stereotypical, two-dimensional cardboard characters in a situation that is one of the most intense emotional events of our lives. To concentrate on the mechanics when there is so much richness (and variation) in the emotional slate for the participants, is throwing away an opportunity to explore not only story complexity but also great character depth. On the other hand, an equal waste of opportunity is to jump from kiss to post-cloital cigarette and totally avoid the situation altogether (again, unless the story calls for this approach).

At 18, it tends to be more fumbling, and way faster. It isn't "romantic" but most 18 year old guys "finish" quick (but can also go multi times). Depending on the guy/experience, he may not be very well tuned on pleasuring the girl yet, and despite the flowerly stuff found in many romances, orgasms are pretty uncommon for a girl her first time (or even a few times unless she has a very experienced lover). Some pain for her, if its her first time ever, and mutual curiosity about each other's body.

Middle age, long married couple likely to have slower, more love focused sex, take their time, know the secrets of each others body and just enjoy teasing and taunting as long as possible, and by now the fella should know how to please his lady more than once.

...or a couple that's been together longer (or individuals who have been having sex for longer) may be more bored with it, and more boring in bed. It's nothing new to them. This is familiar territory. It may be more mechanical, less frequent, and they may have less intense feelings about the experience.

By contrast, people who are having sex for the first time, or who are with a totally new partner, may be more aware of every little thing their five senses are telling them. They may feel anxiety, but hopefully the good kind. They may feel that this partner is "THE ONE!!" and that they can never be more in love than they are right now.

I think the excitement of something new contrasted with the dullness of something familiar may be a more interesting take on this scene from the expected "these people know how to do it; these people don't."

What is the young couple's life experiences? For me that will make a huge difference. If the young couple had parents that were rather prudish or the young couple lived in a more closed environment, the couple might be more fumbling, what is he doing type of actions. If the parents were open about sexuality or the young couple had more worldly experiences, the couple might be more confident is what to do or expect.

Like the difference between the first couple having trouble even looking at an unwrapped condom as opposed to the second young couple having been taught to use a condom by a parent.