Help. Is it weird or acceptable?

[Darci]

I would not shy away from it if the age is an important fact in your story. Personally I graduated from HS at 17, not really that unusual, I don’t think age matters to the two in love but it will matter a great deal to the parents...

[Peter]

In real life this happens all the time. A friend and former neighbor of mine dated a guy from her older brother's class and he was 4 years older. Nobody I knew thought anything of it. This was in the 60s.

[Leah]

I think it’s is very common in every day life. I was dating a guy in high school that was 14 when I was 16. It’s bound to happen. However, I do remember his mother did not approve of me being older, even though I was the only virgin between us lol!!

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

It happens. Writers shouldn't be afraid to write about what happens. It shouldn't matter if the reader accepts it or not. If the h and the h (?) fall in love, so what? It's your book.

[Felix]

It definitely wouldn't be a big deal, especially if it's a difference of only one year. This sort of thing happens all the time. And 17 is still over the age of consent in most places, if you really want some more peace of mind from a legal standpoint.

[L.K.]

Falynne wrote: "Hi all! I have a dilemma. I’m writing a young adult romance novel. The h is a high school senior, aged 17. The H just graduated high school last year so he is 18 going on 19. The H works for the h’..."

I can't imagine it would be a problem. In the UK both characters would be over the age of consent, so it seems completely acceptable to me and certainly nothing weird about it.

If you feel it is something that needs to be addressed in the story, you can always just include it in the story somewhere. I have a book (it's a psychological thriller, not YA or romance) where one of the story lines follows a teenage couple who are both 15 at the start of the story, and at one point they have a conversation where the boy asks the girl if she is planning to wait until she is 16 to have sex. A bit further along in their relationship there is a period of time where he is 16 and she is 15. In real life, I think things like this happen frequently. My novel is partly about how the girl ends up being caught in a very intense (and ultimately abusive) relationship, but my point is if you want to cover topics or situations that you feel are controversial, you can always just try tackling it head on and making it part of the story.

[W.]

Falynne wrote: "Hi all! I have a dilemma. I’m writing a young adult romance novel. The h is a high school senior, aged 17. The H just graduated high school last year so he is 18 going on 19. The H works for the h’..."
Not weird

[Xanxa]

One year age difference isn't really much of an issue. Like others have said, both your characters are technically classed as adults so it should be acceptable. In the UK, 16 is classed as being adult for the purpose of sexual consent. It may differ in other countries so perhaps it's worth checking out if you want to be extra cautious.

Just to put things into perspective, I don't write YA and some of my characters have massive age gaps. In my current WIP, there's a 16 year old male in a relationship with a woman over 20 years older than him. It's not YA so I don't have to be so cautious.

[Valerie]

I've read plenty of YA novels where a girl in high school dates a guy in college or of college age (and I've written a couple of those kind of situations as well) so it doesn't seem weird to me at all :)

[Felix]

The usual age difference is three years though our own Queen Elizabeth decided she was going to marry Philip when he was 18 and she was just 13.

My own wife is five years younger than me and the age difference is often greater in the Southern States.

[Sherri]

I graduated from high school and started my freshman year of college when I was 17. My birthday is in late August, so it's rare, but possible for that to happen. And my husband, who I met when I was 19, is three years older than I am.
So no, it's not weird. A year is nothing. Usually, it's a bigger age difference.

[Anne]

Edward Cullen was something like 85 years older than Bella and no one cared. :) In seriousness, 17 and 18, no big deal. If you're talking 17 and 28, then I think you might have an issue.

[M.L.]

So the boy is 18 almost 19, the girl is 17. Is the boy a sex offender or a convicted felon? Depends on your story, you know. :) And what he does and what they do as to how your readers will react. Seriously, I don't think anyone really cares about that age difference. But seriously again, I don't know the story.

[M.L.]

By the way, if this is M/M or F/F romance, just say so. It would make it easier than h is this and H is that and h is. :)