Full transcript
0:00A 16-year-old girl lives in a crumbling
0:02city. She's never known freedom. Every
0:04morning a siren tells her when to wake.
0:06Every night a curfew tells her when to
0:08sleep. She has a number instead of a
0:10name. Then she meets a boy, of course.
0:13He's from the wrong faction, the wrong
0:14side of the wall. Falling for him is a
0:16death sentence. She does it anyway.
0:18You've read this book. You've read it a
0:20hundred times. It's sold hundreds of
0:21millions of copies across dozens of
0:23titles. Like Divergent, The Hunger
0:25Games, Matched, Delirium, Red Queen.
0:27Same bones, same formula every single
0:30time. It just works. So here's the
0:32thing. That formula isn't hidden. It's a
0:34structure, a set of repeatable decisions
0:37about world and character. And today I'm
0:39going to break it down piece by piece so
0:40you can write your own.
0:46Hey everyone, I'm Jason and welcome to
0:48season one of Story Chef, a bonus show
0:50here at The Nerdy Novelist where we look
0:52at story like a gourmet chef looks at a
0:54dish. Technique and instinct. Creativity
0:58and skill. As always, this video is
1:01sponsored only by my school group, Story
1:03Hacker AI, where you get access to my
1:05Story Hacker tool. It lets you take
1:07these guides and use AI to plan your
1:09story. Click the link below to get
1:10started. Now, let's cook. Every young
1:13adult dystopian romance depends entirely
1:16on two characters, the heroine and the
1:18love interest. Get them right and
1:20readers will forgive almost anything
1:22else. First, we have the defiant
1:23heroine. This girl is what makes the
1:25whole thing move. This is Katniss, Tris,
1:28Mare Barrow, America Singer. They're all
1:30built from the same parts. First, your
1:32protagonist is ordinary. She's broke,
1:34invisible, at the bottom of whatever
1:36hierarchy you've built. Maybe she's from
1:39the Seam or Abnegation or the
1:41red-blooded underclass. Young adult
1:43readers need to see themselves in her,
1:45which means she can't start special. She
1:47has to earn it. Second, she has a single
1:49person she'd die for. That could be a
1:51sister, a best friend, or a parent. This
1:53tether exists to give her a reason to
1:55act. Katniss doesn't volunteer because
1:57she's brave, she volunteers because
1:59Prim's name was called. Tris doesn't
2:01leave Abnegation because she's
2:03rebellious, she leaves because the test
2:04told her she doesn't belong. The first
2:06big choice is always personal. Save my
2:08sister, protect my friend, and the
2:10ideology comes later if at all. Third,
2:12she has a practical skill, a real-world
2:15skill. Katniss hunts, Tris is small and
2:17fast, Mare is a pickpocket. This skill
2:20keeps her alive in the early chapters
2:21before the larger conflict takes over.
2:24It also signals to the reader, "This
2:26girl is competent. She can handle
2:27herself." Fourth, and this is the one
2:29most writers miss, she doesn't want to
2:32be a symbol. She doesn't want to lead a
2:33revolution. She's not an activist, she's
2:36a survivor who gets drafted into
2:37something bigger than herself. The
2:38reluctance is what sells it. It makes
2:40the eventual transformation feel earned.
2:43But then we have the love interest, and
2:44he's not a nice boy. Let's get that out
2:47of the way immediately. The primary love
2:49interest in young adult dystopian
2:50romance is a bit dangerous. He's either
2:52part of the system she's fighting or
2:54he's so deep in the resistance that
2:56being near him could get her killed.
2:57Four is a Dauntless leader, Peeta is a
3:00tribute, someone she might have to
3:01murder later. Cal is a Silver Prince.
3:04The love interest is structurally wrong
3:06for her. Their connection shouldn't make
3:08sense to anyone watching from the
3:09outside. And he has a secret, always,
3:12something he's hiding from the system,
3:13from her, or from both. That secret
3:16becomes a plot engine. When it's
3:18revealed, usually around the midpoint or
3:19the end of Act Two, it makes you reread
3:21every earlier scene differently. He's
3:24physically capable but emotionally
3:25guarded. He doesn't open up easily. You
3:28learn what he feels by what he does, not
3:31by what he says. He might train her or
3:33protect her when she doesn't ask for it,
3:35challenges her when she's being
3:36reckless. The romance unfolds through
3:38proximity and tension, not through dates
3:40and declarations. But there are other
3:42characters, such as the rival or
3:43secondary love interest. This is the
3:45triangle corner. This is Gale, Peter,
3:48Maven. The character exists to represent
3:50the other path. If the love interest is
3:53the dangerous unknown, the rival is
3:55home. The rival is usually someone from
3:57her old world, someone she has history
3:59with. He's loyal, familiar, and often
4:01angry about what the system has done to
4:03their people. He is the revolution, or
4:05at least he thinks he is. Passionate,
4:07righteous, and increasingly willing to
4:09do terrible things for the cause. The
4:11heroine is choosing between two futures,
4:13two versions of herself. The boys just
4:15happen to be standing in front of each
4:18door. Then of course, we have a villain.
4:20The antagonist in a young adult dystopia
4:22is almost always institutional.
4:24President Snow, Janine Matthews, King
4:26Maven. They represent the system itself.
4:28They're calm and absolutely certain that
4:30they're right. The best ones never raise
4:31their voice. They explain calmly and
4:34correctly why the system exists. They
4:36point out, correctly, that freedom is
4:38messy and people suffer in chaos. The
4:40scariest version of this villain is the
4:42one who was once like the heroine,
4:45someone who saw the corruption, tried to
4:46fight it, and decided the only way to
4:48survive was to become it. That's your
4:51main cast. Reluctant heroine, dangerous
4:53love interest, familiar rival, and
4:56institutional villain. Every successful
4:57young adult dystopian romances uses
4:59them. Now, they need a world designed to
5:02crush them and a set of tropes that
5:04keeps the reader turning pages. If
5:06character is the heart, tropes are the
5:08skeleton. Readers expect them and once
5:10you understand why they work, you can
5:12use them on purpose. So, let's go
5:14through all of the major and minor
5:15tropes, starting with the chosen one who
5:18doesn't want to be chosen. This is the
5:20big one. The heroine discovers she is
5:22unique, whether by test results, genetic
5:24mutation, special ability, or accidental
5:26public defiance. The part that matters
5:29is she didn't ask for it. She's not
5:30Harry Potter finding out he's a wizard
5:32and being thrilled. She's terrified.
5:34Being chosen in a dystopia means being a
5:36target. The chosen one trope works in
5:39this genre because it is the adolescent
5:41experience, just with the volume turned
5:43up. You're 16. You didn't ask to grow
5:45up. You didn't ask for your body to
5:46change, for the people to expect things
5:48from you, for the world to suddenly feel
5:50hostile. The system literally singles
5:53her out. Then we have forbidden love.
5:55The romance must be structurally
5:56forbidden, not just frowned upon, but
5:58dangerous. In Divergent, faction loyalty
6:01means fraternizing across factions is
6:03treason. In The Hunger Games, tributes
6:05are enemies. In Red Queen, reds and
6:07silvers don't mix. The forbidden element
6:09does two things. It makes every romantic
6:12scene feel like it could get someone
6:14killed and forces a couple to
6:15communicate in subtext. They can't be
6:17open, they can't be honest in public.
6:19Every stolen glance carries weight. The
6:21next trope is the sorting mechanism.
6:24Factions, districts, castes, colors,
6:27every young adult dystopia divides its
6:29population. The sorting mechanism
6:31generates every conflict in the book.
6:33The sorting mechanism tells the heroine
6:35who she's supposed to be. The entire
6:37story is about her rejecting that
6:39assignment. The sorting also creates
6:41instant dramatic irony. The reader knows
6:43the system is unjust before the heroine
6:45does. We watch her slowly realize what
6:48we already understand. That gap is what
6:50creates tension. The next trope is
6:52trials or games. There's some kind of
6:54test, competition, or survival scenario.
6:57The Hunger Games, Divergent's
6:58initiation, Red Queen's arena, The
7:00Selection's elimination rounds. This
7:02trope earns its keep. It gives you
7:04immediate physical stakes and a
7:06deadline. It also forces the heroine
7:08into proximity with the love interest
7:09while she's proving she can handle
7:11herself. Then there's the rebellion cuz
7:13there's always an underground movement,
7:15always. The heroine doesn't start it.
7:17She joins it reluctantly and eventually
7:19becomes its face. The rebellion trope
7:21works because it gives the heroine a
7:22community, a purpose, and a reason to
7:24fight that goes beyond staying alive.
7:26Now, beyond this, there are other common
7:28tropes that you can use if you want, but
7:31are not mandatory. Things like the
7:32makeover. The heroine is dressed up,
7:34paraded before the public, made into
7:36something she's not. Think Katniss fire
7:38dresses or Mare's silver disguise. It
7:40makes the identity conflict visible and
7:42literal. There's also the surveillance
7:44state. The government watches
7:45everything. This creates paranoia in
7:47every scene and makes private moments
7:48feel precious. Then there's memory
7:50manipulation. The system controls what
7:52people remember. This raises the
7:54question, can you trust your own mind?
7:56There's also the mentor who dies.
7:57Someone older and wiser who guides the
8:00heroine early on. And they die to prove
8:02the stakes are real and to force the
8:03heroine into independence. Then there's
8:05the cliffhanger ending because YA
8:07dystopian romance is almost always a
8:09series. Book one ends with a major
8:10revelation or betrayal that reframes the
8:12entire story. Maven's betrayal in Red
8:14Queen, the Quarter Quell announcement,
8:16the war beginning. And then there's the
8:17love confession under duress. The first
8:19I love you never happens in a quiet
8:21moment. It happens during battle, during
8:23escape, during a moment when one of them
8:25might die. Comfort is a luxury this
8:27genre doesn't allow. Now these tropes
8:29are tools. And if you get them too
8:31wrong, readers will notice and they will
8:34leave all kinds of one star reviews on
8:36your book. What matters is knowing which
8:38ones to use and when, which brings us to
8:40structure. Because young adult dystopian
8:43romance doesn't just use these tropes
8:46randomly. It arranges them in a very
8:48specific sequence. Here's where we get
8:50surgical. YA dystopian romance follows a
8:52tight plot structure. Not every book
8:55hits these beats in order, but the
8:56pattern is consistent. Here's how it
8:58goes. We start with the opening image,
9:00life under the system. The book opens
9:02with a normal day in the heroine's life,
9:04but normal is oppressive. We see the
9:07rules, we see the poverty, the
9:08surveillance, the rigid hierarchy.
9:10Katniss hunts illegally to feed her
9:11family. Tris watches the factionless and
9:14wonders if that's her future. Mare picks
9:16pockets in a world that considers her
9:18subhuman. This opening does three
9:19things. It establishes the world's
9:21injustice, shows the heroine's survival
9:23skills, and makes the reader angry on
9:25her behalf. Then we have the inciting
9:27incident. Something happens that yank
9:29her out of her ordinary life and into
9:31the system's spotlight. Prim's name is
9:33drawn. Tris chooses Dauntless. Mare
9:35falls into the arena and lightning comes
9:37out of her hands. This moment is
9:38involuntary or semi-involuntary. She
9:41stumbles into it or gets dragged. Then
9:43we enter the new world. They transport
9:45her physically into the world of the
9:47powerful, the capital, Dauntless
9:49headquarters, the silver palace. The
9:50aesthetic shifts dramatically.
9:52Everything is beautiful, clean, and
9:53deadly. She doesn't belong and everyone
9:56can see it. Then of course we have to
9:57meet the love interest. He appears in
9:59this new world. He's already part of it.
10:01He knows the rules she doesn't. Their
10:03first interaction is charged but not
10:05romantic. Tense, maybe competitive,
10:07maybe hostile. He sees something in her
10:10but she doesn't trust him and that's
10:11good. Moving into act two, part one, the
10:14trials begin. She enters whatever
10:16competition or test the system demands.
10:18She's behind everyone else, less
10:20prepared, less connected, and she knows
10:22it. But she's resourceful. She uses her
10:24practical skill in unexpected ways.
10:26Small victories build. The romance
10:28develops in stolen moments. The love
10:30interest helps her secretly. A
10:31late-night training session for
10:32instance, a warning whispered in the
10:34hallway. Their interactions happen in
10:36gaps between the system's surveillance.
10:38Physical proximity increases and the
10:40tension builds through almost touching,
10:42almost saying it, almost getting caught.
10:44The secondary love interest or the old
10:46world friend resurfaces. He represents
10:49home, safety, and what she left behind.
10:51He might be angry she's changed. He
10:52might be part of the rebellion already.
10:54His presence forces her to confront who
10:56she's becoming. Then we get to the
10:57midpoint revelation. This is where the
10:59truth comes out. The love interest's
11:01secret is revealed or the heroine
11:02discovers the system is worse than she
11:04thought. Or she realizes she has a power
11:07that no one expected. This revelation
11:09splits the story in half. Before it she
11:11was surviving, after it she's choosing
11:13sides. This moves us into the second
11:14half of act two with the stakes rising.
11:17The system tightens its grip. The system
11:19threatens or kills people she cares
11:20about. The mentor might die. The
11:22rebellion reaches out and the rebellion
11:24asks her to become a symbol. She resists
11:26because symbols get people killed. But
11:28then we have the romance deepening under
11:30pressure. With everything falling apart
11:32the love interest and the heroine
11:34finally stop pretending. The confession
11:36happens not in moonlight, but in a
11:37bunker, a cell, maybe a stolen 5 minutes
11:40before battle. It's raw and terrified.
11:42They both know this might be all they
11:44get. But then, someone she trusts turns.
11:48It might be the rival, the love
11:49interest, or an ally. In Red Queen, it's
11:51Maven. In The Hunger Games, it's the
11:53revelation that the rebellion is using
11:55her. This is the lowest point.
11:56Everything she believed was wrong.
11:58Everything she trusted was lying. And
12:00that leads us into act three with the
12:02dark night. She's alone, captured, or
12:04broken, maybe both. The system seems
12:06invincible. The love interest is gone,
12:07taken, turned, or presumed dead. She has
12:09to decide give up or become the thing
12:11everyone needs her to be. She plants her
12:13feet and for the first time, she's the
12:16one deciding what happens next. She
12:18accepts the role of symbol. She's the
12:20only one who can do this and she finally
12:22stops pretending otherwise. Then we get
12:25the climax, the direct confrontation
12:26with the system. A battle, an escape, a
12:29public defiance. She uses everything,
12:31her practical skills, her allies, the
12:33love interest sacrifice, and her own
12:35fury. She doesn't destroy the system,
12:36not in one book, but she cracks it. She
12:38proves it's vulnerable. Now, the
12:41immediate threat is resolved after the
12:42climax, but the war isn't over. The love
12:45interest is recovered, but changed. The
12:46system is wounded, but retaliating.
12:49She's become a symbol whether she likes
12:50it or not and the final page drops a
12:52revelation that makes book two
12:54inevitable. That's the overall
12:55architecture. 12 to 15 major beats
12:57arranged in a three-act structure with
12:59romance threaded throughout every single
13:01one. The romance is the plot because in
13:04a world designed to strip away humanity,
13:06love is the most subversive act
13:08possible. That's the formula. Reluctant
13:10heroine, dangerous love interest, a
13:12world built to crush individuality, a
13:14sorting mechanism, forbidden love,
13:16trials that force competence, a midpoint
13:18revelation, a betrayal, and a climax
13:20where she chooses to fight for the
13:21people she loves, not some abstract
13:23cause. You now have every major piece,
13:26the characters, the tropes, and the plot
13:27structure. What's left is the execution,
13:30the voice, and the specific world only
13:32you can build. Once again, be sure to
13:34check out the Story Hacker AI group in
13:36the link below, and thank you to all of
13:37you who have joined so far. I couldn't
13:39do this without you. Take care, write
13:42well, and I'll see you in the next
13:43video.