How Should YA Writers Handle How To Be Perfect Themes?

For me, the core strategy is empathy: write the desire to be perfect honestly, not as villainy. That means unpacking where it comes from — cultural expectations, family praise systems, social media metrics — and letting the reader live inside that logic so they understand why the character keeps chasing it. Practically, I use moments of failure as pivot points: a public mistake, a private unraveling, or a quiet confession. Each becomes a chance to complicate the protagonist’s belief system rather than instantly dismantle it.

I also balance internal monologue with external consequences. Let them narrate why perfection matters, but show the fallout in relationships, sleep, creativity, or physical health. Side characters should reflect different solutions: a peer who opts out, a mentor who models boundaries, someone who suffers from the opposite extreme. Tone matters too — YA thrives when you allow humor, stubbornness, and small rebellions alongside the heavy stuff. I aim for a messy arc of realistic repair, where growth is incremental and earned; that makes the theme land in a way that feels true to adolescence and personally resonant.

I love tackling perfectionism in YA because it gives characters such delicious pressure to crack and then try to glue themselves back together. I try to make perfectionism feel like a living thing: it’s a voice in the protagonist’s head, a set of tiny rituals, the polished Instagram feed they scroll through at 2 a.m. More than preaching that perfection is impossible, I show the slow erosion — missed sleep, a friendship fraying, a teacher’s offhand comment that unwinds confidence. Readers connect when they see the cost, not just the lesson.

Technically, I lean on scenes that contrast the public façade and the private mess. A character can ace a recital but go home and rip apart practice videos until their fingers hurt; a test score framed in a proud text but followed by a night of panic. I use sensory details and microbeats — the tightening throat, the compulsion to double-check — to make perfectionism physical. Dialogue partners who question or mirror that need help: a sarcastic best friend who warns against burnout, a parent whose expectations are wrapped in love and old fears, a teacher who’s quietly burdened by their own standards.

I also try to avoid tidy redemption arcs where a single pep talk fixes everything. Instead I give incremental growth: therapy scenes that respect process, small acts of rebellion (a missed deadline that becomes freedom), and honest consequences. Diverse experiences matter here — perfection pulled from cultural pressure, race, disability, or gender identity has different textures, and I try to center those. Ultimately, I want readers to feel seen in their mess and hopeful about messy recovery; it’s complicated, imperfect, and real, which is exactly why I keep writing these kinds of stories.

Perfection shows up in my drafts like glitter — pretty at first glance, then impossible to sweep away. I try to treat it as a relationship the character has with themselves: sometimes cozy, sometimes abusive. For YA, that means keeping the stakes emotional and immediate. I’ll start scenes in medias res, with the protagonist mid-ritual (rewriting an essay for the fifth time, rearranging a makeup palette) so readers feel the compulsion rather than hear a lecture about it.

I like to build a tension triangle: protagonist, the thing they want (top grades, a scholarship, social currency), and a third force that complicates everything (a friend who refuses to compete, a family expectation, or the messy truth of a personal failure). Humor helps — moments where the character’s attempts to be perfect backfire in awkward but human ways. And I never sanitize mental health: anxiety and perfectionism should be shown with compassion, sometimes with therapy or support, sometimes with setbacks. Small victories matter here; a scene where they allow one imperfect thing to stand is more powerful than a sweeping finale. It keeps the story real and gives readers something they can try tomorrow.