How does this sound for a romance?

[Sanz]

Hi all I do want to do a story in each different genre. And one I've been struggling with a little is a genre I'm not to partial to. And that's romance. I find it boring and dry and find myself just wanting to tell he character to stop being so stupid... BUT I also feel that making a romance will pull me out of my comfort zone which is what I want. So I found an old print out of a script I did when i was maybe in highschool. Where the digital copy is I have no idea. So here Is the idea.

Kristo Xeimiz is an 18 yro young man pulled from his native country for human trafficking when he was 7. He knows no other life other then prostitution and being entrapped. (Will have to iron out the details of course) when one night be meets James Catsal a young man a tad older then Kristo. James comes from a religious household, and has beliefs that he is in the fence about he's rather prudish, upon meeting Kristo they befriend each other and his life takes a change. (Somehow maybe I'll make James a family man or something) he falls for him. Madly in love with him. But his prudish nature gets in the way. And Kristo openness to everything tries to get him to accept that he's fallen for him. James works on getting Kristo out if his situation. And shows him that there is more to life then the night life.

Dude falls in love with a prostisute is nothing new so im Not worried about that I want to portray it different way, somehow.

But how does that idea sound? Also it's still up in the air if they are both dudes. Maybe they'll be both females or male and female. Doesn't matter to me.

[punkarsenic]

hmm... two things:

1: human trafficking and sex slavery are maaaajor modern day issues. i feel like if youre gonna feature them so prominently in a story, you have to be setting out from day dot to raise awareness about human trafficking and how to end it as your primary goal. using it as a plot device for a romance could get hairy fast. ig a good example of this going wrong would be captive prince, a series of books about a slave and a prince in a relationship that was... multiple levels of racist and abusive. im not saying ofc that youre gonna write a racist abusive story - i have all faith you wont, in fact - im just giving a worst case scenario example

also, an example of a romance that examines a major injustice as a primary goal is Lies We Tell Ourselves by robin talley, which could be worth looking at if you wanna take this idea further. altho disclaimer, i read this book and couldnt personally make my mind up on whether it fell on the good or bad side of this kinda thing, based on the fact that im a white english person so i dont rly have the experience to say, but the level of research the writer did and the sincerity with which she approached the topic makes me think it was? pretty decent?

anyway,

2: while the obstruction here is james being 'prudish,' when its two men, it could be easily interpreted as the 'closeted religious man' trope? which ig is another place for careful treading.

baaaasically while all stories are political, this one has masses and masses of political over- and undertones and youd wanna tread carefully. however, done right it has the potential to be a really meaningful story!

[zigmenthotep]

As stated above, you're definitely going to want to be careful on how you approach the subject. Making James a woman could definitely give you the opportunity to address the perceived role of women in more conservative/religious environments. Kristo also being female could make it easier to insert the character into Jamse's life without immediately being perceived as a threat by the Husband/Father/Whathaveyou.
And now that I've though it through more, I'd keep it same sex. Having a straight character befriending an opposite sex prostitute could lead to too much drama too early.

[shazzbaa]

Yeah, I don't necessarily think a story that includes human trafficking must be setting out specifically to raise awareness about how to end human trafficking, but it is going to be something that needs to be handled really sensitively and thoughtfully and with a lot of knowledge of what that experience actually feels like and the effects it actually has. Later in the summary you describe Kristo, not as someone who's traumatised or hostile from the experiences he's had, but someone who's "open to everything" and wants to get this prudish religious guy to realise he's fallen for him.
Just googling "psychological effects of human trafficking," the first thing that pops up is a PDF for criminal justice folks talking about how thoughtful and careful you have to be, to get victims of trafficking to even talk to you about their situation without accidentally shutting them down, overwhelming them, or making them hostile to you, and how well-intentioned attempts to help them can immediately backfire if you don't know what you're doing. It seems like any story set in this situation is going to kind of need to revolve around the way it affects people involved, or it won't ring true.

Like, you can write a romance in this setting, but it seems like it'd be real complicated, and it'd mean that you'd need to be very invested in how this sort of trauma affects people.

And one I've been struggling with a little is a genre I'm not to partial to. And that's romance. I find it boring and dry and find myself just wanting to tell he character to stop being so stupid

Why set out to write a romance if you specifically find romance boring? A story doesn't ring true unless you believe in it. That doesn't mean you MUST HAVE EXPERIENCED TRUE ROMANCE or whatever, but you do really have to believe in the characters and care about what their love means for them. Sex trafficking aside, your description of a romance here doesn't give me any indication of why these characters would be in love -- only reasons why love would be difficult for them. The obstacles in the way of a romance can be the conflict, but they aren't the thing that makes us care about it.

What do these characters love about each other? "He's a prude, but he falls madly in love." Why? You have to care about that in order to write a convincing romance. One character who's open to anything and another character who's prudish and unwilling to express affection can absolutely fall in love, but like, we gotta see what they see in each other, specifically, and why they mean the world to each other. Heck, why does the "open to anything" character like or want to pursue this freakin prude?

[lunaartemisasama]

1) I like the idea.
2) It doesn't matter the gender, but it would be weird that a prudish religious man go to see male prostitutes lol without a good reason, unles he is a cop, detective or things like that?.(I mean if Kristo suffers human trafficking I don't think he will be in the streets unless he is running away)
3) If you are talking about human trafficking and prostitution I suppose there's going to be a pimp and a gang, lots of violence, and lots of drugs.
4) I suppose Kristo will have psychological scars.

That being said I find it more like a policial thriller with romance as a background, but maybe that's me overthinking lol.

If you don't want so much drama maybe it's easier if Kristo's is a prostitute but didn't sufferend from human trafficking? You know something like Adam from Magic Mike? (he was a stripper but you get the idea) but always there's a pimp, an evil one or mad one or both.

[Rhombik]

I think some of my own concerns have already been laid out here. You'd have to do a lot of research and be very careful to represent it well. You might get around the problem if you only hint at his past instead of laying it out.

I also think that the only way I'd be comfortable reading it is if the romantic aspect was sub-text because I don't think either of the people in this situation would actually acknowledge their feelings or act on them. I don't believe that somebody who'd gone through that trauma would be the one encouraging the other to open up and admit their feelings.

Or if the time scale was tweaked... I'd maybe come around to the idea if Kristo was in his thirties and had had time to get over the trauma.

[ratique]

One additional point to consider: Since you have mentioned to find Romance not all that interesting... One of the main reasons why romances can be rather boring is the lack of story. The best romances are often bundled together with greater mysteries that give your characters something to struggle with.

Titanic is the story of the sinking titanic, shown from the point of view of two lovers.
Romeo and Juliet is the story of a family feud.
Ghost is a murder thriller (for the lack of better words).

Romances work well as a sub plot, giving your characters something to work with and overcome. Making the main plot about a man struggling with his past as sex slave can certainly work - but as mentioned by many above, that's rather tricky. You can do it, but it requires a lot of research to be done well.

The opposite plot with a character coming from a more conservative background seems far weaker in comparison. It can work to explain why he reacts the way he does in certain situations, but it can't really keep things interesting for more than a chapter or two.

Once his prudishness is overcome, the story is basically over.

[J.Z.Castillo]

I got all icky at the mention of human trafficking... and even more icky when the sex slave was "open to everything." It sounds like this story was planned without much thought on how a boy sold at 7 to sex trafficking would act at 18, it just seems like you forgot about the trauma this (very severe) situation would cause. Now the other guy just sounds full of himself and my god so righteous. Personally I hate the Madonna/Whore dichotomy, I think it's damaging and just boring story telling. I also feel like you are trying to write very damaged characters through plot devices rather than human experiences. A boy could be sexually active and open without having to be a sex slave all his life just the same as someone can be sexually reserved without being religious or strict. I just feel like you are writing stereotypes and those stories always end up bland and bad.

When I read your description, however, I thought of Memoirs of a Geisha... which is not exactly the same as sex trafficking but it's almost the same tropes I think you wanna go for. Read the book, or watch the movie, see how this is a romance veiled in a power struggle to be the best geisha.

[Sanz]

@mrjonzap @punkarsenic @ratique @GombikComics @lunaartemisasama @mrjonzap thanks for all of your feedback! I'm aware of the research that will have to be done to write this story that doesn't bother me. I enjoy research. Also as i said I do find romance boring, but I think as a creator I should press my boundaries and not just stick to one or two genres I'm comfortable with, but i'll think on it some more, just like writing any story it's going to have to be laid out to be captivating, and you've all given me things to think about in executing this story ! thanks!!!!!!!!

[Lilalulaberry]

I don't know if this helps at all, but I would not make it a BL story. There are so many of them that they are uninteresting and don't stand out. But hey, it's your choice