Tips for writing BL/Romance

[hjfsdh2222]

So I have been trying to outline my novel for NaNoWriMo^^ and it’s coming along pretty decent. This is my first time writing a novel and it’s going to be BL.

I was kinda just wanting to make a big thread about your thoughts on BL/Romance stories. Sorta an inspiration thread;-)

Tips? Ideas? Rant? Praise?
Just throw it all out there:3

Also any plotting/writing tips would be appreciated!

[SeraphicMayin]

Outlines are your friend, so it's good that you have that! The whole plotting thing is to ensure you are staying on the track of your main plot and avoiding too many unnecessary rewrites, especially if you're trying to continue to plough forward as you ought to for NaNoWriMo.

Remember that a good conflict isn't a choice between right and wrong, but rather a choice between two incomparably Good things or choosing between the lesser of two Evils!

And whenever given the chance, deny your protagonist and principle cast what they want by throwing them the opposite of their expectations.

BL isn't intrinsically different from a Romance. So it would just be good to look up tropes and conventions in Romantic stories and see how you can use the tropes to your advantage. The key to any romance is the focus of the relationship of two principle characters and the internal conflicts they have, any conflict they have with one another, and the conflicts they face together.

What I do know about something like NaNoWriMo is no matter what, just keep moving forward. If you want to retcon something, make a note of it in the manuscript and keep moving forward as if that change had happened earlier in the story.

Best of luck to you!

[Harmony-S-S]

When it comes down to writing Romance you have to be in the right mindset. When you think about it (or already know), BL is just another subcategory in romance. Some people get inspiration for the romance part of the story by reading other romances, watching romance (tv show, movies, plays, etc.), and listening to romance music. An example would Legendary by Faydee, I don't know about you, but that is a song about loving only one person forever. Another is What About Love Love by Austin Mahone. (Romance Music)

For plot, first things first..get your characters down. Who are they? What's their role? Personality? Thoughts? Put yourself in their shoes when you write, so you know what's going on from their perspective. Everything! From the moment they wake up to first meeting the love interest. When you write it, you're supposed to feel confident when you do. You should be able to imagine and describe everything that is going on. From the smallest detail to the biggest detail.

The style is up to. When I say style I mean first person or third person. For me, I do both. In one of my stories, I literally a combination of both first person and third person. If you want to do that you can, but you have got to be careful. Because people can annoyed that the constant switching. Unless you can do it in a way they won't get annoyed it, then go ahead otherwise choose only one.

World building is something people have some questions on because it's the basis of their story. Think about the type of world you want. Past, present, future, modern, ancient, other worldly where your imagination goes wild, etc.

That's all I got...Good luck!

[dawgofdawgness]

I think we all know that there is a pretty big number of BL stories on Tapas, so you should consider reaaaaally trying to make it unique. With such a huge amount of comics in this genre, a lot of them are very similar so standing out could really give you an advantage here (or not). There are some cliches in the BL (and romance) genre that repeat themselves over and over again, so watch out for those, especially if they can be harmful.

Character archetypes can be useful but also can bring down your story. Characters shouldn't just be mannequins with random traits slapped on top of them. No matter how many different traits you tack on, they're not going to be anything more than "the shy one" or "the smart one". If you want to create a powerful, moving story, I suggest coming up with the plot first and THEN trying to design a character that specifically fits into the plot. It's also a common tip to come up with the character revelation (major character development) BEFORE you figure out anything else. Remember, the character should be specifically designed to struggle with the given conflict. Their weakness is what drives the plot.

And also a personal peeve of mine. 2 Calvin Klein models that fall in love with each other... It doesn't happen a lot in real life. There are ugly gay people too.

[lartianmartian1]

Okay, so, folks keep saying BL is very prominent on this site. And yet, there there are a mere 508 stories under that genre in comics, and 204 in novels. Compare that to straight Romance in either category. Heck, Mystery still outnumbers BL in either format, and I thought that one was the least popular for the longest time (no shade on Mystery though, you great <3). So, you'd just be adding to a still underrepresented, and yet at the same time fairly popular, genre. Please don't let that get in your way.

But it is very obvious that these stories remain consistently popular because they have found an audience, at least on here. It makes folks happy. Good BL makes me happy too! I'm such a sap for non-traditional romances (straight and GL included)!!! And there is nothing wrong with that. We need silly little things to make us happy in such a messed up world. Even if the story goes into dark places, the love between two or more fictional characters you've come to care so deeply for can shine through.

Anyhoo, I want to add that willing consent on both sides is a beautiful thing. I know this should go without saying. But it still needs to be said . And this problem is not solely relegated to the BL genre, that one just seems to take a lot of heat for it. It can still be found flipping everywhere.

Sexual/romantic inexperience is also fine and dandy, but tread lightly. Also, it don't have to be explicit. Please write whatever makes you comfortable, don't force the sexy-times if it doesn't feel right to you (oh lol, see what I did there?). Cutesy hand-holding and kissing and longing looks and awkward exchanges are my fave parts of any dang romance. This may tie in with my Gray-Aceness but whatever.

And lastly, I'm kind of over modern day high school romances. But... people still consistently come up with decent ones?! So, set it wherever or whenever the heck you want. It's your story. <333

[craftymarten]

@lartianmartian1 The BL category was only added a few months ago so any comic that started before that and is BL is usually under romance, which is why the numbers are so low comparatively.

[seru]

If you're starting out, make an outline first.

Follow the typical story structure:
Premise
Rising Action
Climax
Falling Action
Resolution

Focus on one theme.
Focus on one conflict that will be resolved at the end.

Good luck!

[lartianmartian1]

Yeah, I knew that... still, you'd think it'd be higher by now? Whatevs.

[lunaartemisasama]

Write about men over 25 , ok that's just my weird taste XD. I mean teenage romance is so fluffly but I can get bored unless I really enjoy the characters.

Hey, the Dream Daddy game was pretty popular!

Imagine a one shot Office Boys love, accountant x janitor.

He knew he was bad the moment he saw that dragon tatoo.

XDDDD

On second thought, don't take me too seriously.

[LordVincent]

Most important thing is to have fun and do what you can to best execute the idea that comes to you, imo. We're in a creative field after all. The passion for the artform should be at the core of your creation.

That being said, if you want to create a respectful gay romantic work, try to keep the following in mind:

• it's preferrable if your characters are actually gay/bi/pan. The gay community is quite tired of all these stories where straight dudes fall in love and then one party basically forces the other to "be the girl". Scenarios where people who thought they were straight fall for other people of the same sex do exist, hell there are even cases where they continue to identify as straight (something I would take issue with as a trans guy having had personal experiences with dudes who do that but hey their life, their choices) but they are in no way as common as the BL tropes make them seem.
  Characters who are just now discovering they are gay/bi is also overdone, but far more respectable and if that's the story you have in mind, go ahead.

• treat them as people and make their personality be more than just "I am gay. That's about it". Gay people do face struggles in society as a result of being gay, but it's usually not the one and only thing that their entire existence revolves around. Unless they are young people who have just figured it out and are either in a family that refuses to accept it, or they are extreme activists.

• This isn't a must do, but consider abandoning the idea of "one fem+one masc" or "one top+one bottom". Powerneutral and versatile couples exist, and so do variations of gender expressions within said couples.

• RESPECT THE MIND AND BODIES OF YOUR CHARACTERS. Don't have a top calling the bottom's chest "breasts" or his anus a "pussy". That is extremely humiliating towards his gender identity and unless it's a kink of his that he consented to it can do GREAT DAMAGE to his confidence and borders on verbal abuse.

• if you plan to have sex scenes, research safe sex and the many different ways people with your chosen combination of gender and genitalia have sex. Penetration isn't a must do, especially not if your characters are in a setting where lube is inaccessible. SALIVA IS NOT SUFFICIENT LUBE AND GOING IN DRY CAN CAUSE SEVERE DAMAGE TO THE RECEIVING PARTY.

[ratscout]

I'm gonna give the same advice here that I give for writing women and that's to acknowledge the fact that they are, in fact, different from men, and have their gender play a role in what makes them interesting, but don't make it all there is to them, either. For instance, I always find one of the most interesting differences between men and women is that the woman is almost always the one who has to pick between a career or children because it just makes the most sense biologically to do so--and so it's just a really fun, tragic, and interesting aspect of female characters to play around with. The BL version of that is acknowledging that gay love is different from straight love and comes with different trials, but romance shouldn't be all there is to the characters and you can play around with their sexuality in an interesting ways that have nothing to do with sex relationships at all.

Otherwise, just go with your gut~!

[londonlouis]

What About Love Love by Austin Mahone

I have to co-sign every piece of advice from Martian!

[Jenny-Toons]