History SoYouWantTo / WriteAGoodYaoi

See UsefulNotes/BoysLoveNotes for some common BL relationship types, or make up your own.

If you can't write sex (too embarrassed, afraid of it falling into the wrong hands, not enough experience, trouble transposing the sex act into words, what have you) there's no need to feel embarrassed. You can use a SexyDiscretionShot; merely imply that your characters had sex. Sex is ''not'' the be-all and end-all of BoysLove. Or GirlsLove. Or ''het'', for that matter. In fact, most readers would rather you fade to black or focus on someone/something else than suffer through badly written IKEAErotica. There's also readers that read at work or have other reasons not to want a nonstop parade of graphic sex. If you're creating an original work or original universe, also, if you ever do wish to have it adapted for mainstream access (e.g. becoming TheFilmOfTheBook, published by major publishers), you need to have ''some'' degree of plot and be okay with making sure the sex is there for a reason, unless you're just looking to be published as porn or self-publish. Finally, if you want a page on this site for your work at some point, it ''has'' to not be PornWithoutPlot, because such works are prohibited per the site rules.

* DoubleStandardRapeMaleOnMale: Gay and bisexual men's penises are ''not'' magnetically drawn to any rectum in the vicinity, nor do they desire to have any objects around painfully or nonconsensually shoved up their asses no matter what. In fact, nonconsensual penetration is ''rape'' no matter what the gender or orientation is, as is being forced against one's will to penetrate something or someone. Nonconsensual or even sudden, unprepared-for penetration is also not enjoyable even for the most masochistic and can injure.

** Manga/{{Patalliro}}: Good luck trying to put a genre on this - it's QuirkyWork if there ever was one, a work of absurdist comedy. Somehow, though, it became one of ''the'' most popular BL-themed works in anime and manga, spawning its own universe, sequels upon sequels, and even picking up a ShoutOut from a rock band that would become one of the most famous in Japan when its guitarist picked his stage name from it. Just go read the page if you want to see ''how'' popular this got, at a time when BL itself was just getting started as a genre, and it's definitely worth checking out if you're more interested in writing comedy or for the WidgetSeries factor over the relationships or anything else - though an ArchiveBinge may lie ahead due to its being a LongRunner.

** Manga/{{Patalliro}}: Good luck trying to put a genre on this - it's a WidgetSeries if there ever was one, a work of absurdist comedy. Somehow, though, it became one of ''the'' most popular BL-themed works in anime and manga, spawning its own universe, sequels upon sequels, and even picking up a ShoutOut from a rock band that would become one of the most famous in Japan when its guitarist picked his stage name from it. Just go read the page if you want to see ''how'' popular this got, at a time when BL itself was just getting started as a genre, and it's definitely worth checking out if you're more interested in writing comedy or for the WidgetSeries factor over the relationships or anything else - though an ArchiveBinge may lie ahead due to its being a LongRunner.

That is not meant to say that you can't use the plot device of jealousy between characters both interested in someone who only wants one of them or the like - but if you write such fic, please be careful to make sure that any reader who is not an absolute moron can tell that you're not a WriterOnBoard. Using the Gundam Wing example above, let's say Duo and Wufei AND Relena all want Heero in your story. This is ''possible'' to do respectfully, but characterizing Relena as an AlphaBitch and Wufei as the YellowPeril turns your story into sexist, racist crap and a "bash fic," which will likely get you flamed. A better way to do it is to balance out ''all'' the characters as having good or bad points, and any bashing/hate being from the character POVs so it's obvious the ''characters'' may be jealous or fighting, but ''you as the writer'' aren't engaging in trying to start ShipToShipCombat.

* Uke and Seme are in any of the following professions: prostitute/SexSlave (especially if that's the uke), [[{{Salaryman}} salarymen]], {{Yakuza}}, or ''anything'' else with the SenpaiKohai arrangement, ancient samurai, modern cops/detectives/soldiers/spies.

As you are no doubt very highly aware, there is ''[[RuleThirtyFour no]]'' [[RuleThirtyFour shortage of yaoi out there.]] Some of it is good, and some of it... well, not so much. This will hopefully help you avoid pitfalls and write better yaoi, whether you're writing {{Fanfiction}} or playing around with your own original characters. Please note that this article contains {{NSFW}} content. Nor is it a guide on "how to write porn" -- the sections relating to explicit scenes are here for educational purposes only, and if you're looking for ADateWithRosiePalms, you'd do just as well reading an anatomy book or sex education text. Which is what, by the way, that section is mostly from.

* Seme rescues Uke from something or other, CoitusEnsues

'''CoitusEnsues,''' especially if your story is ''not'' PornWithoutPlot: Remember that thing called SuspensionOfDisbelief? You need to establish some idea of why your characters are hot for each other or otherwise interested in sex with each other. Developing the relationship (or if there's no relationship and just a hookup, at least staging the scene somewhat) is important and skipping over it in a non-PWP is generally going to annoy readers.

* While this isn't a trope, no ''trans people'' is also a homophobic (suggesting no transgender person can be gay or bisexual) and transphobic (for invisibility and prejudice reasons) stereotype, unfortunately one ''imposed'' by some yaoi archives and such that don't want depictions of vaginas on their archives for example. If you're open to the idea as an original fiction writer or writing fic for one of the sadly few fandoms that do have canon transmen, consider writing a transgender man. And no, that ''does not'' mean you have to play up his "femininity" or anything and smash the audience over the head with an anvil - just depicting something like a chest surgery or hysterectomy scar will do, or if you want more drama, a character explaining no, those needles aren't heroin but his hormone replacement therapy.

* "I hate yaoi fangirls who want to be boys." This is a sentiment often expressed by some ignorant people that somehow believe reading yaoi or slash makes someone transgender. ([[CaptainObvious It doesn't.]]) While ''some'' yaoi fangirls who post stuff pretending to be men/saying they wish they were male ''are'' confused girls or in need of education as to not internalizing misogyny, the yaoi/slash community is often one of the first stops (especially post TurnOfTheMillennium) actual younger transmen make in their self-discovery, and hate helps no one. If you really have issues with "girls wanting to be boys," address misogyny and inequality that might make people hate their own femininity and provide direction to proper counseling resources that can help people figure out where they are, but don't hate or especially group shame people for looking androgynous or identifying/posing as men or saying they wish they had penises or whatever.

* Men over 35 have longer "refractory periods." This means that your story of a couple in their mid 40s having multiple climaxes will likely lead to anyone who knows better laughing at it - especially since cisgendered men can't have multiple climaxes like women (and some transmen that retain the ability, though there's some research that testosterone ''causes'' refractory climax as opposed to ongoing, so many transmen are just as "I'm done now" as cis men), the closest thing they can have is short refractory periods, meaning someone who is 18 ''might'' be able to get hard again in 10 minutes. This increases with age - so, using the mid 40s example, it may take 2 or 3 hours ''at best'' before trying again without benefit of Viagra or similar drugs.

* Uke and Seme are in any of the following professions: prostitute/SexSlave (especially if that's the uke), [[{{Salaryman}} salarymen]], {{Yakuza}}, or ''anything'' else with the SempaiKohai arrangement, ancient samurai, modern cops/detectives/soldiers/spies.

'''The Audience Surrogate itself, in some instances:''' This depends on what your readers want. Sure, some readers want a character they can use as an audience surrogate. Other times, and this is ''especially'' common in fandoms with existing canon or if you're writing with the idea of an explicit but plot-heavy work, people ''will'' want consistent characterization and characters who are not a male MarySue. If you're writing for something where the primary point is audience surrogacy such as PornWithoutPlot or a story where the sole purpose ''is'' to get YaoiFangirls seeing themselves as the seme or the uke, go for it. If, however, you are trying for a more complex work and the readers are expecting something more complex than quick smut, go read MarySueTropes and SoYouWantTo/AvoidWritingAMarySue then go take a browse through characterization tropes, familiarize yourself with the canon and/or how your original characters can be believable and act believable, and make full, well-rounded characters, not MarySues that just happen to have penises.

* ''{{Bara}} fusion (e.g. aimed at gay or bisexual male audience as well as female audience and without any use of the seme/uke roles, but with {{Pretty Boy}}s as per BL or realistic as opposed to usual bara musclemen, and/or with some degree of serious plot and characterization as per BL over the usual bara trope of being PWP or ExcusePlot)''

* Uke or Seme is [[IllGirl IllBoy]] and the other has to care for him.

* Anyone living in TheNewTens is fortunate to live in an era where HIV is treatable, survivable, and may even be nearing ''curable,'' and if properly treated with the medications available in the First World, will ''not'' develop into AIDS (though the medications are themselves no picnic for side effects - while they are far better than having AIDS and spreading HIV far more easily, they aren't a cost-free, side-effect free thing that you can just pop one of a day and be done with.) Unfortunately, when HIV first appeared in the world and began to spread, it was ''a literal death sentence'' for 99 percent of people who got it before antiretroviral therapy became available and useful, because it would inexorably develop into AIDS - Acquired ImmunoDeficiency / Immune Deficiency Syndrome - which killed not by itself, but by making patients' immune systems so absolutely useless that a case of pneumonia, a cancer previously controlled by the immune system, ''anything,'' could become an overwhelming infection that led to disability and death. Until the end of TheNineties, getting HIV was literally deadly serious, and ''that'' is why so many safer-sex efforts existed and still do exist even though it's a chronic disease (in the first world at least) rather than a deadly one as it was then. It could be (and is) spread by any exchange of seminal fluid or pre-ejaculate, blood, or vaginal fluid between an infected person and someone who was not (until that exposure) infected.

* ''{{Bara}} fusion (e.g. aimed at gay or bisexual male audience as well as female audience and without any use of the seme/uke roles, but with {{bishounen}} or {{biseinen}} as per BL or realistic as opposed to usual bara musclemen, and/or with some degree of serious plot and characterization as per BL over the usual bara trope of being PWP or ExcusePlot)''

'''[[BastardBoyfriend Victim Falling For Rapist:]]''' OK, you know how it goes: [[TheBigGuy BIG, HULKING]] {{Seme}} rapes [-[[TheIngenue sweet, innocent, virginal, little]] {{Uke}}-], uke falls in love with seme anyway. No. It's been done to death, and let's not even get into all the UnfortunateImplications. Yes, the very terms {{Seme}} and {{Uke}} connote a power dynamic. And, yes, Japan is big on the rape fantasy genre. But that doesn't mean you have to FollowTheLeader and do it too.

The feminized uke is a divisive trope, as many see it as {{Wimpification}} and will describe him as a "schoolgirl with a penis." However, the dislike of feminized ukes can also be seen as a form of femme-phobia. There's no need to feel restricted by real-world gender roles when creating a character that expresses what you want to express, though consider that depending on the setting, it may not be realistic, as men and women are socialized to act and react differently to various situations.

* '''RapeAsBackstory:''' Deserves a dishonorable mention for just how ''damn common'' it is in yaoi/slash. Not only are there many other ways to give someone an angsty, tragic backstory that too often go unexplored because rape is seen as a quick shortcut to angst (even the DoomedHometown is less cliche at this point), but there are several other issues with it if it is not written well. The first and most obvious being that poorly written, it can trivialize rape and actual victims of rape. It can also give credence to the AllGaysArePedophiles, AllMenArePerverts, DepravedBisexual, and RapeAndSwitch (which gets its own entry below) tropes - all absolutely ''horrific'' stereotypes that RealLife gay and bisexual men have faced for a long time (and still have to confront in much of the world). Finally, using rape for an angsty backstory overlooks that trauma from rape is ''very'' individualized - some people may indeed become suicidal and SelfHarm, while on the other end of the spectrum, there are a "lucky" few victims that [[NoSell aren't severely traumatized]] and actually ''do'' just want to "move on with their lives" - and nothing can predict in advance where someone will fall. (Also, while the severity of the incident ''can'' correlate to worse psychological trauma outcomes, this isn't always the case either - partially because internalized hatred and self-blaming is ''more'' likely to happen with date rape or an incident one isn't sure whether to consider rape or not, for example, than with being violently assaulted by a stranger. So it's entirely possible that, say, someone groped while drunk at a party may resort to addiction or self-harm and suicidal behavior, while someone violently raped by a stranger may not, even with the latter experience being ''objectively'' more physically traumatizing.) If you absolutely ''must'' use rape as backstory (e.g. you're writing a fanfic about a character that experienced it), again do your research, and don't use it as a reason for {{wimpification}} or as a reason for the character "becoming gay."

* "I hate yaoi fangirls who want to be boys." This is a sentiment often expressed by some ignorant people that somehow believe reading yaoi or slash makes someone transgender. (It doesn't.) While ''some'' yaoi fangirls who post stuff pretending to be men/saying they wish they were male ''are'' confused girls or in need of education as to not internalizing misogyny, the yaoi/slash community is often one of the first stops (especially post TurnOfTheMillennium) actual younger transmen make in their self-discovery, and hate helps no one. If you really have issues with "girls wanting to be boys," address misogyny and inequality that might make people hate their own femininity and provide direction to proper counseling resources that can help people figure out where they are, but don't hate or especially group shame people for looking androgynous or identifying/posing as men or saying they wish they had penises or whatever.