History SoYouWantTo / WriteAGoodYaoi

* '''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, AllMenAreRapists, 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."

'''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.

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.

* AllGaysArePromiscuous: Some gay or bisexual men are promiscuous, and the media often exaggerates this. Others are not, and there are even some who are either asexual or only interested in one person and monogamous toward them. Some gay or bisexual men hold to moral codes that prohibit promiscuous sex (yes, it's possible for someone to, say, be both gay or bisexual and believe that cheating on their partner is wrong), and some are afraid of sexually transmitted infections. This trope can be played without the stereotypical implications simply by making it clear that it's just ''that'' character who is promiscuous, by setting the scene as one where promiscuous people would be, or similar, but having someone ravenously crave sex with ''every man that he sees'' is the homophobic stereotype.
** Related, AllGaysArePedophiles is an even worse homophobic stereotype and if you have your gay or bisexual men ''all'' craving young or young looking virginal boys (or alternately tons of young boys trying to hook up with older men for only an ExcusePlot), you have a problem.

** Crossing over with the rules above: treat trans men as men. They can be submissive or dominant, date another trans man or a cis man. This doesn't mean putting him in a submissive role is bad, just remember to not treat them as always feminine.

'''Bad Style:''' There's no excuse for writing poorly-spelled, awfully formatted, unpunctuated crap. If you are old enough to be reading and writing the often-explicit material in this field, you ''are'' old enough to understand at the very least how to turn on spell check and grammar check and autocorrect, and to use your writing software's default settings. Better yet, go look up some of the many free resources to improve your spelling, punctuation, and writing skill in general. Then also go look up BadWritingIndex here to see some common pitfalls of bad style. In short, if you aren't writing at least at a 10th grade level (using US education system as a reference) you ''will'' look like you're under 18 (which will get you banned on sight from many places and lead to many people being afraid to interact with you and quite a lot of creepy people not being afraid to interact with you) ''even if you are well over 18.'' Your work will also be seen as low-quality stereotypical crap and be avoided and attract flames and even trolls.

** Crossing over with the rules above: treat trans men as men. They can be subsmissive or dominant, date another trans man or a cis man. This doesn't mean putting him in a subsmissive role is bad, just remember to not treat them as always feminine.

* The seme/top is the boy, the uke/bottom is the girl: This one's addressed in depth above, but along with all its other problems, it's a homophobic stereotype and manages to be both misogynist and misandrist.

What defines the greats is not necessarily that they are specifically ''great'' to all, but that they, either through becoming the defining work of their niche (e.g. traditional old-style Japanese BL, bara fusion, SlashFic or original...) or, in some strange and surprising way (anything from MemeticMutation to simply being something that everyone from GLBTQ people to straight people to whoever can find funny or interesting), hitting mainstream popularity. Two works will be listed per category, and feel free to add categories or fill them out further, while being careful not to link to anything in a way violating P5 or describing it one-handedly.

'''PornWithoutPlot:''' is a fun way to express yourself sexually, so go for it!

'''HomosexualReproduction:''' Unless you're writing CrackFic or writing in a fantasy/sci-fi universe where such things are possible, avoiding mpreg is a really good idea. No, this doesn't mean that you can't have your couple have a kid: just have them use one of the ways of having a kid that ordinary male couples generally do so: one partner is bisexual and has the child with a woman, the use of a surrogate mother unknown to the couple, or adoption. You can make adoption just as dramatic and just as heartwarming as conceiving and giving birth and raising a child from one's own body. (The exception is if the man getting pregnant is a transgender man, and even then, it's a situation not all transgender men would be comfortable being in. There are also medical ramifications - if your trans guy is on testosterone, he'll likely have to go off of it during his pregnancy to avoid miscarriages or other complications, and if he's had top surgery to get rid of his chest, he'll have a harder time breastfeeding, if he decides to breastfeed at all due to dysphoria or mental health reasons. If you're going to write this situation, as in most situations involving transgender people, do your research.)

'''BL is not {{Hentai}}:''' Some new (Western) writers tend to take the "the uke is the girl" thing way too literally, and have him be the seme's sex-toy in a way similar to the way women are treated in hentai. In general, BL sex is about the uke, and the goal for many readers is to watch the uke get off. The seme's job is to do whatever is necessary to accomplish that (and he'll enjoy doing it, too). This applies to oral, handjobs, etc. just as much as anal; the seme should "service" the uke as much or more as the uke "services" him. (This is also the opposite of the stereotypical gay porn trope that the "top" is always and only insertive.)

'''[[HurtComfortFic Hurt/Comfort]]:''' It's been overused. Why not try a relationship in which no one needs to be rescued? Or where the characters help each other learn and grow, but subtly (and not because of {{Angst}})? It may not be as dramatic, but if you do it right, it can be one big SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}.

'''FoeYay:''' At the risk of being an absolute {{Hypocrite}} (see below), I will say this: FoeYay isn't bad in the sense that it's "bad" to write or to like the characters. But ask yourself, [[FridgeLogic "How in the world would two characters who can't stand one another make a good couple?"]]

* Not a self-lubricating organ. See above in the section on lubes.

* '''The {{Seme}}''' -- the [[UnusualEuphemism pitcher]]. Frequently has a more dominant personality in general. He is usually taller and more masculine-looking.
* '''The {{Uke}}''' -- the [[GameOfNerds catcher]]. He's usually shorter, and usually more of a {{Bishounen}} or even an outright DudeLooksLikeALady.

Note that you don't have to follow traditional dynamics. If you were to survey ''real'' gay couples, you would notice that very few do, in fact, follow this setup. Your characters can take turns "topping" and "bottoming" in the bedroom, and share a more-or-less equal partnership outside of it. They can be ''switch'' or ''reversible''/''riba'' which means they enjoy both dominant and submissive roles in the bedroom and equal outside, or they can have what is called a Total Power Exchange relationship, which means one is strongly dominant and one is strongly submissive but that the couple has previously negotiated and agreed to the idea.

Even in "traditional" BL, you might have a dominant uke and a henpecked seme. Your uke can be the one that looks very tall and masculine, while your seme might be a {{Bishounen}}. They can be both uke-like, or both seme-like. See UsefulNotes/BoysLoveNotes for some common BL relationship types, or make up your own.

Try to avoid {{Wimpification}}. It's been done to death. It also carries UnfortunateImplications. Again, don't feel like you have to be restricted to just one character type or behavior, just because it's [[Theatre/FiddlerOnTheRoof Tradition!!!]] If you desire a more "traditional" uke, there's no need to turn him into a whining, sniveling mess, nor is there a need to turn your seme into a BastardBoyfriend. Men and women are socialized to act and react differently to various situations, so try to make it clear that your uke ''is'' a man, and not a stereotypical schoolgirl with a penis -- [[InvokedTrope unless, of course, you deliberately want to write a character who doesn't respond in traditionally-masculine ways.]]

In bara crossover/fusion (e.g. you're going for a gay or bisexual male audience also, or exclusively) or slash, you are ''not'' bound to these roles and stereotypes. In fact, using them may be an AudienceAlienatingPremise, ''especially'' with a stereotypical whining, sniveling, misogynist stereotype if he were female uke, ''even more especially'' if it's a fanfic and a character who ''didn't'' or barely fit those stereotypes gets [[{{Wimpification}} them put on him.]]. There, you can have characters who are exclusive tops or exclusive bottoms, but these ''don't'' have to match anything in behavior outside the bedroom (and they can even contrast, a common bara contrast is having TheBigGuy or the rich and powerful guy or the badass be an exclusive bottom), though they can, depending on the person. Of course, there's also versatile people/switches, who can and do enjoy being both top and bottom. Then there's people that don't believe in doing things that require a receptive or insertive partner. The general dynamic, though, is one of how ''actual'' male/male relationships work, not an idealized "seme" and "uke."

'''PornWithoutPlot:''' If it's poorly-written and crass, why bother with it? If you can't come up with even a slight semblance of plotline or relationship, at least put effort into your sex scene. Though the story will hold the audience's attention better if there's something besides sex for them to focus on--something that ultimately makes the sex even sexier.

* "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.

** Anime/{{Gravitation}}: ''The'' traditional BL anime/manga (though it came along late enough to actually ''somewhat'' subvert the roles at points) that both established the "shounen-ai" variant (by its original series not being highly explicit) and introduced quite a lot of people (especially Westerners, as it was one of the first original yaoi anime/manga to get translated from Japanese) to the genre, the roles, and the concepts. If you're writing traditional BL, you definitely want to read/watch it to pick up some pointers on how the seme and uke roles work and are written.

'''[[HurtComfortFic Hurt/Comfort]]:''' It's been overused. Why not try a relationship in which no one needs to be rescued? Or where the characters help each other learn and grow, but subtly (and not because of {{Angst}})? It may not be as dramatic, but if you do it right, it can be one big CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.

* 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 transmale characters, 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.

* The prostate (which only cisgendered males have) is ''usually'' in the same spot give or take an inch or two. The "find the prostate" thing is often overdone in yaoi and slash fic - if someone has had sex with one man, he won't likely take too long to find the prostate in another. Also, the prostate is almost always close enough to the "entry point" that most men won't need a partner with a GagPenis to "hit" it, and it depends on the man: some like it being bumped, others like steady pressure, and others find it being messed with just weird instead of pleasurable.

* The seme/top is the boy, the bottom/uke is the girl: This one's addressed in depth above, but along with all its other problems, it's a homophobic stereotype and manages to be both misogynist and misandrist.

* AllGaysArePromiscuous: Some gay or bisexual men are promiscuous, and the media often exaggerates this. Others are not, and there are even some who are demisexual (e.g. only interested in one person and monogamous toward them) and asexual but romantic toward the same gender. Some gay or bisexual men hold to moral codes that prohibit promiscuous sex (yes, it's possible for someone to, say, be both gay or bisexual and believe that cheating on their partner is wrong), and some are afraid of sexually transmitted infections. This trope can be played without the stereotypical implications simply by making it clear that it's just ''that'' character who is promiscuous, by setting the scene as one where promiscuous people would be, or similar, but having someone ravenously crave sex with ''every man that he sees'' is the homophobic stereotype.

'''HomosexualReproduction:''' Unless you're writing CrackFic or writing in a fantasy/sci-fi universe where such things are possible, avoiding mpreg is a really good idea. No, this doesn't mean that you can't have your couple have a kid: just have them use one of the ways of having a kid that ordinary male couples generally do so: one partner is bisexual and has the child with a woman, the use of a surrogate mother unknown to the couple, or adoption. You can make adoption just as dramatic and just as heartwarming as conceiving and giving birth and raising a child from one's own body.

If you're still bound and determined after all that, please consult another article of the SoYouWantTo namespace.

* Finally, ''BLOOD IS NOT LUBE'' nor is it the sign of a good rough kinky sex session. In RealLife blood is a very bad sign that means ''STOP RIGHT NOW,'' because something is torn or perforated and proceeding further could cause even worse damage. If your character's (hell, if your OWN) anus is bleeding for any reason penetration-related or not other than a bumped hemorrhoid or a too-long fingernail at the entrance, that is when a trip to the nearest emergency room is required, and if the bleeding is profuse, a call to EmergencyServices may even save your life.

** Anime/LegendOfTheBlueWolves: One of the first bara fusion works to get notice in ''both'' communities (drawing fandom both from bara fans that aren't into the unrealistically gigantic look ''and'' from yaoi fans tired of seme and uke roles), having a strong plot to which its notoriously explicit imagery ''actually has some relevance,'' for being set in a ScienceFiction and MilitaryFiction setting (entirely unusual for BL of its time), and for its literally brutal aversion of the NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization [[spoiler: with the victim's lover taking revenge on the rapist involving a GroinAttack with a knife, even knowing doing so would get him killed]]. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Originally was going to be part of a series]], but the production company ran out of money. Nonetheless, it became the most famous bara fusion work, and well worth a watch if you're interested in fusing yaoi and bara - as long as you're 17 or older and aren't severely triggered by a military setting or by graphically depicted RapeAsDrama.

* "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 TheTurnOfTheMillennium) 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.

Even in "traditional" BL, you might have a dominant uke and a henpecked seme. Your uke can be the one that looks very tall and masculine, while your seme might be a {{Bishounen}}. They can be both uke-like, or both seme-like. See BoysLoveNotes for some common BL relationship types, or make up your own.

* Things can "get lost," unlike in the vagina. It's almost impossible to lose something in an average vagina (though it has happened on occasion) because the entrance of the cervix serves as a barrier. The anus ''has'' no such barrier, so anything that gets shoved too far in is usually staying and being brought up through the bowel via peristalsis until passed / until getting stuck (small objects) or becoming immovably (without help) lodged deep in the bowel (larger objects). The results are not usually good and end up in the emergency room (and any doctor worth his or her salt has at least one story involving having to remove something from someone's rectum that isn't supposed to be there). Anything used for anorectal insertions should have a flared base (meaning something that works as a "stop") and/or another safe means of being pulled out of the body. This is actually important to depict, if your story involves toy use.

* Finally, ''BLOOD IS NOT LUBE'' nor is it the sign of a good rough kinky sex session. In RealLife blood is a very bad sign that means ''STOP RIGHT NOW,'' because something is torn or perforated and proceeding further could cause even worse damage. If your character's (hell, if your OWN) anus is bleeding for any reason penetration-related or not other than a bumped hemorrhoid or a too-long fingernail at the entrance, that is when a trip to the nearest emergency room is required, and if the bleeding is profuse, a call to EmergencyServices may even be.

'''HomosexualReproduction:''' Unless you're writing CrackFic or writing in a universe where it's possible, avoiding mpreg is a really good idea. No, this doesn't mean that you can't have your couple have a kid: just have them use one of the ways of having a kid that ordinary male couples generally do so: one partner is bisexual and has the child with a woman, the use of a surrogate mother unknown to the couple, or adoption. You can make adoption just as dramatic and just as heartwarming as conceiving and giving birth and raising a child from one's own body.

* Things can "get lost," unlike in the vagina. It's almost impossible to lose something in an average vagina (though it has happened on occasion) because the entrance of the cervix serves as a barrier. The anus ''has'' no such barrier, so anything that gets shoved too far in is usually staying and being brought up through the bowel via peristalsis until passed / until getting stuck (small objects) or becoming immovably (without help) lodged deep in the bowel (larger objects). The results are not usually good and end up in the emergency room. Anything used for anorectal insertions should have a flared base (meaning something that works as a "stop") and/or another safe means of being pulled out of the body. This is actually important to depict, if your story involves toy use.

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

Try to avoid {{Wimpification}}. It's been done to death. It also carries UnfortunateImplications. Again, don't feel like you have to be restricted to just one character type or behavior, just because it's [[FiddlerOnTheRoof Tradition!!!]] If you desire a more "traditional" uke, there's no need to turn him into a whining, sniveling mess, nor is there a need to turn your seme into a BastardBoyfriend. Men and women are socialized to act and react differently to various situations, so try to make it clear that your uke ''is'' a man, and not a stereotypical schoolgirl with a penis -- [[InvokedTrope unless, of course, you deliberately want to write a character who doesn't respond in traditionally-masculine ways.]]

In bara crossover/fusion (e.g. you're going for a gay or bisexual male audience also, or exclusively) or slash, you are ''not'' bound to these roles and stereotypes. In fact, using them may be an AudienceAlienatingPremise, ''especially'' with a stereotypical whining, sniveling, misogynist stereotype if he were female uke, ''even more especially'' if it's a fanfic and a character who ''didn't'' or barely fit those stereotypes gets [[{{Wimpification}} them put on him.]]. There, you can have characters who are exclusive tops or exclusive bottoms, but these ''don't'' have to match anything in behavior outside the bedroom (and they can even contrast, a common bara contrast is having TheBigGuy or the rich and powerful guy or the {{Badass}} be an exclusive bottom), though they can, depending on the person. Of course, there's also versatile people/switches, who can and do enjoy being both top and bottom. Then there's people that don't believe in doing things that require a receptive or insertive partner. The general dynamic, though, is one of how ''actual'' male/male relationships work, not an idealized "seme" and "uke."