History SoYouWantTo / WriteAShoujoSeries

* A common way to do a {{Jerkass}} love interest without abuse is to have him be a {{Tsundere}} JerkWithAHeartOfGold for the heroine, and/or made to go through CharacterDevelopment to get to a point where he'd be a safe, healthy choice for a romantic relationship with someone. Have him undergo this character development ''before'' the main character gets together with him, to avoid StockholmSyndrome and more UnfortunateImplications. Making the heroine rather independent and strong-willed, if not a {{Tsundere}} herself, is probably one of the best ways to go, as such personalities tend to be best for SlapSlapKiss. See WhenAJerkLovesATsundere for more.

Ahhh Shoujo, that demographic of manga and anime where love and angst shows up in abundance. Boy meets girl, girl meets boy, boy reveals deep dark secret keeping him from girl, girl reveals that her brother is magically ensorcelled to be a dog... Shoujo comes in all shapes and sizes, but at it's core is a slice of life story about a girl and a boy and the wacky cast of characters helping or hindering their romance. There can be supernatural elements, as in ''Manga/FruitsBasket''; there can be more serious themes as in ''Manga/HisAndHerCircumstances''; maybe there's some GenderFlip hijinks as in ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub''; Whatever twists are put in, what comes out are solid, heart-wrenching love stories, desperate heroes and heroines, and almost always a HappyEverAfter. Clouds of roses are of course a guaranteed.

** Though it's not a shoujo, both fight scenes between [[LightNovel/{{Toradora}} Taiga]] vs [[spoiler:Sumire]] and [[spoiler:Minori vs Ami]] are at least somewhat realistic {{Cat Fight}}s. The girls can actually fight, landing punches instead of simple bitchslaps, drawing blood and brusing everywhere and cursing each other out. If these fights ''are'' intended for {{Fanservice}}, it sure as hell takes a backseat to the actual plot.

* While we're on the subject: [[{{Rival}} Rivals]]. They can show up anywhere and any time, and they can keep your story interesting by providing the necessary drama. They can be either gender. There's the [[BuxomIsBetter more]] [[HollywoodHomely conventionally]] [[BettyAndVeronica pretty]] girl who's out to steal the main girl's man, one way or another. For fanservice, pick a sexy {{Bishonen}} who's after the girl herself. In fact, it's not completely uncommon for a rival character to switch from one crush to the other or to be after both at the same time, though this idea should be handled with ''extreme'' care so as to avoid the UnfortunateImplications of a DepravedBisexual. Overall, just try to keep these things in mind: Why do they want the hero/heroine? Why are they there? What is it about them that makes them a viable threat for their opponent's love interest? How do they plan on stealing away the love interest? What would they do if they ''didn't'' succeed in stealing them away? all of these describe character motivations and if you want a complex cast, each character needs a complex inner life.

Ahhh Shoujo, that demographic of manga and anime where love and angst shows up in abundance. Boy meets girl, girl meets boy, boy reveals deep dark secret keeping him from girl, girl reveals that her brother is magically ensorcelled to be a dog.... Shoujo comes in all shapes and sizes, but at it's core is a slice of life story about a girl and a boy and the wacky cast of characters helping or hindering their romance. There can be supernatural elements, as in ''Manga/FruitsBasket''; there can be more serious themes as in ''Manga/HisAndHerCircumstances''; maybe there's some GenderFlip hijinks as in ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub''; Whatever twists are put in, what comes out are solid, heart-wrenching love stories, desperate heroes and heroines, and almost always a HappyEverAfter. Clouds of roses are of course a guaranteed.

* {{Bishonen}} - Come on, we all know that the vast majority of shoujo readers are teenage girls, (usually about 12 years old, at least,) so of course you'll want to include a little {{Fanservice}} for the readers. Experienced shoujo readers will sometimes tell you that even the most boring, generic plots ever can be at least slightly more bearable if the guys are hot. (Though an important thing to remember is that, yes, a guy's first impression on the heroine can be basically that she thinks he's hot, but after that it's best to try and display a personality for him as well. Don't listen to [[FanDumb certain fans]] who tell you that a male character doesn't need something as boring as a ''personality'' if he's sufficiently attractive enough.)

* LoveTropes - You can't have hot and heavy romance and emotionally desperate characters without love. Usually a Shoujo manga like this will begin with a solid LoveTriangle, usually in the form of the main girl being stuck between a ShelteredAristocrat NiceGuy and the local {{Tsundere}} [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys bad boy.]] This is usually quickly expanded as the cast grows,becoming a LoveDodecahedron. It's basically a lovefest. Nevermind if you want to write another genre--it's Shoujo! All girls need to see a little romance no matter what. See SoYouWantTo/WriteALoveStory and SoYouWantTo/WriteARomanticComedy for more advice, if you decide to go in this direction.

* Hey, who says a School Life romcom aimed at young girls can't have a few action scenes? And not just the male lead getting into a fight: Stick that main girl in there and have her, say, finally have enough of playing the NiceGirl and start beating down the AlphaBitch character who's been giving her crap throughout the story. You ''can'' just have an exchange of [[ArmorPiercingSlap Armor-Piercing Slaps]] and have each girl give the other a ReasonYouSuckSpeech ("You're such a liar!" "At least I'm not a hypocrite!!"), but that's getting a bit cliche. Why not just [[ActionGirl have at least one of them actually be able and willing to throw a punch?]] You don't ''have'' to make it a fanservice-filled CatFight or anything, you know.
** Though it's not a shoujo, both fight scenes between [[LightNovel/{{Toradora}} Taiga]] vs [[spoiler:Sumire]] and [[spoiler:Minori vs Ami]] are at least somewhat realistic {{Cat Fight}}s. The girls can actually fight, landing punches instead of simple [[ArmorPiercingSlap bitchslaps]], drawing blood and brusing everywhere and cursing each other out. If these fights ''are'' intended for {{Fanservice}}, it sure as hell takes a backseat to the actual plot.

* Please, if you can, ''avoid'' the BastardBoyfriend. It's been done ''to death'', and many shoujo readers would agree that they're tired of seeing the {{Jerkass}} get the girl while [[NiceGuy the guy who actually treats her well]] just gets pushed aside, or [[{{DerailingLoveInterests}} made unexpectedly OOC]] so the writer can have an excuse for pairing the main two. There's a ''reason'' ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' has so much hate, you know.

* ''Manga/KimiNiTodoke'' - one of the most fresh and optimistic Shoujo series out there. Emphasis on the character development of the ShrinkingViolet main heroine Sawako, instead of a BastardBoyfriend, we got a NiceGuy as the resident ChickMagnet and her object of affection. Characters are fleshed out, the conflict within the story are mundane but extremely touching. Oh, and they also has a couple of {{Shonen}} {{Genre Refugee}}s PlayedForLaughs.

* ''Manga/MaidSama'' - A more recent example. While simplistic in its 26-episode plot and rather bland in some respects, it's probably one of the best examples of a typical shoujo series with a non-ThisLoserIsYou heroine. Yes, Misaki's a violent {{Tsundere}} toward a love interest who's pretty much got SingleTargetSexuality for her like many other heroines, but she's also shown to [[DoesNotLikeMen Not Like Men]] (though she doesn't outright wish that there were no more men in the world like some more StrawFeminist characters. She mostly just has baggage from her dad walking out and leaving her, her mom and her sister in a huge debt) and to [[ActionGirl be able to handle herself]] whenever the plot tries to turn her into a DamselInDistress (though it's also shown that she's not invincible and does have opponents she can't defeat by herself).

* Shoujo series tend to be set in schools, since that's where the majority of teenage girls spend most of their time. Depending on the setting, this could mean either a variety of hip street clothes or a set of uniforms are in order. {Note: Sailor uniforms have been done ''to death'', though there's no one stopping you from using them anyway if you want to. Just, maybe try to customize them a little, you know? Like, maybe the school they go to has loose rules on the dress code or something?

* Okay, so one of the biggest problems in shoujo these days is that the main heroines often have too little of an actual ''personality.'' It would seem that shoujo authors rely on the good ol' Rule of ThisLoserIsYou, slap it on the face of a cutesy (And therefore cover-worthy) [[AuthorAvatar version of themselves in their teen years]] and call it a relatable heroine. Unless you think you can do it tastefully, try to avoid having your main character referring to herself as [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute 'average']] or [[HollywoodHomely 'plain']] as her main character flaw. Nowadays, the PrettyGirl masquerading as a low self-esteem homely girl is overdone and no longer believable. If your character must be this way, have very good reason for her to have such low self-esteem. Shojou manga operates on a large cast of characters all loving the main character for one reason or another, and if she's the kind of girl who is measurably pretty but insists that she's not, the believability of her being lovable with such an aggravating trait gets trained. See Manga/FruitsBasket for an example of how to do this well.

* Why not stick in friendship as a theme just as important as the romance? I mean, a number of people would tell you that they'd choose friends they've been through Hell with over their boy/girlfriend they just met a week ago in a heartbeat. Why not give the main heroine a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}} where she acknowledges that sassier, more energetic best friend of hers who's always supporting her between scenes with the male lead but doesn't seem to get nearly as much screentime as him, even though before he showed up, they'd apparently been joined at the hip for years? Sure, it'd probably veer into PseudoRomanticFriendship territory, but... [[NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat well, what's wrong with that?]]

* As the readers are incredibly likely to be teenage girls, it's probably a good idea to make TheProtagonist / TheHero a teenage girl as well. Ocassionally this can be a GenderFlip situation but the main character is usually still feminine in some way. (Manga/AishiteruzeBaby is a good example of a non-yaoi shoujo male protagonist)

* As the readers are incredibly likely to be teenage girls, it's probably a good idea to make TheProtagonist} / TheHero a teenage girl as well. Ocassionally this can be a GenderFlip situation but the main character is usually still feminine in some way. (Manga/AishiteruzeBaby is a good example of a non-yaoi shoujo male protagonist)

* LoveTropes - You can't have hot and heavy romance and emotionally desperate characters without love. Usually a Shoujo manga like this will begin with a solid LoveTriangle, usually in the form of the main girl being stuck between a ShelteredAristocrat NiceGuy and the local {{Tsundere}} [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys bad boy.]] This is usually quickly expanded as the cast grows,becoming a LoveDodecahedron. It's basically a lovefest. See SoYouWantTo/WriteALoveStory and SoYouWantTo/WriteARomanticComedy for more advice, if you decide to go in this direction.

Ahhh Shoujo, that genre of manga and anime where love and angst abound. Boy meets girl, girl meets boy, boy reveals deep dark secret keeping him from girl, girl reveals that her brother is magically ensorcelled to be a dog.... Shoujo comes in all shapes and sizes, but at it's core is a slice of life story about a girl and a boy and the wacky cast of characters helping or hindering their romance. There can be supernatural elements, as in ''Manga/FruitsBasket''; there can be more serious themes as in ''Manga/HisAndHerCircumstances''; maybe there's some GenderFlip hijinks as in ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub''; Whatever twists are put in, what comes out are solid, heart-wrenching love stories, desperate heroes and heroines, and almost always a HappyEverAfter. Clouds of roses are of course a guaranteed.

* Why not stick in friendship as a theme just as important as the romance? I mean, a number of people would tell you that they'd choose friends they've been through Hell with over their boy/girlfriend they just met a week ago in a heartbeat. Why not give the main heroine a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}} where she acknowledges that sassier, more energetic best friend of hers who's always supporting her between scenes with the male lead but doesn't seem to get nearly as much screentime as him, even though before he showed up they'd apparently been joined at the hip for years? Sure, it'd probably veer into RomanticTwoGirlFriendship territory, but... [[NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat well, what's wrong with that?]]

* ''Franchise/{{Jewelpet}}''