Some Advice on Harem Writing · 3:12am Jan 10th, 2018
So I got a message asking if I had any advice for harem writing, which was cool since I like helping people and generally talking about story writing. After I sent it, I realized that maybe some of my other readers (Or anyone who happens to come across this) might like to see/benefit from my advice. Heads up, none of this is edited so expect some errors.
Sure. First, you're going to get hate because you're writing a harem story. There is going to be people who don't like harem stories and will feel the need to tell you how they don't like your story because its a harem. These comments should be ignored, but you should be smart and take any actual advice or critique seriously. Aside from that, make sure you're grammar looks good, and find a trustworthy proofreader/editor, these are the backbone of any story not just harems. Without them, the quality of your work will drop, and depending on your own skill in grammar and writing it can be fatal. I have seen far too many new and old author's who think they make no mistakes and every idea/word they write is gold. They don't understand why they don't get hundred of followers and thumbs up and their stories don't get featured. Quality matters.
Now, as for the story itself, often the most important thing in any story not just harems is your characters. Don't get me wrong settings are cool and plot matters big time, but odds are what draw people and keep their attention are the characters. They have faults, feelings, uncertainties, attitudes, dreams, and they are never perfect.
Just as an example, lets look at Hoard's Spike: He's a good person, but he's prone to greed and his cockiness gets him into shit. What he wants more than anything is to have a happy life with all his friends and lovers. He wants to be trusted and respected, but he makes mistakes and he wants to be forgiven for them. He puts others needs/wants ahead of his own, to the point of actually being dangerous to himself on occasion.
Then you have Rarity: She has a passion for life that makes everything she does an experience. She's generous and she's selfless, but she is prone to vanity. There's nothing she wouldn't give for her friends and loved ones, and she works hard for everything she does or wants. She dreams of being a princess and of living among the elite, but as time has passed she understands that while she genuinely wants those things, there are more important things. She's articulate and precise, her eye for beauty and detail is undeniable. She's one hell of a buissnessmare (and it shows whenever she's trying to get something), but she never leaves the other end of her exchanges feeling cheated or worse for what happened. She has her eyes on her dream often to the point of having her heads in the clouds, but her feet are firmly on the ground and she won't be tricked or cheated, she knows what's what.
Rainbow Dash: Confident, cocky, egotistical as all hell, and there's no one you want covering your ass more than her. She rushes towards her dream, but she works hard for it. She's open, but she'll cover her embarrassment fast. Her image is just as important to her as Rarity's is, but she's cool calm and collected... until something flusters her and makes her lose her cool. Crossing her, never a good idea because she will hold that grudge until she feels vindicated. She's a tomboy, rough, dangerous, and thrill loving. She also will never admit that she loves feeling pretty in a dress, but she does. She's the first to throw herself in harm's way, especially when her friends are involved. She's also lazy and in most cases not related to things she wants, will look for the easy way out.
So now you have these unique characters who have to interact with each other. Don't force it. It's good to have things planned out, but if it doesn't feel right for the character, even if it's what you want, make the right decision and scrap it. I believe in the Natural Flow of a story, and that's all about looking at everything happening and going what happens next? How do they respond? What do they do? What happens because of it? How does this affect everyone else? Don't try to force them into doing what you wanted. If it feels wrong, odds are, it is. For a harem writer, this can be one of the most difficult things to handle. The reason is that you have many unique characters who are all affected and dealing with things that affect everyone else, but in terms of friendship and romance. The more characters you have, the more any one choice can spiral, and the closer those characters are, the more each choice directly affects everyone else. For dramatic purposes, having the girls at end with each other works great, and you're male character (Assuming we go with a traditional harem one guy multiple women.) will often suffer and have to make peace. On the other hand, if you're girls are friends and supportive of each other than you have a happy harem which while often less dramatic, creates a much more supported condition for everyone, and your main character probably isn't going to experience hell caused by the girls. Both are completely solid, and written totally differently. In a story that's goal is the harem ending the first usually becomes the second. Hoard is definitely the second one, and the conflict arises largely from the internal struggles of certain characters. Not that the characters always get along with each other or things don't happen that create problems. Life happens and eventhe best of friends and greatest of lovers disagree at times.
in short, you're setting will often create the base of your story, but your characters are what move everything forward. Also I really do have to stress the importance of a proofreader/editor and good grammar.
Well I hope that long rant helps!
Hope this helps some of you! If anyone wants to ask me anything else about harem writing you could message me privately or ask me in the comments on this blog so others can read it as well. Depends if you want to keep it private or not.
P.S. I'll likely try to do some writing for Hoard this week since a lot of my thoughts on the next chapter are still fresh. This means nothing about a release date though... Sorry, but they happen when they happen.
I found this ironically humorous.
Very informative. This will definitely help any Harem Writer in the making.
And... if you permit me... I would like to point out how this can be seen with your own stories. You've grown as a writer, and it shows.
Take Rarity's Punishment. Still a very sex story, but if you get down to it, the Spike in that one didn't resemble the one from the show very much. He didn't really sound like Spike, did not have his being prone to greed and clumsiness, his snark and his thirst for respect.
Compare that to Hoard!Spike, who is a much more fleshed-out character with strengths and flaws. Remember long ago when I brought up how Blueblood could ask Spike about tips how to handle a Harem/Herd? That's because this Spike feels like a character with experiences that change and mold him. He feels alive.
Who knows. Maybe, if I ever do get around to writing any of it, I'll probably hit you up for advice.
Much like the characters in the story. Funny, isn't it?
4770501
I don't know I think it kind of just proves my point lol
4770559
Actually, I'd agree largely with what you said. My own growth as a writer is pretty obvious, and it really improved with my love of reading and wanting to do the best I could. Plus, I read a ton of stories and seeing what really made stories stick out made me want to aspire to that kind of writing. I've told people before that if they want to improve their writing the best thing they can do is read some of the most popular stories on here and see what makes them so good. Getting a taste of other's styles and techniques really fleshes one out as a writer. I've come a long way, and I am proud of myself for it. When I started Weekend, I never imagined it become such a big thing. The one thing that's never changed though, is that I'm so genuinely happy and grateful for every view, comment, favorite, and/or thumbs up I get. Seeing people enjoying what I created... it's a really unique and great feeling.
Characterization is both the bread and butter, as well as the very spine of a story. This synthesizes so many problems I have seen in stories on the site, as well as the cannon show itself (season seven, and certain bootleg lavender mind-controlling unicorns). Even a single bad characterization can destroy a chapter, episode, or even entire story line. When you mentioned making a cut on something because it didn't fit, and not trying to force it because an author wants it was absolutely nail-on-the-head laser precision.
Not going to get into a monologue in this post about season seven, but I feel it's a perfect case study for this. You could in theory remove starlight from both episodes, and not only would the plot not be compromised but the other characters would have a better chance to shine. (Starlight had roughly half as many lines as the main character, twilight, and about double the amount of lines as any of the other main cast most of which were repetitions of 'lets try to talk to him')
"I have seen far too many new and old author's"
No apostrophe needed on authors, btw
Good advice though! I have harem fics in mind and really should write 'em.
4770604
Sadly, I've heard from several authors how positive encouragement has dried up compared to negativity. And... I think I am part of why. It's easy to point out flaws in writing, especially if you have had some experience doing so. It becomes easier the more you do it. But praise? That gets harder. You tend to forget to give any, at some point. Just like one can forget it's real humans on the other end of that line, who may be looking for a few kind words to keep going.
4770619 Hmm, well putting the season part aside, yeah characters are pretty much the key to everything. It's the reason the show got so popular to begin with
4770660 And this is why I have an editor XP You should; it's fun, hard, but fun!
4771401 I don't actually believe this. Far too often do people simply comment simple things like more, I love it, can't wait for the next chapter(Not that these are bad comments mind you) and people take these kind of comments very... strongly. It builds there ego up and when you give them a health dose of reality with the interest in helping them improve they take it very negatively. I have seen many authors who take any comment that isn't gratifying like being slapped in the face. Yeah some people are actually being a dick, but pointing out flaws so they can be fixed is good thing. I'm always grateful when anyone points out a issue, rather I agree with it or not. Now I do think that it's important to point out what someone did right too. That being said... sometimes they don't do anything right. Regardless, don't hold yourself at fault for providing real criticism instead of just stroking their egos.