"please don't write a TERF" thank you! I'm a disabled trans woman, currently writing a probably-YA verse novel, and your video just turned up on my feed also, thank you for mentioning disabled people's experience regarding gender and sex; I see that so rarely subscribed!
I have those two women in the book I'm trying to write and I really don't know whether to make them a couple or to keep them as friends because they have really good chemistry.😅😅
I felt afraid to write any characters that are not straight, since I am. Hell, I’m afraid of writing female characters, but kind of need to. I just don’t feel qualified to do them justice. Videos like this are very helpful, thank you.
"lesbians don't spend that much time thinking about how attractive-" Me: "-women are." right? Good point, good point, no one spends all their time thinking about attraction. "-men are." Me: ... ...I hate that this is so prevalent that it needs to be talked about
Uuuuuuhhhhhhhhh if I like a woman then I mean, imma be simping. My mc (her name is Atlantis) is a total love-at-first-sight simp. Like the classic bump into each other. But like she was rushing to the park to meet up with a friend and having to weave though an extremely crowded sidewalk. The MC ran and crashed into love interest (named Era) nearly breaking her photography camera as they face-plant, and land flat on their stomachs. Basically love at first sight for them both when they get up and see each other. Atlantis being worried about accidentally breaking Era's camera. Era is trying to reassure her that she didn't and she's okay. After that they converse for a bit and introduce themselves.
So I know this is an older video, but thank you for being inclusive of trans women. Whenever I'm watching a video about queer women in fiction, I'm basically always waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Hello! Glad I found this, I can use some tips. I've been finding a bigger surge in my writing in lgbt characters, possibly stemming from me accepting my own sexuality as I explore my new revelation.
One of my couples is a lebian couple, and one of my characters, Max, is in a really hard place and hasn't ever had the chance to find herself, so when she gets paired with Salem and Hannah for a school project in her final year of high school, Salem opens a whole new world for her, and Hannah and Salem build her confidence, she eventually finds herself in love with Salem. Salem after beginning a relationship with Max suddenly notices a sudden change in her behavior later down the line after some events which leads Salem and Hannah to saving her life. I'm excited, because I personally think the way the three girls build each other up, especially the way Salem builds Max up and helps her find her confidence is beautiful. The three girls struggle with personal issues which shows that despite them being drastically different they are similar. Hannah is seen as a perfect woman, but as she let's the other two in they learn Hannah has her own struggles, an eating disorder and is constantly fighting rumors and other stuff. Salem has a criminal past and bad habits that are quite dangerous. Shoplifting is one of them. It's a story about depression and anxiety and the struggles of mental health and the different things people can struggle with, and in the end the characters change and grow massively. Eventually Salem and Max open a bakery together that Hannah funds and helps them run financially, and the three go from complete strangers to best friends (Salem and Max, lovers).
Im writing a fictional series aimed at older kids and young teens, with a lot of lgbtq+ representation, because i have a lot of lgbt friends and writing all heterosexuals is boring. Im writing 3 lesbians, 1 gay boi, 1 bisexual gal, 1 trans boi, 1 pansexual boi, 1 omnisexual gal, an aromatic gal, and a genderfuild, so I’m always anxious that im gonna end up offending anyone. Writing all this lgbt representation is really hard when your straight 😅so this kind of stuff is very, VERY helpful! Thank you!
as a lesbian i am writing a fantasy story mostly about a mystery of a runaway prince and disapeering heairs. the side story is about the main charachter who up until then has sworn off love as a part of training. and she is relising what love feels like while slicing off heads of kidnappers and hunting down the runnaway prince. it is the first wlw romance ive ever written and it comes alot more naturally when i was trying to write a straight wlm romance. and the romance is just part of the sub plot its not the main thing. the mystery of the dissapering heirs is. and what happened to the princesses brother thats the main plot. but this was super helpful to help me flesh her out as a character
I'm trying to write a lesbian couple who's the main villains in my story basically one is a cult leader while the other is her bodyguard who uses psychic magic to shield her. They're both war criminals and are paranoid of other people. My idea for how they get closer is that the cult leader almost gets killed by an assassin with fire magic who trapped her in a magical dome of fire and the bodyguard saved her by messing with his mind , then the cult leader discovered she had ice magic (but she recently discovered it so it's not too strong) and used it to weaken the dome and escape. Also one of the bodyguards colleagues hates her guts cuz the colleague was a faithful officer of the city and because the bodyguard betrayed them she wants to ruin her and the cult leader's life by snitching to everyone of their warcrimes and secret relationship.
I’m gonna try to write about a zombie apocalypse with two high school lesbians who just try to make it. One of them will be POC and idealistic, while the other girl will be resourceful and smart I don’t wanna make anything racist/homophobic/xenophobic
Honestly, whenever I read about a "lesbian" character judging how attractive the men around her are, I just assume she was actually bi or pan, but did not realize that yet. Yeah, I know, the author probably still thought of that character as lesbian, but readers go with what you tell them and headcanon is still a thing ^^.
Answer some questions for yourself. Why does she have to be a lesbian? Why does she have to be unlike any other woman, other than her sexual preference? (Not like the other girls) The other option is to write good characters, who just happen to have a sexuality. I really liked how they handled NTWH and Yukio in Deadpool II: They just sat down together in the breakfast nook. Despite them both being Ageist/Asian tropefest characters. That's it, a lesbian character is just like a regular character, other than being gay.
I'm currently writing a historical contemporary romance novel set in the early 90s, 2019 * there's going to be flashbacks * and the best friend of my female protagonist is a lesbian and she's married to her wife she and her wife are going to be part of the plot, they're going to be the motivators / supporters of my protagonist because she reunites with her former boyfriend and the two lgbtq characters are like " go get your man you can do this girl 😂" so I'm thinking of doing that! Now the sensitivity reader part you mentioned... I might have trouble with because I can't afford what they charge could I maybe get a beta reader instead? What is your advice thank you 😊
That sounds like a great story, Antonia! And the lesbian rep sounds really good to me 😊 Yes, beta readers from the group you’re portraying are great on a smaller budget. That’s what I did as well :)
@@StoryManifestors that's probably the best thing tbh Im part of a group who are beta readers so when I come to the editing process I will ask for a couple of lgbtq beta readers thank you have a nice day!!! ❤️🤗😁
I'm a little late to this video, but it just popped up in my feed. Can I write about TERFs if they are the principal antagonists? Lol! ... One of my short stories focuses on an NB kid who has to deal with the TERFs who run the boarding school they're attending. I have written Lesbians and Bi women characters who are prominent protagonists, if not the primary protagonists, in longer stories. I don't think the way I wrote them falls into the category of appropriation, but I'm NB and Bi so it's possible I might be *too* close to the subject to see it, I suppose.
Hi! So I want to write a thriller novel set in 1821 about two lesbians, the problem is, I feel like I’m shoving them into stereotypes. And it’s really hard to get out, could I have some advice?
Hey, I hope this comment doesn't come too late. I would say that if you are worried about stereotypes, the first thing to do is research where do they come from, are they considered offensive or harmfull. Many people shy away from stereotypes because we have internalised thet a "butch lesbian" or a "queeny gay" are a bad thing. The truth is, they are not. And if you write a character that fits into a stereotype, just be sure that it doesn't become al they are, give them real concerns and ambitions!
Good point! It entirely depends on the societal context, but it’s good to consider whether the fantasy world is Queernorm or if it had a journey to get to equality :)
The mistake I am seeing all the time is making sex and gender the centre of the story. For example, in a romance story, the basic premise can be that neither party is looking for love. It really does not make any difference if the characters are gay, straight, trans, etc. The crux of the story is the character arc of changing their mindsets. If a story is properly written, anyone can read the story and empathise with the protagonists. If I have to be gay in order to read the story, I would say the author has failed. This mistake is called sensationalism. It is the same thing as the confusion of graphic violence with tension that is seen in so many crime stories now.
Do: Give them with the same respect as you would with a straight character There are tons of videos on RU-vid on how Make a character that is compelling, complex, interesting, morally ambiguous, people can be very messy in real life, so let them be messy people Do: add lesbian characters that are varied in, fashion, personality, race, gender, religion, etc. tbh stereotypes and tropes only depends on HOW you use them Don’t: make your only lesbian a villain, again make your lesbian characters vary so it’s not the ONLY representation Do: if your story is more about escapism then make their sexuality normal. if your story is set in a place where being lgbtq is not accepted then do depict their struggles with that but make sure it’s not the ONLY struggle they go through Hope this helps 😁
Any story can be telled by me. I would never not write a story just because "It is not mine to tell". No one dictates that. No one limits my art. Bad advice.
You’re right. No one dictates what you write. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the representation won’t be harmful if you write a story that you don’t have the required knowledge for, but you’re free to write it anyway. This video is for people who want to avoid harmful rep :)
