How to write a good harem?

[_oinkchan]

I came across a therad that asked opinions about harems and they were of course massively negative with me included.
But i have been writing too much potential love interest and not enough stories so...
How do i write a non cringy harem with a good dynamic?

So far i've only been planning on 3 people to not make it too complicated and to make them actually have unique features.

Have a harem irl

 

[Love4NovelGuy]

Write several characters in a story, make some secondary characters female, and then have them pine over the same guy.

one of the good ways of making a harem story is with action, because an MC who suffers usually feels deserving of a harem (compared to your average geek who does nothing for anyone).

although one could say each girl needs distinct personalities, that’s just so their dynamic with the MC isn’t the same as each other. Because different people tend to interact differently.

they can talk the same way and like the same stuff, but their dynamic with the MC must be unique for them to have any reason to exist. It’s because of that many are saying you should have ‘different personalities’ for each girl.

 

[Deleted member 54065]

I just write what I want to write and use my experiences and observations on RL people to create believable characters.

If a reader didn't like it, IDGAF. If a reader likes my writing, then let him read the rest of the story.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

Do what Rosario to Vampire did and just give up half way and become an action battle series.

 

[patbateman123x]

i'd say make the mc interesting so he can bounce off the harem well .Most harems have a super bland mc and while some girls are really good his blandness just ruins the whole book or anime or videogame for that matter . Like as a reader i cant imagine who in their right mind would even like the guy . He can't hold a conversation with them , he blushes if she moves , etc .I mean come on man how fucking horny are you . While not everyone might be a fan of him , i personally really like kazami yuuji from grisaia the vn as a harem mc . His whole blunt attitude just goes so well with the girls .

have you ever read a romance novel? Okay, just do exactly that.
And then add multiple female leads over time.

have u been reading Chiramune ?

 

[SailusGebel]

It's impossible to write a good harem.

 

[unlimitedpower]

in my opinion you can't. while you can make the harem in a way that damages the story less, it will always damage a story. this is because a harem simply doesn't function in a story. it damages side characters, character development, the MC and pretty much everything to do with characters.

 

[InfantryTerminator]

Make it interesting and entertaining. Most of harem stories doesn't sucks because it's harem, but because the stories are the one that sucks.

If the harem part doesn't have any valid reason to exist besides wish fulfillment, then reader could care less and will even start hatting because it gets in way of actually good parts of the story.

The main reason why there are so many bad harem stories are weebs and coomers that write without any experience. More experienced authors on other hand are busy writing in their own genres and could care less about other

 

[Eirenliel]

just write poly relationships... people are more complex than just thirsting for mc

 

[Saileri]

Simple. Just be me

 

[Vicky]

Simple. Just be me

Shameless and successful, isn't that the best combination?

 

[Saileri]

Shameless and successful, isn't that the best combination?

Rule no1, never tell your secrets to others

 

[Schultz_von]

Well, first you need to find a reason why these people can tolerate each other.

 

[J_Chemist]

Carefully. And that's a serious answer.

You need good plot, good characters, good reasoning for it, and a world to support it.

 

[beast_regards]

Just write. It doesn't have to be realistic, and even cringeworthiness is relative.

 

[DiscoDream]

I came across a therad that asked opinions about harems and they were of course massively negative with me included.
But i have been writing too much potential love interest and not enough stories so...
How do i write a non cringy harem with a good dynamic?

So far i've only been planning on 3 people to not make it too complicated and to make them actually have unique features.

Keep the girls in groups that don't interact with each other that often. Otherwise they come off as cardboard cutouts.

Keep from going over ten. There needs to be room for other characters, unless it's a smut novel.

Don't introduce two harem members at the same time, even if they're twins or mother/daughter. Overlapping their first impressions will cheapen both.

Make them have flaws, ie, be a bitch sometimes. Irrational fears and desires. Harems are more about wanting to conquer women, rather than the dude caring about their personality. Some care is needed, but not to the point where he'd actually sacrifice his supposed morals for them. That's just an endless loop if they have morals.

 

[Ai-chan]

You can't write harem if you don't have experience.

Not with harem.

With real girls.

/me runs away like a paralympic champion

 

[beast_regards]

If you want to please critics of harem shows or novels, don't write one.

At all.

If you don't want to include harem elements in your story, don't include them. Period.

Major criticism of harem stories comes from the fact they are inherently unrealistic. Relationships don't work that way in real life.

Which is true, they are inherently unrealistic.

However, attempt to make them realistic will make them even more insulting to the said critics, earning you possibly even greater backslash.

On the other hand, pleasing fans of the harem genre is pretty easy. Realism is not required, cringe is not a concern. Escapist fantasy is the name of the game, it's about achieving what is next to impossible in real life, or making it miraculously work.

I can suspend my disbelief. A lot. You know, in the magical land of anime setting, physics works when you tell them to, and gravity doesn't dare to interrupt your monologue. If I can suspect my disbelief about that, I can handle the working relationship.

So you want to include the harem setting, it's your story. Whatever you make, you feel the best about the story and enjoy writing.

With real girls.

No one with experience with real girls wants the real girls in their fantasy.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

I've been thinking about this, because I've been dealing with the concept of a world of reversed sexual morality. (Admittedly, the meta plot has intruded lately) In order to handle the aspects I want, I had to start a second story. Harems don't fit in my first.

I think what is happening to the MC of IWS is a polyamorous situation, not a harem. So I have failed in a way. I don't think it will be a harem as the story progresses, even if they all share the same living situation.

A Harem seems to require a 'these are my women' situation.

If you have one woman and a bunch of guys and she just doesn't mind fucking everyone and none of the guys really care about that. Everyone is kinda chill about it, is that a harem?

Because that describes half the relationships when I was the theater group in collage.

I know one girl who was rooming with four guys for free, but she rotated which bed she was sleeping in, and oddly enough, it didn't fall apart for a good year, as I recall. From her point of view was that a harem?

It sure as hell wasn't exclusive. Although it did finally go south when the guy who basically had the most money got a real girlfriend.

Now when i moved in with two girls, that was a big mistake. I thought we were all chil but yeah, that lasted a month then I got my tires slashed and it went down hill from there. Multiple guys and one girl seems to be stable from my point of view, but even two girls and one guy was never friendly, even if they supposedly liked each other.

Sort of rambling and trying to pin this down, both as to why it works and why it fails.

Btw, used to hang out with satanists. Fun crowd, but much more boring than you'd think. Never bought the whole magic shit. I just pretended everyone was LARPing 24/7.
---
And not joking about the santanist thing. Or Luciferian as they liked to say. (God, the politics was some serious bullshit. Fart sniffers the lot of them.) Not the Church of Satan, mind you. They guys I hung out with were a branch of the church of Set. The top three guys in the church of satan had a blow out, the guy who owned everything kicked out the other two who made the church of Set then they had a falling out over money. There is a LOT of money in orgies. I mean, we're talking what? 20 years ago and they could charge a thousand a pop? You got 3-4 rubes and it paid for the whole thing.

I used to work in the production side of theater, handling lightning and that sort of thing. You always need someone to handle the technicals when you are putting on a big production. And a satanist orgy? Yeah, as ... Damn. I cant remember his name. He died for liver cancer not too long ago. Huh. Lili was the one who actually handled the bookkeeping. He was the ringmaster but his wife Lili handled the nitty gritty.

We'd always have that pep talk before the show. "It is all about branding". It paid well, and was under the table, of course. Nobody was trying to keep it secret because they were evil, no no no. it was all about dodging taxes. And BOY did they hate pedophiles. They had a standing rule of nobody under 21. If you weren't old enough to drink, you couldn't attend. Even as staff. Part of me wondered it that was half the reason why they branched off from the church of set. Lili was a very good stabilizing force for keeping things from going off the rails. It was a business first, and I liked that.

But yeah, they sold the whole experience. Funny thing was, most of these rubes were gay. No. Seriously. You pay all this money to go fuck at an orgy where they hire a bunch of girls to round things out and next thing you know you are the one getting hit on. Yeah, I look good in fishnets and a goat mask, but we all wore the fishnets and goat masks because WE WERE STAFF. That's how you knew to leave us alone.

I'm rambling again. My point is, if you are just hiring the girls for a while, is it a harem?

---
EDIT: John. That was his name. John and Lili. Damn could he put on a show.

 

[SilvoidVorstellung]

A good harem treated its relationship as a subplot that add complexity to the story by generating more conflicts and made the characters feel more alive.

Showing the difference of their belief, moral, and ideology. Using harem as a tool to create a character arcs for the harem members/the protagonist.