boys, boys, boys

for_her · Oct 23, 2008

I write mostly short stories, mostly literary/contemporary stuff. I'm a pre-service language arts teacher and every time i sit down to write i first decide my audience: YA friendly or not. My YA stuff is always under my real name, my not so YA friendly I have a pen name for....point beingg i really think about this stuff.

I'm realizing that I have absolutley no idea how to portray a male young adult character...because I never was one, i have only sisters, and i still think my boyfriend of 3 years is an alien. And this makes me feel like quite an amature.

So, ladies particularly, is there anything specific that you keep in the forfront of your mind when portraying a male character? For example, do you focus more on action than emotion, more on annalysis than reflection? I know these are very steriotypical, but they were what I was trying at first...and it definetly feels like its not working.

What would you suggest for some ways to characterize a adolescent/ young adult male character?

TrickyFiction · Oct 23, 2008

So, a piece of advice I heard for guys writing girls might work both ways: that is to write the male/female character how you would write any character, and not how you think the ideal male/female should be or how the typical male/female behaves. Relying on ideals and clichés tends to cause the characters to come across poorly.

maddythemad · Oct 23, 2008

I agree.

Good luck!

Shady Lane · Oct 23, 2008

Yeah, I agree. There's nothing inherently "male" about my male characters. They're not boys--they're just boys. Come up with a well-defined character and make him male. If you know the character and know how he reacts to things, the rest will follow.

JrFFKacy · Oct 23, 2008

If the character is real, he or she will come across to the reader as male or female. If the character isn't well defined, they're going to seem weak and boring regardless of their gender. When I read and write about guys (and I've had a lot of guy characters in my stories. Sometimes long sections of male POV too), I unconciously tend to focus more on actions than emotions, probably because women are, on average, more emotional than men. Your guy isn't going to break down crying when he realizes he's out of macaroni the way your pregnant lady might (yes, that's an exaggeration).

Why don't you find a trusted male person who can read your stories and tell you if your male characters come across to him wrong?

Or, if you're writing for a mainly female audience, don't sweat it, the other girls think like you do, so they aren't likely to see the character flaws a man might see in a male character.

DonnaDuck · Oct 24, 2008

Try reading a bunch of YA books with male MC's or at least one predominant male character in the story and see how other authors were able to do it. I read (am reading) a lot of YA books to get a better grasp on how teens act, relate to each other and so on. Sure I can observe but sitting in a classroom just watching them might be a little creepy. I can rely on my on memory but something just reading how other authors did what you want to do can help a lot.

misslissy · Oct 24, 2008

I think that you just need to make them a strong character. They might handle things differently, but every guy is just as unique as every girl and you know every guy is their own unique character. Just make them a character and you'll be fine.

Celia · Oct 24, 2008

One thing I used to have trouble with was writing the interactions between boys and their male friends, and boys and their girl friends/girlfriends. If you come across this problem, I think everything said above still applies: Just write like you would any other well-developed character. Have a male friend (preferably more than one and preferably also a writer) read over it. If anything the boy character says/does feels wrong, then cut it, but this might just be because the action does not feel right for the character, not because the character is a boy. It's most important to have a consistent character, even if he does cry over the macaroni.

Entropy Perk · Oct 25, 2008

JrFFKacy said:
... Your guy isn't going to break down crying when he realizes he's out of macaroni the way your pregnant lady might (yes, that's an exaggeration).

Umm, not so much an exaggeration....really. The hormone train is a doozy!

chevbrock · Oct 26, 2008

I am female, and write predominately from the Male MC's POV.

I think boys and girls do behave very differently. Boys are more physical, tend to have trouble recognising their emotions, and often have trouble expressing themselves, for a start.

Having said this, I reckon you should just write it first. You can always tweak it later.

brittanimae · Oct 28, 2008

JrFFKacy said:
Or, if you're writing for a mainly female audience, don't sweat it, the other girls think like you do, so they aren't likely to see the character flaws a man might see in a male character.

See: Edward Cullen of Twilight.

:ROFL:

Sorry, couldn't resist.

misslissy · Oct 29, 2008

I know males who haven't found flaws in Edward.

But then again, they may just be the males I know.

Mythica · Oct 29, 2008

Well, that's because Bella doesn't see any flaws in Edward, so I can't imagine anyone reading Bella's thoughts about him would find flaws in him. Just you wait--if Meyer writes another Twilight book twenty or even five years down the road, you'll see. Edward will be passing gas, skipping showers, and not calling just like the rest of them. The fairytale always ends.

If you don't get a lot of time about boys, I recommend just watching movies with characters of the ages your characters are. It's sort of like watching boys in their natural habitat, only scripted, with occasional improv. Of course, not all movies are good examples, but try recent blockbusters or comedies with boys in them. I've seen a lot stay very real.

I spend an absurd amount of time around boys because I'm am always hanging out at my boyfriend's fraternity, so it's always been very natural for me to create a male voice. My second book was from a guy's POV, and the rest of the series is looking to be about him.

Z0Marley · Nov 6, 2008

Even though cliches are "bad", boyyyy can they be fun! I'm a female writing first person for a male, and sometimes I giggle out loud just thinking -exactly- what would be on his mind, simply because it's inevitable for most teenage boys not to act certain ways.

KTC · Nov 7, 2008

I borrow from the memories of my own youth when I am creating female characters. I agree that you should just build a strong character, either way...but it is important to get certain things right. You must have had experiences with YA males when you were a YA female---borrow from them. Also, the mall is a good place to see how the beasts interact today. Look at the life around you and borrow from it.

TrickyFiction · Nov 7, 2008

KTC said:
Also, the mall is a good place to see how the beasts interact today.

I want to add "to a certain extent" to that. I remember being that age well, and unless things have changed more than I am aware (which is entirely possible), there's a certain group or "type" of teen that hangs out at the mall. Most of my high school friends and myself, for example, found the mall uncomfortable and avoided it unless we absolutely had to go there. We hung out at parks at night and roasted gummy bears over candles instead. Ahem...

But, yeah. My lil' sister was a mall rat for awhile. Most of the guys I knew were gamers and only went to the mall to play at Tilt or WotC. Point being there are as many different personalities amongst teens as there are in any age group.

Cassidy · Nov 7, 2008

huh. other people did that with gummy bears too?

boys, boys, boys

for_her

TrickyFiction

Who?

maddythemad

Shady Lane

my name is hannah

JrFFKacy

Rookie Firefighter

DonnaDuck

My Worlds Are Building

misslissy

Only a sassbucket sometimes.

Celia

Entropy Perk

solipsistically derealized

chevbrock

brittanimae

making a fresh start.

misslissy

Only a sassbucket sometimes.

Mythica

Expert Gerbil Wrangler

Z0Marley

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live

TrickyFiction

Who?

Cassidy

writing for kids and teens