Male writing a female protagonist

RumpleTumbler · Dec 24, 2006

Setting all jokes about understanding the workings of the female mind aside, I have a quick question. There is a scene which will not leave my brain and I know that I'm going to have to write it to get it out of my mind. Other than emptying my brain of it, I wonder if many writers write opposite sex protagonists well?

scarletpeaches · Dec 24, 2006

Wally Lamb does (in my opinion).

Just write the scene, get it out of your head, then ask a few friends of the relevant gender to read it, give their opinion, does it work for them?

I don't think men and women are all that different...apart from the toilet-lid issue.

Evaine · Dec 24, 2006

Phil Rickman has written a series of books in which the main character is a woman priest in the Church of England who is also the diocesan exorcist. So not only is he writing about the opposite sex, but he's also dealing with spiritual issues that apply particularly to priests - and he does it very well indeed. I'm rather fond of the Rev Watkins' teenage daughter Jane, who is also absolutely spot on.

scarletpeaches · Dec 24, 2006

Oh, I've just remembered Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley novels.

I can only say I like this character, not whether he is well-written from a man's point of view (being a girlie, like). However, I was shocked to discover George is American...she writes restrained Brit extremely well, so chances are this talent for writing what she is not may work across genders too.

Bartholomew · Dec 24, 2006

My protaganists ALWAYS seem to be female.

karo.ambrose · Dec 24, 2006

Well, that's what a writer does, basically. They get into the minds of other people, whether their differences are based on gender, age, race, personality, etc. The only time you ever fully know and fully relate to one of your protags is when you're writing an autobiography, so unless you're planning a career on writing book after book about yourself, having the ability to authentically reproduce a character's voice that is not your own is key.

There are countless examples of male writers writing with a female protag. (Ones that I've read recently that come to mind are Lisey's Story by Stephen King and the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman).

Go ahead, get in touch with your feminine side, and write the best female protag ever.

veinglory · Dec 24, 2006

Pretty much exclusively. I think I have one partial with a heroine and one short story where the hero turns into a woman, but all the rest are men.

jbal · Dec 24, 2006

My first novel had a female protagonist, the pov character for the entire story in fact. Luckily, I'm married, so I have someone to bust my chops if I'm too far off.

maestrowork · Dec 24, 2006

My first novel had a male protagonist (and a few female main characters). My WIP has a female protagonist. It's very interesting.

The thing is, there's so many facets, personalities and behaviors about women that you could really do it well without relying on stereotypes. I think if you really get into the heart and soul of the characters and write truthfully about them, you can't go wrong. We get into trouble when we try to "manufacture" characters based on social stereotypes or myths. That goes with characters of either sex.

I think Stephen King did some wonderful things with female characters.

Simon Woodhouse · Dec 24, 2006

karo.ambrose said:
Well, that's what a writer does, basically. They get into the minds of other people, whether their differences are based on gender, age, race, personality, etc.

That's how I've always looked at writing.

Also, I don't go along with the 'men are from Mars and women are from Venus' thing. I was talking to someone about this the other day. There are no typical female characteristics, people just like to thing there are – it makes the world an easier place to understand.

UrsusMinor · Dec 24, 2006

The best way I can describe my characters is to say:

My characters are exactly what I would be like...if I were like them. (There. Isn't that clear and logical?)

I'm male. My most memorable protagonist is female.

If you've never written a protag or viewpoint character of the opposite sex, you should. It's mind-expanding and great fun.

Ditto race. Ditto religion. Ditto political opinions. It's all about playing dress-up.

PeeDee · Dec 24, 2006

I like writing women characters. I don't know that I'm necessarily good at it, but I enjoy it when they're the main character.

I have to work harder at the dialogue, for one thing. Women speak differently than men. I like that.

scarletpeaches · Dec 24, 2006

PeeDee said:
I like writing women characters. I don't know that I'm necessarily good at it, but I enjoy it when they're the main character.

Wear a dress. That should help you get into character.

PeeDee said:
I have to work harder at the dialogue, for one thing. Women speak differently than men. I like that.

No, young man; we speak differently to men. Nyah nyah nyah! :snoopy:

PeeDee · Dec 24, 2006

scarletpeaches said:
No, young man; we speak differently to men. Nyah nyah nyah!

That's true, 'cause I never hear women say "I need you now. Come home with me and I will sire you sons" to each other.

Marlys · Dec 24, 2006

All my protagonists are men. Come to think of it, even years ago, when I started a novel with a female protag, it was narrated by the man closest to her, so I guess I've always preferred a male POV.

greglondon · Dec 24, 2006

I wrote several chapters in my novel from the point of view of a woman character. A bit tough sometimes. I found the best thing to do was get a spectrum of women who could read it and give general feedback on it. Not line editing or anything like that, just a general "how did this chapter make you feel" thing. It helped a lot.

Then again, limitations aren't limited to gender. You might have to write from the POV of a male character who has a personality completely unlike your own, and you may need to get some readers to give you feedback on that character.

badducky · Dec 24, 2006

I write primarily female main characters, with a few good and bad men thrown in, too. But, I think the most important thing to remember is not "how do you write a character of the opposite sex?" but "how do you write a character?"

Gender is a very small part of the character-creation process.

Even if you end up with a macho lady that throws men in bed like gengis khan, she must be a character first, and a lady second.

PeeDee · Dec 24, 2006

badducky said:
Even if you end up with a macho lady that throws men in bed like gengis khan, she must be a character first, and a lady second.

...........I think I just had a stroke.

scarletpeaches · Dec 24, 2006

PeeDee said:
...........I think I just had a stroke.

What you do in the privacy of your own self-abuse is entirely up to you, but there's no need to advertise it here, young man.

PeeDee · Dec 24, 2006

Says she who advertises her Joaquin Phoenix fetish...

scarletpeaches · Dec 24, 2006

You say that like it's a bad thing.

badducky · Dec 24, 2006

I humbly apologize for foregetting the filthy, disgusting minds of my fellow AWers... I had falsely assumed that what happens in OfficeParty stays in OfficeParty.

Silly me.

Allow me to rephrase: "If you have a woman who lifts weights professionally and dances the ballet on the side, the most important thing isn't her gender, but her character. The gender is only a part of the equation. Few people worth knowing allow their gender to define themselves as thoroughly as might be gleaned from the topic of this thread."

PeeDee · Dec 24, 2006

badducky said:
Allow me to rephrase: "If you have a woman who lifts weights professionally and dances the ballet on the side, the most important thing isn't her gender, but her character. The gender is only a part of the equation. Few people worth knowing allow their gender to define themselves as thoroughly as might be gleaned from the topic of this thread."

I'm sorry, my mind went to no better a place. But nevertheless, I agree with the point you're making entirely.

Novelist in Paradise · Dec 24, 2006

An old and weary shibboleth.

Anybody can write in anybody's perspective--man in woman's, straight in gay's, black in Sioux Indian's, dog hater in chihuahua's--as long as the character is interesting and authentic. And no, you don't need to come from the character's gender/culture/creed/socipolitical status to write authenticly, although you might need to do research to get the details right.

Our fundamental, identical natures as a recently evolved species far, far outweigh any cultural & sociopolitical differences. That's the bedrock. Otherwise we can float off into the worst kind of solipsism.

If I sound dogmatic--by golly, I am. I grew up a white boy in a Asian country and I write a lot of intercultural fiction.

C. L. Richardson · Dec 24, 2006

I've used both genders for protagonists. It is a little tricky for me to write as the opposite sex, but I've spent many years in study for it.

I don't believe men and women are as similar as the modern world would like us to think. I believe that God wired us differently and gave us different roles in life, but that we are built to complement each other. Understanding this helps me in my writing.

Male writing a female protagonist

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