Writing 1st person in Opposite Gender

Write what you know.

How empathetic are you to the life of a female? In the end it is between the reader and believability.

If your main character can have a different gender, then that's that. It doesn't matter whether you write in 1st or 3rd person.

My first novel was 1st person, female character. I'm a male. It was a bit awkward at first, but I guess I'm touch with my feminine side (haha) because I've received a lot of positive feedback on my ability to write a believable female voice. Go for it.

I'm a woman writing a first-person novel about a teenage guy. To me it's not so much the gender "voice" that's important, but rather the individual character's voice. You have the authority to set up the rules for your own narration. My male narrator is somewhat daydreamy and pedantic. But there are reasons for that, and as long as I keep his voice and the details consistent, I think I can pull it off. I don't think of myself as trying to explicate the male psyche or write the universal male experience. I'm writing about Character X, and I've been writing about him for nearly 15 years now. Maybe I'm not terribly qualified to write about men in general, but I think I'm the best person to write in Character X's voice.

As for the name that you'd publish under, that's something that might come up with your agent or editor. I find that girls are perfectly fine with reading books about boys and written by men, but that teen guys might be less likely to pick up a book with an obviously female name on the cover. An example from the YA lit world: Kelly Going, who publishes as K.L. Going. She wrote the novels Fat Kid Rules The World and Saint Iggy. Both very much "boy books," IMO. There's a debut novel coming later this year called Blood Brothers. The author is a woman, and she's listed on the cover as the gender-neutral S.A. Harazin. Right now, I can't think of any examples of a man's name being changed on the cover of a more female-oriented book.

Just write what you know.

Richard Hollis said:

Hello all,

I'm new here and I have a question that maybe some of you can answer. What is the consensus about writing in the first person using an opposite gender from the writer? For example, I've written a YA novel in the same genre as Twilight with a female protaganist. The novel's currently in the 3rd person, but I think it would work better than a first person. Would agents/publishers/readers have a problem with a male writer writing a first person female p.o.v.? (or vice versa) Or would I have to use a pseudonym?

Would Twilight or New Moon been as successful if they were written by Bob Myers as opposed to Stephanie Myers?

Thanks for any comments.

Click to expand...

It won't matter, as long as you portray the character realistically. A lot of writers get slated for writing male characters identically to females, and vice versa. If you deliberately intend to write an overtly 'effeminate' male, or a 'masculine' female, then that's fine, but it's good to make that clear so people don't accuse you of poor writing.

It's the 21st century, and gender roles aren't anywhere near as hard and fast as they used to be, so don't think you have to write a man as a typical, masculine, hegemonic male, or a female as dainty and emotional. It just depends on the character you want to portray.

I never have a problem writing as a female, but to be honest, I'm not the most masculine guy in the world.

At the end of the day, like most things in writing, if you can do things effectively and believably enough so that no one questions you in the first place, then you're fine - you can pretty much do whatever you want.

If we were all restricted to writing as our own gender, then literature would probably be a far less interesting scene. Besides, as writers, I would like to think most of us have the emotional and intellectual depth to do justice to the opposite sex. I mean, you don't have to be a murderer to write about one, why should you have to be a girl to write like a girl or a boy to write like a boy? If anything, I'd like to think you'd get credit for pulling off a believable female voice as a male.

In regards to publishers/agents - just remember that the bottom line for them is finding a book that will sell and put money in their pockets and food on the table. If yours is one of the lucky few that has this potential, then I can't see why anyone would hold something like this against you.

Good luck!

I have a friend who refuses to read a woman MC written by a man. She says they never do it right. But the other way around is fine with her.

You'll just have to explore your feminine side. Good luck with that.

I've been contemplating the same thing myself and I think it just depends on the writer. If you're comfortable with it then go for it!

The author of "Teach Me" (warning, it's quite a controversial book, but it's also very good and very well written) is a man, and I, a girl, think he did a wonderful job. She doesn't always seem to have a genuinely female voice, but she's not a typical girl, so the reader allows for that.

However, we don't know the author is male when we're reading it, because he uses initials for his penname.

Other books I can think of, with opposite gender author/protags: Harry Potter (duh, and still, initials for author's name, though we all know she's a woman, now), Sharp North, the author of the "Uglies" trilogy, and I know there's plenty more...

Harry Potter is not written in the first person, though.

I don't think there is a 'consensus' as such. Like anything in writing, if you can do it well, then no one will care what sex/age/race you are.

moondance said:

Harry Potter is not written in the first person, though.

Click to expand...

For being a writer, I really don't know how to read a post correctly. Sorry about that.

R.A. Nelson's "Teach Me" is the only book out of the ones I mentioned that is told in first person and from the opposite gender of the author.

All right---confession:

I can't write girls.
At all.
Even my girl minor characters suck.
And I'm a girl. And now a tomboy, or anything like that. I'm straight-up 100% dressed-in-pink-hetero-girl.

All my MCs are boys.
My WIP is the first thing I've ever written in non-3rd.

You can do it!

I'm a female who prefers to write in male first person POV. I've sold stories written this way, so I guess I don't totally suck at it, lol!

Look at it this way: what's the harm in trying? I'm pretty sure the world won't end if you try something and it doesn't quite come off. But meanwhile, you will have learned something. Priceless!

(and as a side note: Do ya'll think men have a harder time writing women than women have writing men because men are, erm, simpler? And us femmes are so complex and mysterious and, dare I say, prone to hysterics? )

My current WIP is 3rd person POV teen male. I had to cut back my talkative side. He's not a big talker, at least not about his feelings, as I've observed of most guys, and doesn't catch the subtleties of female behavior. These things are based on my observations as well as statements I've read online by guys of all ages. He's so much the opposite of the antagonist--rich show-off girl magnet--and I like him because he cares about the people in his life, even if he's not good about expressing that. I grew up with two brothers and played with them and their friends when we were young. I was a tomboy and learned quite a bit in those experiences.

Correct me if I'm wrong, guys, but you're all just as complex as us women. We just tend to either show our emotions more or expect you to just "know" what we're feeling/thinking and do or say the right thing. In my experience most men need things spelled out where a woman will read almost too much into what someone says/does. There are always exceptions, but the generalities tend to fit.

Melanie Nilles said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, guys, but you're all just as complex as us women...

Click to expand...

Naa. Everyone knows the single thing that motivates men, the driving force behind everything we ever do.

justpat said:

Naa. Everyone knows the single thing that motivates men, the driving force behind everything we ever do.

Click to expand...

Money?

RLSMiller said:

Money?

Click to expand...

Nope, money (as well as power and respect) is just another means to the same end.

RLSMiller said:

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Click to expand...

What strange, new language is this?
Just kidding! Pterty clol, ins't taht?

RainbowDragon said:

What strange, new language is this?
Just kidding! Pterty clol, ins't taht?

Click to expand...

Yaeh, it's tltolay rtero!

justpat said:

Nope, money (as well as power and respect) is just another means to the same end.

Click to expand...

Food. Right?



I have a husband and sons and I notice that most of my MCs tend to be male.

Soccer Mom said:

Food. Right?

Click to expand...

Absolutely!

That's all mine want. Those and video games. As long as the fridge is stocked and the PS2 is functional, I know where my boys are at all times. And yes, I mean the husband too.

Shady Lane said:

All right---confession:

I can't write girls.
At all.
Even my girl minor characters suck.
And I'm a girl. And now a tomboy, or anything like that. I'm straight-up 100% dressed-in-pink-hetero-girl.

All my MCs are boys.
My WIP is the first thing I've ever written in non-3rd.

You can do it!

Click to expand...

That's so weird.
I'm a girl too (duh) and I've never tried writing from a guy's POV. Would be interesting though.

I have written a short story from a 1st person male POV. Must've worked, since I won an award for it. And, well, if nothing else, the gender guesser on the 'net thought it sounded male .