Teens reading about the opposite gender mcs

I read somewhere that girls will read books about guy main characters but that guys would usually not read books about girl main characters.

I tend to believe this as a general rule.

We're still getting rid of the idea that books about women are not as interesting.

But, if your female mc kicks ass, then I think your fine. At least with me!

I loved every single Tamora Peirce book I've ever read.

Let me see...Alanna (girl becomes Knight), Wild Magic (Girl with magical bonds to animals), Squire (Girl becomes knight...again) AND all the books after those books in their perspective series. That's....four by series, four series, four times four makes for...

A lot!

The best way is to take a couple of successful examples and find out why they work. The first two that come to mind of female characters for boys are Tank Girl and Lara Croft. Okay, so one is a graphic novel character, the other a video game, but they both manage to hold boys' attention where Barbie doesn't. The reason is quite simple: they both play out typically male fantasies - adventure, action and revenge, with lots of danger, guns and things blowing up.

For the other side of the coin, the only example I can think of off the top of my head is "Lucas" by Kevin Brookes, where the MC is male, but he's badly done by, misunderstood, while also being caring, thoughtful and intelligent - all of which are stereo-typical girl traits, and fit with their favoured reading.

I fell into a bit of a hole with this very problem in that I wrote a thoughtful caring, intelligent male character, who was misunderstood and badly done by, and expected it to sell to boys. Although two editors loved the book, they both came back with the same point: a well written story targeted at the wrong audience. In short, it would never sell. The choice was simple, to rewrite it with female characters (not really possible with the plot I had) or to filter out the introspection and worries, and increase the pace, tension and sense of danger. Luckily, these did fit with the plot I had, so it wasn't a hard choice to make.

Did it work?

Still waiting to find out

I think writers are trying to break the gender boundaries. (Doesn't Pullman use female MCs often?) Currently I am working on a story with a female MC but there is some violence and action, so I am hoping to grab male readers too. I'll find out when my husband reads the second draft. Personally I think it's great when guys read books with a female MC, and I think its great that female MCs are taking on more assertive roles.

His Dark Materials is a good example of a gender crossover novel, as well as genre and age crossover, appealing to people who aren't big fantasy fans as well as adults. There really is something for everyone in that book. Epic adventure, mysterious and wonderful characters, the development and maturity of Lyra along the way, and of course her strength, independence and tenacity throughout. It can be done, but when you're starting out, it's often wise to dance to the beat of the editor's drum. Philip Pullman had a good few books before Northern Lights.

Not really. You could always take a fairly humdrum sort of girl but place her in a situation where she's in serious danger and write it as a fast paced thriller, bringing out the stronger qualities through the course of the book. That would be far more interesting to read than a boy in knickers - so to speak; if you make a female character all macho and tom boyish, you're not really writing a female character.

The development of Sarah Conner in the Terminator movies suddenly comes to mind. In the first scenes she was all weak and pathetic, but when her environment changed, she was forced to change with it, bringing the fighter to the surface. It wouldn't have worked as well if she was a tough nut to begin with.

As a guy speaking, I love emotions. They make me feel all squirbly. Why do you think most of the stories I've written have large bits of romance? Cause I love romance and people falling in love. It's adorable and fun to read at the same time.

But I also like plently of laser beams and explosions. Preferably at the same time.

I actually have three things explode per emotion, just to keep a good ratio.

I don't know. I've always heard the "girls will read about boys, but boys won't read about girls" thing, and for some reason, it seems mostly true, whether unfortunate or no. A boy will probably not usually pick up a YA book with a girl on the cover and a girl protagonist, whether or not the cover is pink. My youngest brother is 17; I'll have to ask his opinion.

Well, you're starting with the gender that would attract the most mixed (boy/girl) audience. (though overall, girls read more than boys) If boys got totally sucked into your series, I can see them continuing with a girl MC. But like you said, that will probably be for your agent/editor to decide when you get that far.

I think teen boys have a different perspective on female leads than in the past. The idea that a female MC could still be fun to read is growing among guys, and that emotional scenes can be tolerated by male readers as long as they aren't too introspective. (You know, going on and on about feelings and such) I think that using a lot of action and dialog, and smaller amounts of description will keep your male readers reading, no matter who the lead is. (I can say the same for myself) It is also good to write within your comfort zone, and not worry too much about the audience. When you are finished with the second or third draft and are ready for a small audience of friends to plunge into your story, pick a few guys to read it and get their feedback. That may help.

lol, Zoombie, you are the first boy I have ever met that reads Tamora Pierce books. I met her in Boston a few years ago; she's pretty cool.

I am a girl, it is true. I don't discriminate much when it comes to MC gender. I don't tend to read really boyish books, even if they are well-acclaimed, like maybe the Alex Ryder (sp...?) series, but on the whole, my reading is pretty well balanced between books about boys and books about girls. Sometimes I choose not to read a book with a male MC if the other books I've enjoyed by an author had female MCs. I'm weird like that.

I have to say though that most of the boy readers I know would not pick up any but the most kickass novels with girl MCs.

But in your case, Reenkam, I think you're set, because the series is mostly told from a guy's POV and if you've done well enough to get four books into your series, you're probably not going to lose readers over one book from a female POV.

Danger Jane said:

lol, Zoombie, you are the first boy I have ever met that reads Tamora Pierce books. I met her in Boston a few years ago; she's pretty cool.

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I don't know why more people don't. It's got ass kicking, beautiful women/girls doing cool things in a magical fantasy realm.

I mean...come on! George! Man! George!

Funnily though, I get to meet Tamora Pierce in a week

And I resent the implication that men can not understand and have no wish to read about emotions. I love emotions. I said that already didn't I? Well, I'm saying it again!

I can understand it pretty good. I'll be enjoying my signed copy of Lady Knight for a looooong time

Zoombie said:

I can understand it pretty good. I'll be enjoying my signed copy of Lady Knight for a looooong time

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There's a lot of jealousy over here too!

Muhahahahaha!

But, seriously, where are these figures on boys not interested in emotional stuff coming from?