I usually write from a girls point of view, but now Im doing it from a teenaged cowboy's view point. Im trying to write this novel so it will be enjoyable for both males and females to read, but Im not a guy. So guys please tell me how sensitive can I make a book without losing the males and what kind of attitude towards life can I expect from a typical sixteen year old.
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okay...
as for attitude on life, i can't help you. for one thing, people vary widely. there's no typical. i can't define a typical member of my homeschool gorup, let alone a cowboy.
finally, most interesting characters are not "typical".
to answer your first question, i would first ask what you mean by sensitive. do you mean the character, or the book's emotional content. deciding the character's sensitivity is different, but for the book i would say not to worry. if the whole book is just the characters state of mind, that's bad but (a) if you try to write something that's not what you want to write, you will fail, and (b) guy insensitivity is mainly a social issue. people have no need to seem tough to a book character, so i think most guys have no problem with emotional books. i certainly don't.
if there's no emotion, why do we care?
as for attitude on life, i can't help you. for one thing, people vary widely. there's no typical. i can't define a typical member of my homeschool gorup, let alone a cowboy.
finally, most interesting characters are not "typical".
to answer your first question, i would first ask what you mean by sensitive. do you mean the character, or the book's emotional content. deciding the character's sensitivity is different, but for the book i would say not to worry. if the whole book is just the characters state of mind, that's bad but (a) if you try to write something that's not what you want to write, you will fail, and (b) guy insensitivity is mainly a social issue. people have no need to seem tough to a book character, so i think most guys have no problem with emotional books. i certainly don't.
if there's no emotion, why do we care?
Why don't you go to opendiary.com or xanga.com and read some of the public diaries of 16 year old males to get a better idea of their mindset.
Seeing how other writers talk to that audience might help. Ask a librarian what fiction teen boys check out, or ask at a bookstore. Then read the same books.
This is probably easier to do than you imagine.
There was a time when women were considered second class writers so a lot of women wrote using male pen names and wrote entirely from the "male perspective."
If they can do that I'm sure you can do this.
There was a time when women were considered second class writers so a lot of women wrote using male pen names and wrote entirely from the "male perspective."
If they can do that I'm sure you can do this.
If your character seems rather emotional then you can always make it clear he is a 'sensitive' boy 
When I was 16 I was into taking risks, trying to get past 1st base with good Catholic girls and being consumed with erotic daydreams involving getting past 1st base with....
If I was sensitive to anything it was to "getting caught" crawling out the bedroom window after midnight, playing hooky from school or any number of other escapades probably best left to my autobio.
If I was sensitive to anything it was to "getting caught" crawling out the bedroom window after midnight, playing hooky from school or any number of other escapades probably best left to my autobio.
When I was 16 I was working in the fields and canneries, reading Steinbeck because I related to it, and was trying to figure out how I could market my stories without having a fixed address where I could receive rejection slips and pay stubs.
My 16 yr old son, knows it all--adults are all "ancient" and or senile (he lies about everything--will say you told him you could do something you never even said) He does something dumb and claims it's OK because everyone's doing it and so on--ego, self centered, and their perception of any adult over 20 is that they are old and have lost or never had a brain--they know it all. (he is my 3rd child my older two are well into their 20's now)
This is a very good idea, and teens themselves should read the 20 something entries, and then so on in order of age--watch the maturity process. I am blown away by what some of those teens write--their real thoughts. My son does talk to me, most don't talk to their parents, parents are uncool and lame, or whatever!
And I taught middle school and high-school kids--it all about them and sex. Seems to be the two main concerns. (oh and a preoccupation with the idea that everyone is talking about them or looking at them, guess that goes with the me idea--they are the center of the world._
Shawn
This is a very good idea, and teens themselves should read the 20 something entries, and then so on in order of age--watch the maturity process. I am blown away by what some of those teens write--their real thoughts. My son does talk to me, most don't talk to their parents, parents are uncool and lame, or whatever!
And I taught middle school and high-school kids--it all about them and sex. Seems to be the two main concerns. (oh and a preoccupation with the idea that everyone is talking about them or looking at them, guess that goes with the me idea--they are the center of the world._
Shawn
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