McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Writing from a different gender perspective
Kid Longshot:
I only have one thought on this subject. I hope I don't ever bring any gender-based biases I might have into my writing. I don't want to be one of those people who portrays one gender or the other unrealistically within the story world.
Shecky:
--- Quote from: Starbeam on October 15, 2009, 08:15:01 PM ---She's in Dallas, Texas. From that point, I can kinda see what she's getting at.
--- End quote ---
Grew up and lived most of my life in the south, and I don't see it short of prejudiced stereotype.
Son of an Ogre:
I know I'm coming into this post late, but I wanted to (since this thread is relevant to what I'm currently working on myself as a writer) put in my two cents as it were. First off, it's true that if you're a male author and you're story's main protagonist is a woman that you have to think like your subject. How do you do that? I believe it's simple (and it's already been said). You think of a woman you know from real life or from, say the movies--you follow that. But, really we're all people regardless of sex. So, for me, since my main character in my latest endeavor is a woman (and I'm a man)... I have an example in mind and go from there. But, I also go by what I want the character to say--or, rather, what they're trying to coax me into saying about them. Most of what I've learned is that you have to forget about the sex of your character when you're first writing them... then ask yourself questions later, and get opinions from others. That's what I've done for my latest project.
BLB253:
I'm a newbie here, but this subject is something I've been dealing with when it comes to my stories that I work on. All my life I've gravitated to the female character, be it in movies, books and even video games (Chun Li IS my character of choice in Street Fighter). However, I've come to the opinion that well all are truely a product of our history and environment. What's helped me immensely in my recent writing is "45 Master Characters" by Victoria Lynn Schmidt. If you take what she suggest and look at the archtypes present in mankind's myths, you'll find that alot of the characters we come up with are off-shoots of these. Like what was said before about finding out the motivation behind why the character does something; fused with these archtypes, it's possible to get a better understanding of why the opposite sex might do something or might not do something.
If this has been mentioned already then please disregard, I'm at work and don't have the time to read this entire thread, sorry.
Just my 2 cents. Take it or leave it.
KarlTenBrew:
--- Quote from: LizW65 on October 14, 2009, 01:47:12 PM ---I think of it as being somewhat like method acting. Instead of focusing on gender, what are the character's motivations? What is his history/backstory, and how does it color his reactions? Is he bright, naive, socially inept, a control freak? Does he act impulsively, or think every situation through first? What is his "voice"? How does his physicality determine his actions? What props does he habitiually use? Also, I try not to base my primary characters on specific actors, as I feel it will be too limiting (though I did it with a supporting player who's only in two scenes; he's modelled after Jack Black.)
(BTW, I've used "he" here as I'm female, in case anyone's wondering.)
--- End quote ---
This. Very-very much this. Then I go back and first ask myself about any obvious discrepancies (you know: obvious out-of-character-act is obvious type stuff). Then I get my mother and sister (or available willing female reader) to read the specific passage relating her words and actions, and ask the simple question: "Do you know anyone like this? If so, are they all or overwhelmingly women?" I find that is not just a good way to edit out the trash, but get literary feedback in the form of unintentional character critique!
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