Cross-gender writing

[DR. BELCH]

Do we have any writers here who have (professionally or FanFic) worked heavily with a protagonist(s) of the other sex? I'm trying it for the first time, and I can honestly say that as a single male writer I have two big strikes against me. How to write a fully developed--psychologically, that is--female character without her coming off too weak or stereotypical, or too butchy? To say nothing of more...well...intimate girly details. :o It's hard to think like a teenage girl when you have lived in a male-dominated household all your life and your best anecdotes involve either racial slurs, vomit, flatulence, feces, or a combination of two or more. :rolleyes:

[Terminatah]

Just take away reason and accountability.

-Terminatah

[Nightflower]

LOL!

Teenage girls...hmm.... I'd say take your normal mentality that we all know and love, take away the raunchy sex urges and replace with a desire for the "romantic", and pretend to be a little more insecure and analytical than you normally are :) Hey- who says I'm not allowed to stereotype girls too? ;)

I wrote a story where half of it was in the perspective of a boy. I think he came off too weak and empathetic to be realistic. (That wasn't a dig to the male gender) Like I said before, the problem with being human is that you're limited to only one perspective. :p

[JustJack]

Just write the women however you wana write them...I haven't had many arguements with any of my work. I remember one time, I made a character, & she was a real butch, so I decided(spur of the moment), that she'd be a butchy lesbian(hope no one takes offense). I felt it added an extra 'umph' to the character(dont worry, there was no lesbian sexuality in it, really..just the occasional "she has a nice butt" kinda joke), but I still got yelled at for it. :p :D
But, most of my female characters are the more popular characters...and I dont know what I do to make them so appealing... :confused:

[Scythemantis]

I don`t believe in personality difference between genders at all...

However I believe the media has gotten to a point in which strong women are another kind of stereotype... too often they`re just FAR overplayed...esspecially when used as a source of humor. (example: OH MY GOD you`re a woman and you just used KUNG-FU!!! COOL! oh, wait, you broke a nail! HAHAHAHA! I GET IT! ITS FUNNY BECAUSE YOURE A GIRL!)

Just write her like you would anyone else. Think of humans as a whole, not divided into two seperate groups (because they ARENT! )

[The Guitar Slayer]

Yeah. I wrote a story with two main character and a third mute one for school. Two were guys, one was a girl. The girl wasn't the mute, just to say...

Anyway, I wrote it from both perspectives, male and female. Same level of maturity, but the guy was more protective, territorial, maybe a little crazier in the head.

I don't know......I think like a guy more than I do a girl......It's strange really....

Don't know if this helped or hindered.

[Captain Caps]

In my current screenplay, I've got various types of women:

-Nuts
-Sluts
-Studio executives
-Musicians
-A murderous hooker
-A foul-mouthed and cocaine-hooked mother-daughter preaching team
-Reporters
-Strippers
-Descendants of "Hanoi Jane"
-Eurotrash
-Studio heads
-Talent Agents
-A secret agent
-An abused girlfriend
-A switchblade-toting music critic

They all have foul mouths, and most of them are "naked at the drop of a hat", to quote Sharon Stone. Oh, and did I mention they've got 80s looks to them?

Don't worry, the men are, among other things:

-Cops
-Record producers
-Studio executives
-A sensitive screenwriter
-A violent star
-A proclaimer of the apocalypse
-Musicians

Both the men and women are addicted to various things (singing, cursing, cake frosting, amphetamines, cocaine, "Alvin and The Chipmunks" reruns).

Basically, it's a movie filled with twisted people, both good and bad.

Sincerely,

John "Captain Caps" Kilduff

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Basically just treat her like a real human...some girls can be crabby, some are nice, some are conniving...just like men. (I'm assuming).

As for romance, well, not every female thinks the same way about romance (from my experience...oh lordy how different they are...), so just go about the romantic parts from your own perspective. If you want to make a female indecisive and insecure, great! Nobody said you had to write feminist fiction, and there ARE some women out there who are weak willed...just like some men. Don't think about politics and write what you think; just try to approach it with intelligence.

Your characterizations really reflect your maturity and personality...there isn't much you can do about that. Even some professionals struggle with certain characterizations for many years...just use your own judgement, I say.

Personally, when I create a character--any character--I draw in a history and background. You don't have to use all of it, but it helps get a handle on the character. Say you just end up with some milk-sop female...okay, that's a stereotype. How can we add some dimension to her? Think about her mannerisms and hobbies...does she chew gum constantly because she's nervous? Is she right or left handed? Does she have a certain activity she likes to do? What kind of clothes does she prefer? Maybe she has some eating habits that are eccentric...does she have one parent? Two? Is she single? How many siblings? Does she speak timidly all the time? Maybe certain discussion topics cause her to become much more open and animated...

Try to tie it all together logically. It's fun exploring a character...it's like putting together a puzzle that is constantly in progress...

[JustJack]

How about this? Take estrogen for two weeks...that'll probably give you all the answers you are seeking! ;) :D

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Originally posted by JustJack
How about this? Take estrogen for two weeks...that'll probably give you all the answers you are seeking! ;) :D

Crossdress and mingle with the girls...'course, Belch would have to shave his hairy body to do that, but hairy girls are more common than you think...

[RogueMartian]

I took a creative writing class where we all sat and discussed our stories. But nobody knew who wrote which story(except for the writer themselves of course). When it came time to find out who wrote which story I was often surprised. Some guys had written convincing female characters and some girls had written some convincing male characters.

It led me to believe that there really wasn't a big difference in the way men and women think, we are all just brought up believing that there is. Of course there are some differences in thought, but I don't think its really anything major.

[Deltamon]

You can always try watching "chick flicks" and read novels with high female influence (Not just romance novels, mind you).

I don't write per se, but I do draw my characters and often try to write backstories for them. Among my creations I got:

-A semi-stereotypical redheaded wildcat (emphasis on the cat-she's an alien feline) with a rather brash approach to solving problems

-A 'kawaii' childlike girl with superpowers (don't they all?)

-A rather strong yet sensual harpy (literally)

-A Xena-esque character (i.e. warrior lesbian-come to think of it, I got two of these, though they don't share either the same universe or even species).

-A young teen who alters her looks to take the place of her brother so he won't be hunted by the mob (or Dragon yakuza, in this case) while he heals from severe wounds he got while on a job.

-Um...my personal alter ego.

-A 'late' pop star who becomes the new ruler of the Underworld (*NO*, her last name is not Aguilera!)

-A weak-willed woman who eventually gets possesed by a tree demon and becomes all evil an' stuff :P :p :p


Ok, there are more to these, but you get the idea (I hope). And remember-I rather draw 'em than write 'em, so excuse the vagueness on the descriptions-they're mostly works in progress (except Alter Ego)

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Originally posted by Deltamon
You can always try watching "chick flicks" and read novels with high female influence (Not just romance novels, mind you).



Chick flicks and TV shows are unreliable...if you're getting inspiration from movies like "She's all That" and "Titanic," I don't think you'll be learning anything productive.

Diaries are good, though. Anne Frank's diary is probably a reasonable place to start...

[Stardust]

Originally posted by Leaping Larry Jojo
Personally, when I create a character--any character--I draw in a history and background. You don't have to use all of it, but it helps get a handle on the character. Say you just end up with some milk-sop female...okay, that's a stereotype. How can we add some dimension to her? Think about her mannerisms and hobbies...does she chew gum constantly because she's nervous? Is she right or left handed? Does she have a certain activity she likes to do? What kind of clothes does she prefer? Maybe she has some eating habits that are eccentric...does she have one parent? Two? Is she single? How many siblings? Does she speak timidly all the time? Maybe certain discussion topics cause her to become much more open and animated...


I think that's the best advice I've read. I do the same when I create male characters, I have to write out a whole background first and develop him how I imagine him to be. Typically my male characters are based on different guys I've met or different guys on tv (animated or real). Sometimes it's characteristics I wish some of my guy friends have. :) But overall, Leaping Larry's advice is the best I've read because there really isn't a way to see the other gender's perspectives unless you.....experience it (like pretend to be a girl and try to think like a girl).

If you're really out of luck, then take a psychology course? it could come in handy into looking at different disablilities and tap into the way the brain works.

[Nightflower]

Originally posted by Leaping Larry Jojo


Chick flicks and TV shows are unreliable...if you're getting inspiration from movies like "She's all That" and "Titanic," I don't think you'll be learning anything productive.

Diaries are good, though. Anne Frank's diary is probably a reasonable place to start...

Oh, for the love of Pete, don't watch chick flicks as a source of reference! :eek:

[Fantasie117]

I'm only 16, so I'm still learning how to develop characters.

The main character of my stories is a male, a little older than I am. It just sort of happened that way. I think when I started this series, the main character was female, but eventually that changed.

I write in first person so I'm used to speaking through this one character. I know his personality, how he would react to something, etc.

If I try to switch narrators, then I run into problems. I run into problems trying to write from a female point of view, and I'm a girl.

I guess you just have to focus on how the character would act than how a male or female would act. That's what I try to do. Now I have to go back and rewrite five years worth of history to fix my weak characterizations. That'll be easy. :rolleyes: