WRITING THE MALE AND FEMALE CHARACTER – BY RITA KARNOPP

We all get it - men and women are different. No surprise there, right?    And let’s be honest if you’re a female writer – you write like a woman.  If you’re a male writer – you write like a man.  Well, let’s hope that’s not the case!

The thing is - we’d like both males and females to read and like our books.  Creating characters of the opposite sex can be tricky – and when we write – we need to constantly ask ourselves, “Would a guy say that? Or “Would a woman behave that way?”  Learning the male/female ‘language’ can boost your success as an author.

I find having a ‘male’ review my books is a great tool – if I can get him to respond quickly.  But that’s not always an option.  What is an option is learning to understand how that male/female character would think, act, react, postulate, speak, and even internalize.

Consider Helen Fielding’s runaway hit Bridget Jones’s Diary. The name on the cover of the book is Holly Denham.  Its real author is Bill Surie, who wrote so convincingly that readers had no problem believing the story had been written by a woman.  J.K. Rowling is so good at transcending gender (and age) that her books are devoured by girls and boys (and women and men) by the millions.

It’s important to consider the impact of your own gender when writing.  You can do this by educating yourself about how men and women differ, which will help you understand what your opposite gender would truly say, behave, respond, and internalize.

It’s like the comment – talk the talk and walk the walk.  It’s really true.  If your male/female character talks like a girl/female, your reader will notice and most likely lose faith in the story.  We never want that to happen.  When I wrote my latest novel, Thunder, I watched a ton of wrestling interviews in hopes of capturing the male wrestler mentality, mannerisms, and language. 

Women and men see and feel things differently.  For instance, “I’m sorry we’re so late. We were driving along and slid on the ice, then struck a snowbank.  I didn’t think we’d ever get out.”  Or, “A damn patch of ice sent me slamming into a two foot snowbank.  I threw my Jeep into four-wheel and got us out in record time.”  Same story – two different perspectives.  I’ll bet I don’t have to ask which gender said what sentence.

Writer's Digest Website

When writing I keep in mind that a guy directs the focus on what they’ve accomplished – like the fight won, the horse he broke, the presentation he slayed.  Women, however, focus on the relationship and emotions of the story.  Who the fight affected, how the horse changed the man, or how the presentation got him the raise and their new house.

An important thing to remember; not all women and men think or behave the same way.  Think how boring it would be if they did.  The words from Edward Abbey always come to mind: “It is the difference between men and women, not the sameness, that creates the tension and the delight.”

Read the Writer’s Guide To Character Traits if you need a list of unusual traits, quirks, flaws and strengths to make your characters unique and lively?  It’s a fabulous eye-opener!