Gender in your characters
@crimsonladybug (3112)
United States
March 31, 2012 3:18pm CST
I saw an article about the Hunger Games and it said something interesting that I hadn't really given much thought to until I read it... that The Hunger Games is the first big budget blockbuster movie based on a book to have been written by a woman and to feature a female lead character.
That got me thinking about choosing the gender of characters. Do you always write your MC as the same gender as you or do you find it easier to write in the opposite? I have noticed my male characters are often not as well developed as my females.
1 person likes this
6 responses
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32507)
• Calgary, Alberta
31 Mar 12
I wrote novels with Male leads and wrote stories with female leads. there are stories that fits more with males and there are stories that fits more with females. I love the movie version thtough, I felt I bit bittersweet cos the main character in the book is multiracial but knowing hollywood, in most novel adaptations, protagonists of color will always be Caucasian on film. the actress did a good job playing Katniss though.
If you will make characters based on your opposite gender, try to find a medium first, it could be a member of your family or one of your friends, cos you dont want to end up making a character not behaving their gender and gender identity, Unless you want a male character with feminine side.
Though the author of Harry Potter though based harry on her self, i guess she tried to think how would she be like if she is a boy.,
1 person likes this
@ElicBxn (63235)
• United States
1 Apr 12
I was a tom boy (a girl who did boy things) when I was a kid, and I rather flunked being female... I didn't like what I saw women having to do when I was a child and decided to not do those things
I write male characters better, at least I think I do, but all of them are kind of outsiders because I always felt like an outsider...
@crimsonladybug (3112)
• United States
2 Apr 12
I like that... "flunked being female." I kind of did that too. I grew up with all boys, I was the only girl in my immediate family - besides mom and aunts, of course but in my age group I was the only girl. I'm a little more feminine now but still don't get all the subtle parts - buying the "right" make up or getting my nails done, those kinds of things.
I think even though I tend to write more female leads, they are a little more tom-boyish, or rugged, self-sufficient, than they are frail and girly.
1 person likes this
@ElicBxn (63235)
• United States
2 Apr 12
I don't wear make up - kind of allergic to a lot of them... I don't like polish on my nails, but my mom didn't either.
I had some resentment from the only other gal after I moved when I was almost 10, she was a year older and a grade behind - well, she was in the grade I should've been in and I was in the grade she should've... but I wasn't interested in boys yet - actually, I'm still not THAT interested in boys/men and its NOT because I'm interested in women either...
@irishidid (8688)
• United States
1 Apr 12
I write in the opposite gender. I find male characters easier to write and connect with. My female character tend to be shallow if I try to make them feminine. I avoid this by giving them a bit of toughness and make them rough around the edges. In other words, I'd make a terrible romance writer.
The main characters of my first novel, Kickshaw Candies, are male with a few females thrown in to round things out.
@allyoftherain (7208)
• United States
3 Apr 12
Well, I'm female and the majority of my main characters have been female. I've tried writing male main characters, but they've always come out sort of flat and uninteresting. I think the reason I have trouble writing male main characters is because I've never been a male and therefore have trouble getting into a male's head. There are some books I find difficult to read because I have trouble getting into a male's head. I'm just too darn female. 
As for Hunger Games being the first big budget blockbuster based on a book written by a female and featuring a lead female character... do none of the Twilight films count? Did they just not have enough budget or something?
As for Hunger Games being the first big budget blockbuster based on a book written by a female and featuring a lead female character... do none of the Twilight films count? Did they just not have enough budget or something?
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32507)
• Calgary, Alberta
3 Apr 12
you are not a writer, cos writers are not lazy typers. so you dont have created characters with genders, cos no character existed at all.
