Writing considerations

[veronica_rich]

Who else out there is female but prefers writing male characters to female ones, by and large? I don't mean in the sense of having someone to lust over or wish you were with - I'm talking about having empathy with that character enough to want to tell a story about him.

While there are certainly moments in time I wish I could escape the biological processes of being female (including water retention), the fact is that I like this gender better than I'd like being a man, I suspect. And I confess, also partly because it's still socially easier to openly sigh over men if you're a woman, rather than if you're a gay man. There are other reasons, but I'll not go into those.

Certainly I prefer watching male characters largely if I think they're attractive, both in body and interest of character. But there's something beyond that, and I think it may be more than simply "the guys get the best adventures." I never felt the need to write about Buffy or Bones (not the "Trek" one) or Xena, though I appreciate and enjoy all of them. The last female I really would have had any interest in writing about, had I been old enough (I was 5), was Wonder Woman/Diana. There are plenty of female characters I could pick if I simply wanted to BE them or emulate them.

But that's not why I write. I write fanfic because I see something there that either the creator didn't, or didn't have time or inclination to explore further. For me, fanfic - and original fic - is character-driven. I'm not so good with the plot, I usually treat it as secondary (and I pay for it with frequent writer's block, because it's sort of necessary to drive things along). And when I write, I generally prefer to write male characters, both in fanfic and original fic.

I've tried writing female characters, but I don't enjoy it as much - even being female doesn't seem to help much in that respect. I simply don't find them as fascinating as male characters. When I was younger, this made me feel like a traitor to the cause, but I eventually learned to accept what I am and concentrate on the choices that stem from that.

Comments

[yoiebear.livejournal.com]

If you've read my PotC fanfiction, you would notice that most of my stories are written in third person with an emphasis on the male character. I don't know why, it's just how I work.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

You might want to see my reply below, about enjoying writing men simply because they're not analyzed to death the way female characters are.

[tesan.livejournal.com]

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, when I used to write fiction, I almost always wrote male characters. (Just for clarity's sake, I've never written fan fiction. Oops. I take that back. I have written one.)

In the pre-Women's Lib Movement days, I was very much aware that men always got the best things in life. Even their clothing was much more comfortable and practical. Most of them gave up wearing dresses centuries ago. Women are still far behind, in this respect. But enough of my hatred of dresses. I "di-dress." ;)

It was always far easier to write a male character because men had more opportunties to do things. Also, for me, they were -- and still are -- more interesting. I find women boring, when it comes to fiction. I especially find them boring when the subject matter is romance. As Tom Fontana said, Boy Meets Girl. Can you get any more fucking boring than that? It's been done to death.

Not only do I find men interesting, I find them sexy. That gives them a big advantage over women. And, let's face it: They're not complicated creatures. It's easier to know what they're thinking and what they're motivations are.

So, IMO, they're pretty to look at, easy to understand, lend themselves to adventures better than female fictional characters, and can be written shirtless without giving one's story an automatic NC-17 rating. What more could a writer ask for? ;)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I think you've hit something with the simplicity of it. You might want to see my answer below to another commenter, about how male characters aren't judged the same way female characters are, or in the same manner - they're more likely to be judged as characters reacting to motivations, not "a woman doing something."

[the-dala.livejournal.com]

See, I grew up reading sci-fi and fantasy centered around female characters (Tamora Pierce, most notably). It wasn't just that I preferred female heroes over males; it was actually very difficult to get me to pick up a novel with a male as a protagonist, and even now I associate writers like Tolkien and Lewis with a certain male sensibility and style that is more difficult for me to relate to. I suppose I'm lucky that there actually was such children's literature when I was a child. It actually took fandom for me to be able to write male characters. In PotC, at least, I blame my habit of writing men on the distribution of sex and pairing, not necessarily because I find it easier or more interesting. I actually like the challenge of writing women in historical settings, because they're aware of their gender in ways that men simply haven't had to be.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Refer to my reply below to another commenter (too damn long to retype!).

[tyleet27.livejournal.com]

I tend to write more male characters than female characters as well, but...I think why I do that is largely part of who I think my intended audience is. In RL & original fiction, when I write female characters, most people automatically assume that I'm being autobiographical, so male characters are more freeing in that sense to be sure...

In fanfiction? I think a large part of it is that the most interesting characters imo are men....and a great part of that is that the most interesting women always end up attached to someone by the end of canon, and her story gets wrapped up pretty neatly most of the time. What I love about fanfiction is being able to fill in the blanks, and I think that the characters with the most loose ends tend to be male--and that makes them easier to write and more fun to explore.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

It's my opinion male characters aren't judged the same way female characters are. A male character is analyzed for motivations and influences, not because they're male, whereas frequently, a female character is picked apart solely on her gender.

[philosophercat.livejournal.com]

Although my novel is written from a first person female perspective, I would say that the majority of my writing is from a male POV. My first serious fic was a privateer story which had no female characters at all, and I enjoyed playing with the different male relationships- friendship, antagonism, jealousy, duty, respect... But even in my ficlets I enjoy the male character writing more- Percy and Chauvelin, Jack and Will. And, for the record, it is Mr Rochester that I find so fascinating- not Jane. Jane doesn't need my help in figuring her out, but Mr Rochester has issues.

[erinya.livejournal.com]

Should come as no surprise that I'm quite the opposite--very rarely do I write anything in which a female character is, if not present, at least mentioned as a crucial element of the story. (The closest I've gotten was Sands/El kinda pre-slash, but Carolina's death was discussed as a primary character motivation.) The same preferences affect my reading--it took me forever to get through Master and Commander, and Moby Dick has so far defeated me, even though all the sailing and historical detail fascinates me, and I think it's because of that lack of female presence. I do love Lord of the Rings, but I was pretty fixated on Galadriel and Eowyn when I first read them as a teenager. I suppose it's a bit sexist/selfish, but I'm far more invested in the development of the female characters. Not that the men can just fuck off, but I'm still more interested in how they relate to and affect the female characters than in how they relate to one another.

But I do see how the male characters hold the fascination of difference. One knows what it's like to be a woman, but there's a aspect of the unknown/mysterious in exploring a male experience, perhaps?

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

No, I really think I just like writing for writing's sake - to tell a story without regard to the gender of the character. If you write male characters, nobody's going to examine their motives as men, or their speech as men, or their actions as men - they may argue and examine it, but it's likely going to be in the framework of non-gender motivation, influences, causes, etc. If you write a female character, SO many readers infuse the tiniest thing with a world of gender critique and get lost in it, not really paying attention to the character as a *character.* I think this has happened to Elizabeth Swann in the same way I've seen it happen to plenty of other female characters who become trapped in what they can do - or, conversely, are forced into illogical actions/situations just to prove "a girl can do it." (Interestingly, the only male character I've seen analyzed equally to death in POTC is Jack Sparrow, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's in large part because of his androygynous - meaning, partly female - qualities.)

[erinya.livejournal.com]

In other words, they're more free than female characters. They get to be whole people where women don't. So nice for them...

I don't know...it's very hard for me to separate characters/personality from gender. You're either writing someone who does enjoy inherent privilege, or you're not. It just seems odd to me to think of men as genderless people. When I write male characters, I tend to be very conscious of how they react as men, how their reactions would be different from a woman's, how they act out their masculinity. Now, a lot of my writing lately has dealt explicitly with and problematized gender.

As for Jack, I think his androgyny makes him more complex and thus more subject to analysis. In fact, characters who are in some way androgynous--and thus actually transcending gender--are the most interesting of all.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

They get to be whole people where women don't.

Correction: They get to be whole people without readers being AMAZED that they're whole people.

[captsparrow4evr.livejournal.com]

Personally, I like writing from the male perspective more because they are generally freer to move in historical society as well as modern day. I have written female characters but I like writing male characters more. Like you, I enjoy being female (okay, everybody sing--"I enjoy being a girl") but I've never felt like I really _was_ a girl. It's weird because I've always felt male on the inside, like the rules that apply to females shouldn't apply to me because I'm only female on the outside. Truthfully, if I had a sex change, I would end up being gay because I love men (the look, the smell of them, the sound of their voices, how solid they feel, the whole experience). I guess that is why I write about men more than women.

Wow, I think that's the first time I've ever talked about that publicly. Veronica, what have you done to me?!?!;)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I would have to agree about the being gay thing - that's why I'm glad I'm a woman! Less social ostracization for liking what I naturally prefer.

Aww, you should probably talk more about it. Or better, write more stories.

[venusinchains.livejournal.com]

The (two) times I've written fan fic, I've written from the male point of view. I think that has happened to me by default. I felt I knew the characters well enough to see things from their point of view. (Probably because I'd read absolutely everything I could find that others had to say about them and as much as I could manage that had to do with their world.) I wrote to create those scenes I knew could happen based on all that I'd collected.

With original fic, I tend to write from my own point of view (because I know all there is to know about me and have fallen back on that fact in creating my characters) - as a result my characters have all been female (as yet). But I haven't been doing as much writing as I could (not even as much as I should). I hope that with more practice, I can start distancing myself while still creating a complete (in my mind) character.

A more thoughtful consideration of the "gay and/or slash" angle will have to wait until I've had more sleep. :-p However, I have no problem admitting that I've often wished I could "shape change" into a male for those 3 to 7 days a month that I honestly can't stand being female. (I've had that wish ever since reading Ursula K. LeGuin's "The Left Hand of Darkness" ages ago).

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I think sometimes maybe I write the male POV because I'm already female and largely understand the complexities of the female brain. Writing for me is about entertaining myself, but it's also about reaching for an education of sorts. If that makes sense.

[restrainedchaos.livejournal.com]

Even though I haven't shared much, I have written a bit of fanfic and a bit of original fic, and the better stuff usually is written about the boys. The girls I write are angsty and dramatically tormented, but the guys I write are plausibly human.

Similarly (that'll be a pun in a minute), I like playing my guy characters when playing The Sims (see, there it is). Especially since now you can 'Try for Baby' - he wouldn't be stuck with it (my Sims are sluts)!

Some of the relative fascination is 'boys are pretty' and part of it is 'boys have more fun'. Most of it, I think, comes from the same part of my brain that cringes when there are too many females around me. Ew, girls.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

The thing is, I have plenty of female friends I could draw from as inspiration, but I just feel sort of weird when I do that - like I'm writing RPF about them, you know? Maybe I'm not imaginative enough to make the leap from "real" to "fictional" that needs to be done ...

[mad-martha.livejournal.com]

(de-lurking here - I hope you don't mind)

You've made me think about what I write and I've just realised that, generally speaking, when I write fanfiction I write mostly about male characters, but when I write original fiction I write about women.

I think this may be because I'm interested in female characters, but in the fandoms I've been in so far nearly all the female characters are more peripheral than the males and heavily defined by their relationships with the male characters. So I think it must make them less interesting to me. Whereas when I write my own stuff whatever character I write is automatically more interesting ;-)

Possibly that's it, anyway. This is clearly something I need to think about more.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

You lurk? For SHAME! *makes scoldy-finger at you*

I've written female characters in both fanfic and original fiction. In my earlier days, it's probably fair to say a healthy majority of my characters were female. But despite being a girl, I just couldn't immerse myself in them. Now that I'm older, as I said, I've given up beating myself over the head with it and accepted this is what I like to do, and try to be better at the guys. I will say my male characters are probably idealized to an extent, but I think that would happen if I wrote females, too. It's hard to create a truly repulsive main POV character.

[elessil.livejournal.com]

I am much the same. I do not know how much of that is that I always WANTED to be male until not too many years ago, now my gender honestly doesn't matter much to me (except when I praise the need to not shave my shave, or curse about monthly femaleness). I am who I am, and I wouldn't want to be DIFFERENT as a man.

Ever since I was a kid, I've also preferred drawing male characters. Which, according to my experiences, is the slightest bit unusual, as, supposely, one can draw one's own sex better. (I've spent so many years drawing only men now that this certainly isn't true anymore)

I wonder if the same would be true of writing, although I firmly believe the essential emotions are true of men and women. Maybe that's a delusion, and I'm writing feminised males. I doubt it, though.

As for the why...in fanfic, I really think a LOT of it is simply due to the characters I like. So far, I have only written LOTR and POTC, and neither movie has females I like; and I believe I have a fair number of reasons for it, none of which has to do with their sex, except perhaps one: I like to stay historically correct, and due to writing in historical fandoms, that allows far less freedom with female characters. It's impossible to write a woman in the Navy, it requires a LOT more explanation to give a woman as pirate a plausible backstory than a man.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I'm one of those people who believes anything can be written - it just has to be justified or explained well and believably. I've seen pedestrian stuff that didn't work because of poor justification, and I've seen the fabulously improbable that was pulled off very well because of a good backstory.

And when it comes to women and what they can and can't do, I believe there's too much political bullshit that can be read into certain things. Either they're capable of it and it's explained, or they're not, and that's explained. If it can't be explained adequately, the character doesn't need to be doing it - female or male. (I would *love* to watch Elizabeth Swann and not feel like I'm going to be quizzed later by half of fandom about what Friedan ideals she is or isn't exemplifying.)

[elessil.livejournal.com]

Oh, of course it CAN be explained. Hell, I'm trying to explain James Norrington as Jack Sparrow's matelot, of course a female going off for adventures can be justified. My point is that I don't feel LIKE having to invest a lot into explaining what I envision to be the starting point of my story, if that makes sense.

There's two female characters I've so far come across thatI'd consider writing if I were in the fandom. Cuddy from House M.D. and Jadzia Dax from Deep Space 9.