I've written a lot of stories, but I have never written a story with a MC that was a male. Normally I always do girls. Now, in my latest story, I have to do an MC that is male. I want him to seem real (as in, really male, considering the fact that he is my other MC's husband, or will be), but, not being one, what am I supposed to do with him?

I don't mean to sound flippant, but...imagine. I'm serious. We are a result of our experiences, which become our memories, which feed what we wish for in the future. Without memory (personal and collective) we have nothing to imagine. Have you brothers? A father (figure)? Male cousins? Male friends/associates? A boyfriend? Exes? Male neighbours? Visualise and imagine, then put pen to paper and let him come to life. It works. I do it with female characters all the time. Just give him things to initiate and react to and see where it takes you in his development.

You might also want to check out this thread, Male characters vs. Female characters (http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=6253) on the same topic.

I don't really want to model my character after my brothers (the char is supposed to be good), but I'll give it a shot.

if you don't have enough life experience with men of all kinds to know how they think and act/react, then you'll have to do a lot of reading... pick books that have male characters like the one you intend to create and study them there...

It may sound awkward... well really awkward, but when I write from the perspective of the opposite gender I try to think, how would I react if I were a girl?

So far no one seems to notice any problems, so I must be doing something right XD

Most people seem to think I'm a girl on the internet anyway... ;_; I wrote something once and someone was like, "you're a guy? Wow. Couldn't tell"

And yet I know nothing of the female perspective. Maybe you won't need to really know the male perspective.

EDIT: well, could be the Avatar...

Okay, this might be nutty, but go check out the RPG forum. I roleplay online (chatrooms, instant messenger, IRC) very often, and doing so has helped me learn how men react in certain situations. I've gotten to the point where I can play as convincing a male character as they can. Give it a shot.

My only advice for you, pentip, is to imagine what it would be like as honestly, that is the best you can do I think. I have no experience about what it is like being an african woman with no food or shelter but I can still try to write about it. Same applies with males, or anything else you might be trying. The best you can do is read or research about what it would be like, as questions to males who you know about anything you may be struggling with and then just make up the rest. I honestly don't think their brain setting for most things would be that different anyways so I shouldn't think it would make that much differnece.

Good luck
Heather

I honestly don't think their brain setting for most things would be that different anyways so I shouldn't think it would make that much differnece.

sorry to have to disagree, heather, but from well over a half century of study, observation and experience, i can tell you unequivocably that this is not even close to true... and it does make a significant difference... that doesn't mean that hard-working, talented and skillful writers can't learn how to write from the pov of people very different from themselves [gender-wise or culturally], but it's certainly not that easy to do it believably... and well...

research is the key, along with observation and reading/studying how the best writers handle that aspect of writing... one well-known example is agatha christie, an englishwoman, who created as one of her two main characters, an eccentric belgian man in her best-selling [still today!] stories starring hercule poirot... another is dorothy sayers, another englishwoman 'commoner' whose hero was a peer, 'lord peter whimsey'...

I know what your saying, mama, ut I really do think a lot of it comes down to sounded like you have a clue. Like if you say a made up thing like it is a fact, people are a lot more likely to beleive you. Sometimes you just need to have confidence in your writing skills, and yes, a bit of research will help too.

I've found this to be a really good book - Writer's Guide to Character Traits by Linda N., Ph.D. Edelstein. as with anything of this nature you need to take what is described and make it your own.

Every guy on these forums could very well disagree with how believably male your character is, the gender is universal but the experience of being male is individual.

How can i say no that is not what its like to be a man, all i can say is that is not what it's like for me. So go for it write your character i'm sure you'll do a great job.

Start with sterotypes and build.

how does he deal with his emotions?

was he raised with the axiom of boys dont cry?

how does he display his masculinity?

how mechanically minded is he? By Mechanically minded I mean can he fix his own car?

All the best, post some scenes that you've writen with him in them so we can see how you progress.

- Accerbyss

Meh. You can't "write it like a guy would." This is because men, just like women, are incredibly diverse. You'll have your John Wayne idolizers who wouldn't cry if they got it in the sweet spot with a sledge hammer, and you have your teenage kid who's so unpredictable you can't tell what he'll do next... There's even different types of gay dudes.

I like to just imagine what I would do and think if I were her. If that is weird for you, just remember that writers are supposed to be crazy. Chances are you will end up with a character who acts like you would if you were the opposite gender, but cast through the lense of the personality you want.

I had a similar problem. I wanted to create a 12-year-old boy as the main character, but I've always had teenage girl characters (because that's what I know about). Sometimes I just had to imagine and run it past my brother to see if it sounds "boy-ish."