Woman writing from a man's point of view?

I don't know if I'd say she's the best, but Andre Norton used to write sci-fi coming-of-age adventures with young male protags, and most people had no idea she was a woman. Ya coulda fooled me!! A little strange most of the time, but that's just the way she writes, they felt like young men regardless.

Not sure I could pick one favorite, it would be between The Zero Stone and Catseye. Ah screw it, it's The Zero Stone for me.

 

Kathe Koja does a good job of writing male characters. In the Cipher and Bad Brains and Kink they were all variations of the burnout.
one of my favorites is Fancy by Robert Krepps - he does a good job writing a pretty convincing snarky oversexed flapper.
I tend to find women don't convey men as good as men convey woman but I think both sexes can get tripped up in making either sex how they want them to be rather than how they are. That's why there's a ton more sensative men in women's fiction and a ton more sluts in men's fiction lol.
And before I get called on - there's no such thing as sensative men?! What I mean is there's nothing quite like the sensative man in woman's fiction - sensative pirates and sensative warriors, and my those sensative thugs - I'm looking at you S.E. Hinton.

 

IU know this is an older thread, but I'm struggling with this too...worried I'm hitting the right notes. Mine is a complex male character too who naturally hides a lot of his real self. What I'd say, after going through a couple of rewrites, is don't let lack of confidence hold you back. I've battled my own in my current WIP but then I remember that I have my male feedback partners and readers so they can guide me to the right point. You can do this!

 

I'm just responding from the title and initial entry, I haven't read through the thread.

As a man, I consider myself fairly feminine. I was raised by a single mother, and yada yada, here I am. It all depends on the type of charcter you want to create. I think gender is truly irrelevant. If the character is interesting it doesn't matter. That being said, if you're writing a testostorone fueled male, perhaps hit up some MGTOW, or REDPILL, or weight training videos on youtube. Testosterone produces basically the same result in all males, seek those who seek to maximize it.

 

I’m a man, and I make it a policy to write only male perspective characters, for a variety of reasons. However, I still need to write women as non-perspective characters. I just write those based on what I’ve observed from women, just as I do with men, and so far, there haven’t been any problems in realism.

 

Interestingly I have been writing from a male perspective for as long as I can remember or since it morphed into a story my make pretend world and set of characters. I would role play my story in a heart beat if I could! Back in the day I did not know there was such a thing as "role play" and feel like it is limited to anime and stuff like that. I referred to it as "acting out scenes" or 'playing my characters". I still do it. When I am really into a specific scene I often feel the need to play it out (so long as no one is around lol) I cannot tell you how many random scenes or conversations just flow freely into my brain while I am cleaning or whatever. Sometimes they keep going and I get side tracked and forget everything I thought of before I get a chance to write it all down but yeah.

My hardest thing seems to be writing female characters. They tend to be very cliche.

 

There are sensitive men, my dad is very sensitive. Other men juts get really drunk and lock themselves in their rooms to cry over just putting their dog down. They internalize a lot of their emotions. One of my male characters is a sensitive guy trapped in a tough guy who needs to maintain his toughness for show. But it depends on the guy. I know a lot of sensitive men.

 

How exactly do we define a “sensitive man?” I’ve never known a man without feelings.

As a man, I think the most important part of writing men is this: the traditional male role requires maintaining strength in the face of even the most extreme adversity for the women and children in one’s life. In other words, you don’t cry in front of your wife and children unless one of your children has died, and even then, only after you’ve comforted them all enough that they can get by without leaning on you; even then, this is best done in private, like using the toilet. Rightly or wrongly, that’s the masculine ideal: to put your own emotional needs aside for the greater good of your family. Every man is influenced by it to some extent (whether he embraces it, ignores it, or rebels against it), in part because, despite all the successes feminism has had, it is still the men who have kept to the traditional male role who have had the most success in romantic relationships and marriage (to put it bluntly, there’s more to sexual orientation than being attracted to a particular set of primary sex characteristics).

 

Not every man is traditionally masculine, nor is every woman traditionally feminine, and this is how it's always been. I think you're well aware of this, I'm not trying to imply you're saying anything different. But I think it's time once again for me to link to a post I made about this some time ago, for those newer members who haven't seen it yet:

• Male and Female Writing Styles and Character Voices

 

Agree. There is a whole ton of that in my story. Crying alone. Holding back feelings until they all collide and get so overwhelming it brings one to puke or almost faint. This whole topic is very relevant to my own story, very much a recurring theme.

By sensitive, I meant not afraid to show less masculine emotions. I feel lot a of "masculine" guys do also just save their soft underbellies for behind closed doors. the person who is special to them is the one they feel safe being vulnerable around. In general, painting with a broad brush.

 

It may help also to read some Stoic philosophy, by philosophers such as Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and Seneca. I’ve found their works to be quite helpful for dealing with emotion. Epictetus’s Enchiridion is a good summary, as is this quote by Marcus Aurelius: “If you are pained by any external thing, it is not the thing that pains you, but your judgment about it. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgment now.”

 

Seneca's essays are pretty dope.

 

Aurelius’ Meditations as well.

 

I'll have to check those out.

 

Women are generally pretty poor at writing male POV characters because they have no understanding of how men process emotions, which obviously varies with culture and demographic. They usually either treat it as though men don't feel emotions or have them focus on them in a way that's generally more characteristic of women. The way they approach interpersonal relationships, obstacles between them and their goals...none of it is usually very convincing. Most male POV characters written by women strike me as female characters putting on a deep voice and wearing a fake moustache, rather than convincing men, or else a tired old stereotype like a sitcom dad or something.

If you want to write men, talk to men. Like, spend lots of time with them in real life, one to one, ideally, so there's no worry about being judged on answers to questions or whatever.

 

I think this kind of male character and view could come across cliche and dated in contemporary fiction. Just something to keep in mind.

 

I would say it will be easier than the reverse. Men are much simpler than women.

 

I am writing a visceral drama about a conflicted male. It's from his POV exclusively, to make certain he owns what he feels and thinks. He is massively in over his head and bumbling through his coming of age at odds with stereotypes and expectations. Some manly men are terrified of hot women, or any women, but that doesn't mean they can't be seduced or fall in love. On and on.
Work your characters first. What do they feel and think internally? What kind of personality is in their voice? Who are they most comfortable with or nervous about? Then do your research and work the gender in. If your character isn't He-Man or Everyman, don't write him that way. My adolescent example of girls was horrific, as were guys. College, better, but not by much. Of course, some obvious stereotypes are true and good for drama. Blessed be.

Write Without Fear

(PM if you have more to ask on the internal side)