Gay main character. Your thoughts and experiences?

And the only way to remain out of the book permanently is to kill his author.

 

I don't think he's thought of that yet. Let's not tell him.

 

It's the start of an interesting book :3
Failing author struggles with his magnum opus, his final chance to make it as a starving artist, but his future seems bleak when his character comes to life... and is set out to murder him!

 

Oh yeah... Stephen King owns that trope.
*Budum tish!*

 

This took a turn.

… In all some seriousness, I remember when I realized that two of the guys in my SciFi work in progress worked better as a couple than as an asexual and a straight guy. OK, just looking at them as people, the guys don't work very well at first (one is very blunt and philosophical, one is very sensitive and worldly, both are quick to talk over other people when they get bored), but as plot elements, I like their initially-rocky romance more than I like my original idea for them not having much of anything to do with each other.

And I'm generally the guy who complains about too much screen time going to romantic plots/subplots. Oops

 

That's cause Hollywood believes a movie is always better with romance.
Even if it doesn't need romance, even if it doesn't make sense, and especially if there is no room for it.

 

Something similar to this happened with my and @T.Trian 's WIP. T challenged me, as a bit of a joke, to write a gruff, ladykilling alpha male for once (so far my only male characters were awkward, fumbling, elbow-y teenage boys). After the first draft the character came out of the closet. I knew there had been something going on between him and that hunky Russian detective.

I don't know if it has potential to deter the target audience for action novels/sci-fi (young-ish men?), if some of them would find a testosterone-oozin' ex-SEAL character somehow unsettling or unrelatable ('cause, like, who in their right mind could relate to a character who's grieving the deaths of his sibling and team mates, struggling to keep his loved ones safe, and fighting for the things he considers fighting for, like freedom?!), but I don't really care. T and I are just trying to write the best story with the best characters we can. So I guess that's my advice to anyone in doubt: write what you want to write, come hell or high water.

 

I dunno...they may be gay, but playing a straight character (I'm hetero and my barbarian is usually bi or lesbian).

 

Metafictional homosexuality. I wonder if there's a special night at the gay club for the metafic boys.

 

My take on this is that the only right thing to do is to pretend it isn't controversial and do it exactly how you've envisioned it. Don't be a sell-out. Then hope for the best when your story's published. Thankfully it can go the other way as well, though. Stories that are real, good and unique are more interesting than all the copy cat works that all have the same characters, relationships and plots. Good luck.

 

Wouldn't the fact that you are considering making him NOT gay to not offend people make you homophobic?

 

Probably not homophobic himself, more likely just easily influenced by people who are.

 

I just want to point out a few things:

1) Writing about a gay character does not mean the author is gay, pandering to the gay community (Like those ethnically correct commercials), or that a lack of gay characters means the author is homophobic or sensitized to the... plight.
2) Book publishing is a business and marketability wise, gay protagonists aren't popular (Mostly due to a lack of any resulting in "Oh, gay character. How odd." situations) so it may mean less sales and less exposure
3) Gay protagonists are usually in gay book, meaning erotica, coming of age novels, Faust-type books, or something deemed "not serious" work. Creating a bias toward traditional fiction which features gay protags.
4) So, any writer has to consider if maybe writing a gay character might be hurting him and they'd be better off making them straight as, odds are, it doesn't change anything.

 

I will admit that I haven't read all the posts in this thread so if I am repeating something already expressed, I apologize. I can just say that as a homosexual it is really frustrating how few gay characters are out there. Gay characters are either just a bit part (sometimes for comic effect) or the entire story evolves around them being gay. For that reason I try to include LGBT characters in my stories and make sure that their sexual orientation is just a part of them and not the main focus. Sure, that could just be because it is easier for me to relate to a lesbian main character when I write. But then most of my characters are straight, some are male homosexuals and I even have one transgender main character and I feel like I can relate to them just fine. If you feel that you don't want to make a character gay because you (like A.M.P suggested here above) worry that it will make the book less sell-able, that is naturally your choice. And I am sure it is a choice that many great writers make! I can just speak for myself when I say that I would be extremely happy to see more gay characters out there. And yes, I do sometimes buy books that I wasn't sure about if I feel they is more inclusive. (Not just inclusive in regards of sexual preference but also race and possibly even religion.) I personally find those stories more interesting (and realistic to the society I live in) than ones that lack a little in the diversity section.

 

I'm not so sure it's as easy as 'just make him straight.' We've discussed on this forum times where people have written stories, and it turns out that certain characters become attracted to each other, when that was not the author's original intent -- the characters just went that way. Sometimes the authors had intended for one of the characters to be romantically involved with a different character, but it wasn't working out. The chemistry wasn't there and the relationship came across as forced. So it could very easily happen that characters who are the same sex are attracted to each other, just like any other characters. The story isn't about them being gay. They're just characters who happen to be gay.

You know, sometimes gay just happens.

 

The main character in a sci fi book I'm in the middle of writing is bi. There is however no real romance in the book. It's action sci fi, where there is very little time for romance, plus she's estranged from her partner and hopes, in the few times it's brought up, for a reconciliation. I've tried not to 'punch' it too much, and in fact the first time the gender of her estranged partner comes up is near the end. All through the book however, she's just like everybody else. Doing her job, captaining the ship, saving the planet. It's not a big deal unless it's made into a big deal.