I'm writing something interesting that I am not going to show to anyone-for fear of my life. Taking the four main female charactors in the novel that I'm working on, my wife, my wife's three best friends (who I've known for 6, 17, and 24 years respectively) Oldest daughter, oldest daughter's best friend, next oldest teen daughter, next oldest teen daughters best friend, My own first girlfriend, the girl I ran around with in college before I started dating my wife...and then age regressing everyone to about 16-18 and sending them all to a church camp/summer camp for a week. INTERESTING! Thinking about how they are alike and different in many ways...and interesting trying to write a female you've known for a long time and trying to write her as a Charactor. But I don't know that I'll ever show this to anyone....but helpful in knowing myself, my charactors, my wife, my daughters, etc. Also interesting, I've been maried for almost 23 years. Writing your wife as a teenager who is then attracted to another guy. What if I'd never met her? Writing your daughters as being sexually attracted to a guy is really interesting also. Especially when you both really like and really dislike what the fictional girl is doing...and fictional girl IS really like your own daughter. Kind of interesting...my wife, first girlfriend, main female charactor from novel sitting down and having a dinner conversation...as teenagers... Digging DEEP inside my psyche for this one. Chris
I'm sure it's a good idea to... well, achieve something, at least. Though I'm not sure how other people would react if you wrote about them. But I, personally, would enjoy writing some sort of adventure story this way. (if only to kill off my friends in extremely violent ways. )
The greatest value I could see to the experiment would be to start with a younger version of the people, give them different experiences, and see how differently they turn out in present day. That would exercise your skill at having the events of a story reflect back to impact the characters.
Do you want to be married for another 23 years? If so, you better hope none of those women read that story...LOL Are you really prepared to do this? Remember, the "cycles" of groups of girls living together tend to sychronize, bringing the very real spectre of group-PMS into your story...kind of a low budget horror film! (Yes, I have three daughters and I recall those dark moments trying to make myself scarce for a few days each month.) A woman's perspective may be more difficult to write that you think...LOL
Sounds like an interesting personal exercise, but I would agree with everyone who advises you never show this story to any of the women involved. Also - NaCl, is that thing about the synchronizing actually true, or just a myth?
I don't know with certainty. The theory was first introduced in 1968 by an undergraduate student named Martha McClintock. Numerous studies have since confirmed her original observation, and while the cause of synchronous menstruation is widely debated, there was no question about it in my household...I just went fishing about the same time every month! Wish I had the presence of mind to buy stock in the manufacturer of Midol...I'd be rich now!
The only reason I did it is to understand how the fictional charactors differ or are like the real world females I know the best. Since this is writing about actual people, I destroy everything as I write it. I really don't want the world reading about a fictional version of my wife, daughters, or good friends. Although when I showed what I had written to my wife, she had to agree it was pretty interesting.
True...other than a few short parts to my wife. But it helped me understand my charactors better. For instance, putting one of my main charactors in as a week long room mate with my first girlfriend brought fireworks. Why? First girlfriend was very religious, had very set ideas about the way the world worked. Charactor in story, very specific ideas about how she wanted to change the world. Both were upset that reality didn't meet their expectations. Ergo, I understand my charactor better and why she acts the way that she does. Erin got angry with Tammy for not living in a world of reality, and Tammy got angry with Erin for not conforming to her version of reality.
True. I'm already doing this with the charactors I'm developing. Take my main charactor Katie for example. I've got shorts written about her from the time she's 8 until the time of her death when she's 77. Changing live events changes her greatly. I also have three different ending s for my novel, and have fun writing different scenarios to see how things work out. Tonight I'm going to make everyone 70 rather than 17, (for just a short story) and see how a realistic aging of 53 years changes their outlook on life.
I'd probably never write about my own kids in a sexual fashion. I just think that that would be too weird. And I don't generally write about people I know. It just brings up too many bad possiblities. Anyways, trying to get into the mindset of a women isn't that hard. You can try by just communicating with women you know but aren't THAT close to. Or by reading about them through magazines, articles, etc. A little bit of study goes a long way.
Why do people assume there are such huge differences between men and women? Most motivations in life are unisex.. everyone is trying to scrape by in life with enough money, enough intimacy and security to enjoy life. Emotions such as anger, love, confusion, isolation, happiness etc etc are surely universal? Are men really so bamboozled by 'getting into the mind' of a woman? i don't feel like this about writing men.
Because of popular myth, reinforced by such gems as Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus. The differences between individuals are far wider than between gender median behaviors. Yes, there are socialized differences as well, but they are not the result of biology or biochemistry.
I do really find in some ways females and males to be that much different. Attraction is on a very different basis I think. I guess I've just read too many poorly written female charactors. I'm also trying to make sure that he charactors I am writing are unique unto themselves, not just a rehashing of someone I know.
maybe start by learning to spell 'character'?! I think writing about your own daughter's sexuality comes across as rather disturbing. I'm not quite sure why anyone would want to do that. Perhaps it helps you write more realistic characters, maybe just the way you have worded your post makes it sound weird. If you are genuinely trying to write rounded female characters then I think that is commendable. There are far too many stereotypical and outdated female characters on here. I have lost count of the amount of women baking cookies, washing up, doing the laundry, etc. whilst being totally weak and pathetic! Good luck.
Yes, I am focusing on writing females in a positive way. And we just got a new computer with a spell checker, this is my first post using it. I'm also trying to make sure my characters are really separate people and not a rehash of someone that I know.
Biologically and even psychologically (everything psychological is simultaneously biological. Or so I've been taught in school) there are major differences between men and women. To say otherwise trivializes these differences. We do not live in a unisex world. I agree with Cogito, Men are NOT from Mars and Women are NOT from Venus. Motivations are unisex but the ways love, anger, isolation and all the rest are expressed can vary wildly from men to women. They can vary wildly from individual to individual as well, so this is not to typecast genders into any specific role or stereotype. What I'm saying is that me and women have significant differences. To ignore these is a disservice to all men and women. However, to assume these differences amount to an unfathomable gap between the sexes is an equal or greater disservice. As to the original topic: Not a fan. I could never get past writing any member of my family in a sexual situation. I'm a fairly odd person though, so maybe this is just a quirk unique to me.
The thought process isn't about this, it's about realizing what certain people would do at certain times. We would all react differently at a church camp than we would somewhere else. Nothing sexual going on here -- at all. It's not about writing in sexual situation, it's about learning about personality, and learning from it. And I know this, because I am his daughter. That being said, it would be interesting to see six teens sharing a cabin for a week... I remember sharing a cabin when I was younger with 50 different people on a church retreat... Yuck!! I would've much liked a smaller cabin with only six or seven people.
