Writing women.

Discussion in 'Character Development' started by The Degenerate, Jan 25, 2011.

  1. karon_sin17

    karon_sin17 New Member

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    Being a seventeen year old, High School girl, I can tell you what I think in a day. ...That is if you have a twenty hour period you are willing to give up.
    Seriously though, I too feel more than think about things, especially what I see. Stereotypically, I judge immediately. Honestly, I am working on this, but I find that this is the case with many girls my age. I see a girl walking down the hall with jeggings on ... My immediate thought is... well inapropriate, while my immediate reaction is anger. I see a hot guy in the store and I blush. One of my friends tells a joke, I laugh. I don't think about it. Laughing is the reaction they were looking for, so it is the reaction I give them.
    Writing from a girl's P.O.V. should not be fraught with panic and fear. We are the same species as you are. Yes, we are much more likely to say something nasty than to get into a fistfight. ...Well, most of the time anyway. Yes, we seem to think more of other's feelings before we speak. But, at the same time we all, guys and girls, make mistakes, get embarrassed over the same situations, feel fear, feal rejection, anger, amusement... I respond to embarrassment with sarcasm and anger, while my best girl friend responds by blushing, crying and hiding from everyone. My brother gets angry like I do, but one of my other friends, a guy, also blushes and stutters when he's embarrassed.
    So you see, there is no fine line between guy and girl P.O.V. Your character is your character, with their own unique personality. Instead of asking yourself, how would a guy respond to this situation, or how would a girl respond. Ask yourself, "How would my character, Bo, respond in this situation."
    This is just my opinion, but it is how I write.
     
  2. Cornys

    Cornys New Member

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    Stereotyping is not entirely a bad thing. Recently it has become a thing to be condemed, but as long as you allow this opinion of the person to change beyond it, it can act as a personal safe guard from harm or involvement with bad people. Stereotypes that have nothing to do with what the individual can control are less justified, but it takes a certain kind of person usually to get a tatto or have excess peircings, or spikey hair ect..., . Not that this means that all these people are the same, but for the most part it can be found true.

    Sorry off topic, but I had to comment on that.
     
  3. Peerie Pict

    Peerie Pict Contributor Contributor

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    @Karon - just wondering what is wrong with jeggings. Loads of girls I know wear them here. I'm in the UK. Just curious :D

    @Cornys - may I be so bold as to say stereotyping is not a bad thing in fiction because let's face it, you're not offending a real individual. It might be beneficial to your plot to put in a 'stereotypical nerd' at some point. Is that really insulting to all nerds? I don't think so.

    It might be sticky territory if you were to include racial stereotypes. Then again, your main crime would be creating two dimensional characters rather than creating a character who may have characteristics relating to their background for example. There are definitely stereotypes in Hollywood movies I've noticed. I won't go into what they are but it's definitely something you should avoid in fiction. If your character is just a collection of stereotyped traits and you don't develop them as a person, that's bad news.
     
  4. Cornys

    Cornys New Member

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    I will definitly agree that anything controversial should probably be avoided, but I was speaking in life in general. Stock Characters are almost required in creative writing
     
  5. HorusEye

    HorusEye Contributor Contributor

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    I once read that while men tend to talk in report style, women lean more towards rapport style. Observing people around me has only proved this to be true. Might be a good tip for dialogue.
     
  6. Top Cat

    Top Cat New Member

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    Look into gender language theory, and contrast that with power language. Particularly useful for dialogue - and read narratives with female voices. Also, read blogs written by women, especially around lifestyle.
     
  7. Eunoia

    Eunoia Contributor Contributor

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    Have you got any female friends or sisters? See what bothers them and what they talk about, eavesdrop conversations between women.

    But I think you should just go for it and write, and then give say the first couple of pages for someone else to read and see what gender they think the MC is and why.
     

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