Authors, Writers, Publishers, and Book Readers

How to write intriguing male and female characters

I liked this article a lot.

Men and women are different. There, I said it.
Now let me go even further out on a limb. Chances are, if you’re female, you write like a girl, and if you’re male, you write like a guy. Not that there’s anything wrong with that … unless, that is, you’d like your writing to be read by members of another gender, or you’re trying to create characters of the opposite sex. If so, it might just help to have a better understanding about how the other half thinks, acts, reads and writes.

Linguists, sociologists, behavior specialists and functional brain researchers have documented gender’s effect on almost everything, so it’s natural that it plays a role in how we write and what we’re attracted to as readers. The ability to use language that has appeal outside your own gender can boost your success as an author; take the U.K. bestseller Holly’s Inbox, which has often been compared to Helen Fielding’s runaway hit Bridget Jones’s Diary. The name on the cover of the book? Holly Denham. Its real author? Bill Surie, who wrote for his female audience so convincingly that readers had no problem believing the story had been written by a woman. And then there’s J.K. Rowling, who is so good at transcending gender (and age) that her books are devoured by girls and boys (and women and men) by the millions.

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Does that make you think more about who your audience is that you're writing for?

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Permalink Reply by Kay Elizabeth on October 19, 2010 at 1:01am

I've read Holly's Inbox! She's absolutely right. You would never know it was a man that wrote it. I did a review of the book too at The Cuckleburr Times and highly recommend it.

http://www.cuckleburr.com/book-review-hollys-inbox-by-holly-denham

That was a great article, scribbler. Food for thought indeed. :)

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Permalink Reply by Sean Noonan on October 23, 2010 at 8:42am

I find it hard to know if in my writing I have achieved the ability to transcend age and gender barriers. That I will leave to the readers to decide.

With my characters I just hold a vision in my head of the characters in the story and let them flow onto the page. It would be interesting to know if others thinks it works too?

Some reviewers are saying my adventures are great for girls and boys, mums and dads, grans and grandads etc so maybe I am not too far off...?

Definately food for thought though. An excellent string.