writing opposite gender characters

[Queshire]

This is a prospect that has been bugging me for awhile, how do you go about writing characters that are the opposite gender of you? Is there a specific way to write girls if you're a guy and vice versa, or should you treat a character's sex as mostly cosmetic? Or in other words, just write them without putting too much thought into whether they're male/female. Any advice would be apreciated!

[Bear]

In all three of my books I have written strong female characters. Obviously, the cosmetic aspect plays a part. I just write them and don't think much about it. I'm a guy so some of the female archetypes come from a fantasy angle. I usually put qualities that I look for in women into the character. It's not really that difficult. I actually have more fun writing the female characters. I usually make them very strong and intelligent and very opinionated. The last female character I wrote was named Bird and I wrote her as a very elegant character and beautiful character but very strong. She suffered a stroke and couldn't fire weapons due to a twitch but man could she use a katana and ended up extremely acrobatic.

I must admit that the first female character I wrote ended up being very challenging. Once I got through that one things became a bit easier. There is definitely a different tone that I approach with when writing female characters. It's not that different because they are human after all, lol.


I usually try to surround the female characters with a bit more description, especially with certain body parts, ahem. I usually talk to women on a daily basis and observe quite a bit so I guess I write them as if they were male and then just change things around in different ways. The female characters I write about tend to be a bit more emotional but not sappy. One of my favorite characters was interesting as she was just kind of a normal women working for a road crew and when she lost her boyfriend to organ stealing cultists she changed into a knife wielding gun toting ball of kick ass. Of course I explained her gun use expertise as a result of her father taking her to shooting ranges as a kid instead of buying her dolls.

Fox was an easy write since I kind of made her a promiscuous women with a mean streak and a bit on the devious side. Hence the name Fox. It's interesting since the female characters I write tend to be a tad dominate but that's what happens when you grow up with five aunts that are more like sisters.

When in doubt just write and see how it turns out.

Kaley had to be the toughest character by far. She was a girly girly character that ended up having a father not of this world. So up until she found out about her heritage she was kind of normal except when she had to cut off a doctor's head that was trying to kill her. One of the aspects that ended up being challenging as well was the father daughter interaction. That's tough enough but then factor in that the father was a cosmic being that lived at the center of the earth as a caretaker of the planet. Somehow it worked and ended up being kind of humorous to boot.

The character that I kind of missed on was the hooker. A few women who read the story felt it was a tad degrading. I didn't plan it like that but she was a hooker after all.

[JCFarnham]

My main characters are mostly female. For no real reason as far as I can tell...

But I don't place any importance on making them seem different in any significant way. I mean women I've gotten to know rather well aren't really all that different to some men in this world of ours.

I mean, the only differences I can think of are biological things like less spacial awareness and brain based whatsits like that. And you know, if you emphasise anything like THAT it can quickly get a bit degrading. Its just not worth throwing any wedges in there.

So you see why I don't make any fuss about the gender of my characters. They are the sum of their pasts first and a gender second. Then again that's something fundamental to my treatment of everyone. I just don't care what you are. Does it matter?

[Steerpike]

I don't alter my depictions of a character based on sex, but write them to conform to the personality traits of the character. I've known women with many traits that are traditionally considered masculine, as well as men with traits traditionally considered feminine. People span a wide range of gender characteristics regardless of their physical sex, so there is really no reason to let the physical sex dictate how you write the character.

[BWFoster78]

I find it easier to pin guys down as far as determining their one defining trait. It's much harder for me to figure out my female characters.

[Caged Maiden]

I like to alternate between both. Most of my novels contain mixed groups of characters (ages and genders) and I enjoy writing all sorts of people. One thing that helps me out is to model a character off someone I know or knew in real life. So one of my exes is the king in one of my novels (and not in a good way, haha). It helps me to stay consistent with a character, but I am fortunate to have intimately known a lot of people in my life. I've had really deep conversations with them and observed a lot more.

One thing I do is try to portray people realistically, for good and bad. In my experiences, men and women are very similar. Both can be unimaginably selfish, extremely sensitive, callous, emotionally unstable, compassionate to the suffering of others, etc.

However you choose to write a character, your world will determine a lot of their development. I say pick a unique perspective and write it because it gives a lot more to play off of than a very typical stereotype, but that's just my opinion as a reader. If your world is dominated by male combat-heavy types, write a female one who has something to prove. If your world has a strong religious element and highly regards squeaky-clean priestesses, write one who has a little evil streak. If your society is comprised of powerful female mages, write a male who shows a lot of promise and show his struggle to rise to be an equal.

For me, I try to write flawed characters who must struggle to attain their goals, whether against themselves or against other people. If you're not sure your character is believable, write in some flaws.

[Lorna]

Similiar to Steerpike, I found I tend to write personality traits independent of sex.

I've only been writing for a couple of years and have learnt alot about what I can / cannot write in this time. I can't write naive perspectives male or female, I can't write characters that are virtuous or orderly / knightly (usually attributed to male) or nurturing characters (usually attributed to female).

I admit to being adrogynous, both in myself and the characters I write. The male lead of my current novel in progress is blokey in being a fighter but is passionate and caring. When I write female leads in short stories / poems they tend to be warrior or fae types, feminine but strong and often dangerous.

[Mindfire]

These may be helpful:

For men writing female characters: Superhero Nation: Red Flags for Female Characters Written By Men

For women writing male characters: Superhero Nation: Writing Authentic Male Characters

[Benjamin Clayborne]

When I need to write female characters (which is a lot, as two of the four protagonists on my NIP are women), I think, "How would my wife feel in that situation?"

[Jabrosky]

I write female protagonists all the time and it's only more difficult than writing male protagonists as long as you want your heroine to fit a feminist ideal. On the other hand, as long as you're willing to give your female characters at least a few weaknesses than they aren't any harder at all. Incidentally, in the story I'm working on right now, both the heroine and villain are female.