Female leads

[Finchbearer]

Do you have any female lead characters in your writing?

Who is she, and what is she about?

I’d also love to know if any male writers out there have female leads or central characters?

 

[ThinkerX]

Tia Samos is a central POV character in my 'Empire' series.

She is a wealthy merchant's daughter who is nominally hunting for highborn husband material and business opportunities in the first couple of books (then things get interesting).

The other three principal POV characters are her entourage - Sir Peter Cortez, war hero and hired bodyguard, Rebecca, her gypsy maid, minstrel, and confidant, and oafish Kyle, a traumatized veteran and petty sorcerer turned carriage driver.

And yes, I am a male author.

 

[Queshire]

They're pretty much the default for me by this point.

 

[Finchbearer]

They're pretty much the default for me by this point.

Is there a particular reason? Interested to know more about why.

 

[Queshire]

Mostly to do something different. Most of my stuff pulls inspiration from genres that have a heavy male focus.

 

[pmmg]

I think most everyone here is writing a female lead.

My story is unintentionally female heavy. I usually have more than one lead and so far they are mostly female. One character i wrote to be a lead pov male but he was over powered by the female minor character of his tale and pushed to the background. The same is happening to another as i write. Ive become aware of this and struggle a bit to keep some of the males more in the lead. The MC has always been female. She has a rough life.

I curse myself because i was too slow at writing. When i started the tale the media had not shifted to all things female and now i sense its getting played out, and i missed it.

I dont like to talk about them directly prior to publication but i can be persuaded if someone wants to betaread.

 

[Finchbearer]

I think most everyone here is writing a female lead.

My story is unintentionally female heavy. I usually have more than one lead and so far they are mostly female. One character i wrote to be a lead pov male but he was over powered by the female minor character of his tale and pushed to the background. The same is happening to another as i write. Ive become aware of this and struggle a bit to keep some of the males more in the lead. The MC has always been female. She has a rough life.

I curse myself because i was too slow at writing. When i started the tale the media had not shifted to all things female and now i sense its getting played out, and i missed it.

I dont like to talk about them directly prior to publication but i can be persuaded if someone wants to betaread.

You find yourself drawn to write female characters, wouldn’t be absolutely necessary to describe the character themselves, but what about female character in contrast to male ones do you find more interesting to write about?

 

[Demesnedenoir]

My main books are pretty even female/male POV, but my current WIP is 95% female... not shocking with a title like The Contessa of Mostul Ûbar. I don't really base the sexes of characters on anything other than what the story needs.

 

[Mad Swede]

Do you have any female lead characters in your writing?

Yes, several.

Who is she, and what is she about?

They are about several different things, as you might expect. Some want revenge, some want a family, some want wealth and power and some want a better life.

I was going to say read the books, but as they're in Swedish...

I’d also love to know if any male writers out there have female leads or central characters?

Yes, I do. I don't think you can write a good story without them, they add dimensions which are otherwise missing. Here I'm thinking of both personal relationships and also story setting.

 

[pmmg]

You find yourself drawn to write female characters, wouldn’t be absolutely necessary to describe the character themselves, but what about female character in contrast to male ones do you find more interesting to write about?

I'd probably get in trouble if I was to answer that, and I don't think I could give a complete answer without first explaining a whole frame of reference.

But I did write in my Bio that women was one of my interests.

As a short answer, my writing was a reaction to things I saw at the time I started. I felt that there were very few examples of women written well in the fantasy genre (and still think that). I personally like writing things that have extra complexity, and I think women have extra complexity when dealing with the world and the monsters in them. The story and characters were inspired by many things, and I hope (feel) I have done them justice. While I doubt I will win anything approaching universal appeal, I will dare say I have written better female characters than the ones that appear in Marvel movies.

I think the women overtake the men in my tales because...well, I am not wired to be interested in men. Really, I don't find them interesting because they lack the complexity I enjoy. Men are pretty straight forward in what they need to do and how they intend to do it. Also, as this story, like many others, is a commentary of a sort on the world as I see it today, the western male is kind of weak, and I am drawing material from that. But mostly because they just do. I start writing the male, and a women enters his sphere, and without me wanting it, she becomes more interesting. Its a pattern I see repeating. I think that just goes back to how I am wired.

I am not upset about it. I like writing the women. But, I don't see any special value in it. I think men and women are equally valuable as vehicles for the story, and I would certainly hand off the scene to the character who can make it the most interesting. The MC is female. I always intended to write it that way. She is a evolution of much writing I had done before, and was a reaction to things I wanted to speak to.

I do appreciate your question.

 

[Orc Knight]

Do you have any female lead characters in your writing?

Who is she, and what is she about?

I’d also love to know if any male writers out there have female leads or central characters?

1. Yes, almost default for me at this point. For most anything I write these days.

2. Many a variant exists, from royalty to soldiers among other various things.

3. I do in fact be one.

One of the reasons I started writing them, much like pmmg, was because so much fantasy and sci-fi was male centric and as someone who grew up with four sisters, wondered why there weren't more. So, they eventually started replacing the guys, one of my earlier stories having the female lead literally take over the book just out of the fact she was simply far more interesting. And he was a super stoic knight sort that had trouble dealing with basic emotions. And much like with female leads, I am also more like to use races like orcs and the other 'bad guy' sorts too.

 

[Ben Scotton]

Do you have any female lead characters in your writing?

Who is she, and what is she about?

I’d also love to know if any male writers out there have female leads or central characters?

Yes. In my current story, The Treasure of Everlight, the main character is called Elizabeth-Alicia Veronica Postagestamp... there's in-world logic for the name, promise.

She's a high school student who signs up for summer work experience with her older brother, Jake who is a professional adventurer. Of course, the expedition turns out to be far more dangerous than anyone imagined. A big motivation for Bess is wanting to join Jake's crew full-time after school and travel the world. This means she always trying to prove that she's good enough to be a professional adventurer too.

Obviously, that's the starting point and, like any good story, one of the main themes is how the MC develops as a person throughout the tale.

Arguably there are a couple of other MCs but Bess serves as the anchor point for the story. It is told in the third person but we get to hear some of her thoughts.

...and yes, I'm a bloke!

 

[Nighty_Knight]

I am a guy. The series I’m working on has multiple mcs but there are at least 3 females at some point would be considered my lead. As a comparison, I have 6 males that we would be leads at some point.

 

[Finchbearer]

Tia Samos is a central POV character in my 'Empire' series.

She is a wealthy merchant's daughter who is nominally hunting for highborn husband material and business opportunities in the first couple of books (then things get interesting).

The other three principal POV characters are her entourage - Sir Peter Cortez, war hero and hired bodyguard, Rebecca, her gypsy maid, minstrel, and confidant, and oafish Kyle, a traumatized veteran and petty sorcerer turned carriage driver.

And yes, I am a male author

My main books are pretty even female/male POV, but my current WIP is 95% female... not shocking with a title like The Contessa of Mostul Ûbar. I don't really base the sexes of characters on anything other than what the story needs.

Don’t worry your books are on the long list of books to read ;

 

[Finchbearer]

Yes. In my current story, The Treasure of Everlight, the main character is called Elizabeth-Alicia Veronica Postagestamp... there's in-world logic for the name, promise.

She's a high school student who signs up for summer work experience with her older brother, Jake who is a professional adventurer. Of course, the expedition turns out to be far more dangerous than anyone imagined. A big motivation for Bess is wanting to join Jake's crew full-time after school and travel the world. This means she always trying to prove that she's good enough to be a professional adventurer too.

Obviously, that's the starting point and, like any good story, one of the main themes is how the MC develops as a person throughout the tale.

Arguably there are a couple of other MCs but Bess serves as the anchor point for the story. It is told in the third person but we get to hear some of her thoughts.

...and yes, I'm a bloke!

It’s sounds interesting, and reads like YA coming of age?

I personally haven’t yet written about an older female character, as in a women of around 30-50 years old. Perhaps that’s the next challenge, because there’s almost universal appeal in writing about younger characters on the cusp of adulthood, not yet tainted with the baggage of life!

 

[Finchbearer]

1. Yes, almost default for me at this point. For most anything I write these days.

2. Many a variant exists, from royalty to soldiers among other various things.

3. I do in fact be one.

One of the reasons I started writing them, much like pmmg, was because so much fantasy and sci-fi was male centric and as someone who grew up with four sisters, wondered why there weren't more. So, they eventually started replacing the guys, one of my earlier stories having the female lead literally take over the book just out of the fact she was simply far more interesting. And he was a super stoic knight sort that had trouble dealing with basic emotions. And much like with female leads, I am also more like to use races like orcs and the other 'bad guy' sorts too.

I think you’ve made an interesting point mentioning stoicism and males, because I think many men have difficulty dealing with emotions and it’s a societal issue, hence the highest suicide rates are amongst younger men sadly, and this is because it’s over normalised in society for men to hold it together, becoming protectors.

Correct me if I’m off the mark but I do think that many men will try and take the logical approach attempting to ‘fix’ things, and shield their loved ones from those difficult emotions, which inevitably build up to unhealthy levels. There’s probably a ‘knight in shining armour’ theory for this, a common theme in fairytales and fantasy…

 

[Ben Scotton]

It’s sounds interesting, and reads like YA coming of age?

I personally haven’t yet written about an older female character, as in a women of around 30-50 years old. Perhaps that’s the next challenge, because there’s almost universal appeal in writing about younger characters on the cusp of adulthood, not yet tainted with the baggage of life!

Yes, I suppose it might be described as a YA. But I've not set out to write for any particular age group.

It's really about the whole expedition team and how they have to learn to work together and see past their differences when put in serious harm's way.

Funnily enough, there is actually a 30-something female in the expedition.

Mainly writing it for my own neices and nephews. My oldest neice is battling long-covid so hopefully the story cheers her up.

Have you got a story you're currently working on Finchbearer? Does it have a female MC? Apologies if you already mentioned it.

 

[Ben Scotton]

I think you’ve made an interesting point mentioning stoicism and males, because I think many men have difficulty dealing with emotions and it’s a societal issue, hence the highest suicide rates are amongst younger men sadly, and this is because it’s over normalised in society for men to hold it together, becoming protectors.

Correct me if I’m off the mark but I do think that many men will try and take the logical approach attempting to ‘fix’ things, and shield their loved ones from those difficult emotions, which inevitably build up to unhealthy levels. There’s probably a ‘knight in shining armour’ theory for this, a common theme in fairytales and fantasy…

Depends on the bloke I suppose.

Speaking for myself, I am slowly learning to listen, affirm and give simpathy - not simply search for a solution and then say, "sorted - that'll work. Can we stop talking now and get on with it?" That'll give you frostbite!

I suppose the challenge of seeing the world from a different perspective comes with the territory of writing characters.

 

[Finchbearer]

Depends on the bloke I suppose.

Speaking for myself, I am slowly learning to listen, affirm and give simpathy - not simply search for a solution and then say, "sorted - that'll work. Can we stop talking now and get on with it?" That'll give you frostbite!

I suppose the challenge of seeing the world from a different perspective comes with the territory of writing characters.

No it’s definitely not true if every man, but is an element that is just prevalent and normalised to the point of general understanding. It’s a challenge for me to write complex male characters to be honest, but like you say that is part of the challenge of writing.

 

[Finchbearer]

Yes, I suppose it might be described as a YA. But I've not set out to write for any particular age group.

It's really about the whole expedition team and how they have to learn to work together and see past their differences when put in serious harm's way.

Funnily enough, there is actually a 30-something female in the expedition.

Mainly writing it for my own neices and nephews. My oldest neice is battling long-covid so hopefully the story cheers her up.

Have you got a story you're currently working on Finchbearer? Does it have a female MC? Apologies if you already mentioned it.

(Copied and pasted from a PM)

At the moment I’m currently writing about two very different women with a complex and sometimes strained friendship who are assigned to work together as midwives, or ‘birthkeepers’ as I have called them. One possesses the power of healing, the other has a darker power of pure life and death, an ancient power that was thought lost over time. They navigate a world where those who are gifted with specific rare powers are disappearing, their powers siphoned by a greedy powerful force (we don’t yet know what), and one of my leads is being hunted throughout book 1. That’s the long and short of the plot.

I aim to explore female friendship, women who work with other women and that relationship dynamic, and it also has coming of age themes in there too.

Not sure if it reads like ‘chick lit’ but honestly not sure if it would appeal to a male audience. I don’t think it’s too heavy on the feminine stuff, but I can’t tell at this point as it’s in its infancy.