Female leads

[skip.knox]

I have five books out. Two have female leads, two others have female central characters, and one is two male leads.

A Child of Great Promise has a young woman, but the central issue isn't her gender, it's that she is half-elf and half-human, or at least has been told that's what she is. The matter of her identity is very much the point of the story.

Into the Second World has gender roles as an issue, though more as an undercurrent. There's an expedition to the center of the world and she's the only female in the group, and she wrangles her way into the team against the wishes of the others. The real focus of the story is adventure, but her gender does spin things a bit.

In Goblins at the Gates the main character is male, as are two other main characters, but they are joined by a female who wields a magic sword and who emerges as the leader of her people, just as the lead male emerges as leader of his troops. Even so, Julian definitely gets more screen time than does Inglena.

Finally, I'm currently writing a series that features a troupe of performers. The head is male, but a female elf shares leadership and is often a counterbalance.

I stay aware of gender, but my stories are all pre-modern, so current concerns about gender roles aren't really present. I'm more interested in how elves behave, how ogres behave, and so on. It strikes me that few fantasy writers are much concerned with gender roles in other peoples. For example, do an elf woman and a human woman have more in common due to shared gender, or is it the difference of species more significant? If I look at how female dwarves behave in my world of Altearth, are they doing things that would raise hackles among my readers (all ten of them) were I to portray human females that way? Is there something unique about being female orc, female elf, female dwarf, etc.?

I do tend to default to males in secondary and tertiary characters, though. A couple of guards at the door? Men. Innkeeper? A guy. I have to make a conscious effort to choose a female, and then I have to think about how that choice might change the dynamics of the scene. Which is odd and decidedly sexist because when it's just a spear-carrier sort of role, with just a few lines, it really shouldn't matter.

 

[Finchbearer]

I'm a straight male who loves writing and reading female characters, lead or otherwise. I've played many female characters in face-to-face roleplaying games over the years. When I watch American Ninja Warrior, I'm always rooting the hardest for the female competitors. When I watch Survivor, I usually root the hardest for the women contestants. When playing a video game, if given the choice of gender of character to play, I almost always choose a female character. I've played female characters in MMORPGs and had guy characters hit on me -- one even tried to force one of my female characters into an online "marriage" with no discussion about it. Ugh.

Even my avatar on the forum here is feminine at the moment. It's better looking than my ugly mug, and few people here tend to use their real-life photos....

I once took a class through Writer's Digest in which the instructor said that male authors shouldn't write female leads -- since I'm not female, anything I write might be misleading or even harmful to the cause of women, and how would I know? But I also as a writer don't wish to deny myself the privilege of sharing my view of the world with my readers, and for me to best do that requires that I write female characters. Besides which, I've often felt I was a woman in a previous life, so I'm drawing on that experience. Who's to prove me wrong? I've never been a "man's man" in my current life....

In my first published novel, the MC -- Mithabel -- is a female Elf Tank avatar in a gaming competition, powered by the subconsciousness of Megan Wright, kinda Matrix-like. There's a lot of prize money on the line, which got Megan Wright interested to begin with, but then Megan discovers there's an urgent world-in-peril need for Mithabel to do well in the game and reach level thirty asap. And... technically... Mithabel isn't female, because she's an avatar, but she's Megan at the core, so she is female in that respect. Mithabel and two other females join forces in party MAD - the name based on the initials of their first names (Mithabel, Amarynth, and Dylan). They're joined by Charli and Rolag -- a 14-yo Cowgirl Guide NPC and a Pseudo Code Dragon, the latter being a companion NPC to Amarynth. Rolag is the only male in the group. There are a few other named males in the story - some of which are beastly companions to other PCs. There are really only two primary male humanoid characters in the story, or three if you distinguish between one of the players and his avatar. The two male avatars belong to a competing party.

In the second novel -- a story that introduces other characters and tells their story up to the point in time when the first novel ends -- the MC is a male human time traveler based a lot on me. I don't think he's very likable to readers. Or maybe what they don't care for much is how the style of writing changed between the two books, because the stories are told from very different perspectives. Or maybe book one was so bad, no one who read it was interested in reading book two. (I don't think that's it.) In any case, book two hasn't done as well as book one. Despite that, books three through five are in the works. They feature ensemble casts, with no single primary MC. Some of the POV characters are male, but most are female. Across the series, there are dozens of named characters. Book five has twenty different characters who each have at least one chapter told from their POV, with a female-to-male ratio of roughly 2:1.

So... I've clearly gone against the advice given to me by the Writer's Digest course instructor. I took into consideration what she said, but in the end, I decided I had to be true to myself, or there's no reason for me to write. I need to write what's in me, which includes my observations of women from real life, some of whom have already passed, and all of whom do not have the wherewithal to write their own stories. The instructor would have told me that I can tell the stories of women by utilizing supporting characters, that I don't need to make them the MCs of my stories. But I feel I have a calling, and whether it's from a Higher Power or something more primitive, I choose to listen to the voice inside me rather than the voices of others who don't see the world the way I see it. There is something inside me that drives me to make the story choices I make, and while I can temper these with my own reasoning -- or the arguments of my coauthor -- I can't let everyone who has an opinion sway me into writing what they think I should write.

I know I'm not participating much on the forum these days, and I'm sorry if I ranted, but I do get email notifications still of trending topics. The subject is a sensitive one for me, and I felt compelled to respond.

I appreciate you sharing this, that’s a really interesting perspective. I believe it’s always worth following your instincts.

 

[Devor]

In my WIP Smughitter I've got two tiny sprites, one male one female, who are co-leads. He is trying to turn people's pride into magic to restore their lost home, while she is the constable who's job it is to stop him before he turns the country against what's left of his people. It's a slow-burn romance fantasy action thing that's meant to be the first of five books. Although they're co-leads, in the first book she has more of a traditional arc, while he's more of an antagonist.

Now Aliffe... she's been through a lot already. I can't emphasize that enough. She was there when a surprise army destroyed her home, then the nation around them nearly wiped out what was left of them. She joined a council that formed a treaty to end the violence - the Policing for Peace Treaty - and ever since then it's been her job to keep anyone using fairy magic in check, working with local human constables who often hate her, against the more rambunctious troublemakers she's trying to protect, in order to keep the peace. So already, like a lot.

Now some unregistered sprite guy appears out of nowhere, using fairy magic to absolutely wreck just a few people, swearing that he can bring back some of the people who were lost when their home fell? Dude, don't screw with her emotions like that. I mean really, it's her job to stop the guy who promises the impossible - to bring back some of her people, including her family. Is he a criminal? A deluded idiot? A hero? Or is he going to break the treaty and get them all wiped out? Aliffe has to decide for herself, it's her values being tested here.

 

[Finchbearer]

I have five books out. Two have female leads, two others have female central characters, and one is two male leads.

A Child of Great Promise has a young woman, but the central issue isn't her gender, it's that she is half-elf and half-human, or at least has been told that's what she is. The matter of her identity is very much the point of the story.

Into the Second World has gender roles as an issue, though more as an undercurrent. There's an expedition to the center of the world and she's the only female in the group, and she wrangles her way into the team against the wishes of the others. The real focus of the story is adventure, but her gender does spin things a bit.

In Goblins at the Gates the main character is male, as are two other main characters, but they are joined by a female who wields a magic sword and who emerges as the leader of her people, just as the lead male emerges as leader of his troops. Even so, Julian definitely gets more screen time than does Inglena.

Finally, I'm currently writing a series that features a troupe of performers. The head is male, but a female elf shares leadership and is often a counterbalance.

I stay aware of gender, but my stories are all pre-modern, so current concerns about gender roles aren't really present. I'm more interested in how elves behave, how ogres behave, and so on. It strikes me that few fantasy writers are much concerned with gender roles in other peoples. For example, do an elf woman and a human woman have more in common due to shared gender, or is it the difference of species more significant? If I look at how female dwarves behave in my world of Altearth, are they doing things that would raise hackles among my readers (all ten of them) were I to portray human females that way? Is there something unique about being female orc, female elf, female dwarf, etc.?

I do tend to default to males in secondary and tertiary characters, though. A couple of guards at the door? Men. Innkeeper? A guy. I have to make a conscious effort to choose a female, and then I have to think about how that choice might change the dynamics of the scene. Which is odd and decidedly sexist because when it's just a spear-carrier sort of role, with just a few lines, it really shouldn't matter.

I think that’s a good point to raise about questioning how females from different races/species differ from human women, and I suppose there’s got to be fundamental differences.

Elves and faeries often have the gift of immortality, so does everything happen a lot slower? Like childhood and adolescence, going into fertility, is it harder for an elf to conceive, does the pregnancy affect any magic they possess. These are female specific things.

Do they have more primal base instincts like stronger scent, quicker reflexes and heightened strength. But then how does this manifest itself to females specifically because much of that would be similar for the males from the same race, so how do you differentiate.

 

[skip.knox]

Yes, that's what I mean about authors not really exploring. It's an opportunity, imo, to go into interesting territory. Not that I've done so yet!

BTW and FWIW, my elves are not long-lived. I've adopted the convention that big animals live less long than small animals (not universally true, I know). So, dwarves are actually longer-lived than are elves. Giants have the shortest lifespan, but I doubt I'll ever explore that society.

I don't find the lifespan part particularly interesting. I'm looking more at simple cultural variations, which simply happen. My elves are much more loner types than are dwarves (or humans), and that has some implications for social groups, politics, a whole range of matters. Custom and tradition don't carry much weight with elves, save in a couple of areas. I think this makes elf females a bit more independent. Child-raising duties are more shared, less gender-based. Elves rarely have large numbers of progeny, at least until very recent times. But all of that is vague sketches still.

 

[D. Gray Warrior]

So far, none of my stories or ideas have a female lead. I'm a man, so I just find it easier to write a male MC. I do want to write a story with a female protagonist, someday, though.

 

[Vafnir]

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?

As it's been the case for some people who commented before me, my cast of characters in my both WIPs (the second just being a follow-up of the first) is quite female-heavy. For some reason, it is easier for me to come up with interesting female characters than male ones (myself being male), it's aways been this way. Without wanting to sound cocky, I woud say that I do a good job of writing multidimensional female characters and I am very satisfied with how they've turned out to be so far, especially after having read a few books with not-so-good examples of female protagonists lately (which I'd love to name and criticize here, but I'll keep my composure).

The main character of the first WIP is an intersex person identifying as a woman (Beyla, short for Beylasonna). She lives in a dukedom and her main goal is to separate her soul from the second protagonist's soul before one of them has to die or be sacrificed. And thus, the second main character (who later on becomes the first) is a woman called Chlare (which will be changed, but I'm still figuring it out), entrapped on a different plane and freed by Beyla by creating a bond between their souls, so she has a similar goal as Beyla. Beyla and Chlare become very good friends along the way, and have a romantic, slowly growing relationship going on later in the story. The last one of the main trio, more of a support character, is a male servant and best friend of Beyla who has sworn to protect her at any cost, even after "betraying" her by joining an enemy dukedom, he's called Quince/Quins.
Other central characters which get a little less "screen time" are a(-n asexual) female character, kind of a mentor to the main trio; her protégé who is non-binary/male (still to decide) character whose mother is the mentor's friend. Some relevant characters include the first main character's sister (antagonist) and uncle, and father who is one of the antagonists. Other antagonists include Quins's brother and a male character's soul (named Aevarant) who is Beyla's "ancestor", kind of, or at least they share similarities in personality and appearance. Beyla also carries a part of his soul in her and tries to get rid of him.
Why I mention one character being asexual is because I've seen a lot of hypersexualization of female (and partly male) characters in the books I read recently, and I believe there is not a lot of ace representation in literature, or other media, for that matter.

As for the second WIP, Chlare is the main character in this one, Beyla is the antagonist. Chlare is a student at an academy focused around different martial arts and seeks to find Beyla and win back her "old love" from aeons ago, as this WIP takes place a few lives of the characters later. Beyla is the owner of an internationally known company responsible for many things, such as different kinds of tournaments, arms trade and technological development, and has a hidden, more sinister goal. Aevarant also reappears in this one and influences most of Beyla's actions.
Chlare is accompanied by a few fellow students, one of them being her best friend, a cheerful non-binary female-born character who loves to show affection towards their friends by physical contact, like hugs out-of-nowhere or carrying them around. They become very relevant for the story later on. They are also a member of a band, responsible for vocals and guitars. Two other friends of Chlare are more like support characters, but are still important. One of them is a friend of hers who is a female character, a mechanic which focuses more on crafting and repairing things rather than combat. Last but not least is a male student, who is the brain of the main group and also focused more on being sneaky. His favorite occupation when travelling with the group is cooking and learning more about the culinary culture of other places.

This has become more lengthy than I thought. So far, I haven't had shared too many details about my story with any friends of mine, so I guess this is where such long comments come from.
But as you see, most of the important roles in the stories are fulfilled by female characters, while male characters tend to be more often the support characters or antagonists.

 

[BearBear]

I read that female writers relate to female leads more but I am not female but I also relate to them more, even if I may not write them 100% correctly. I like them as leads and male characters as secondary or supporting roles, or even the dude in distress.