• Welcome to the Fantasy Writing Forums. Register Now to join us!

Writing a fantasy novel with a female protagonist

Adalind

Dreamer
I’ve been thinking about writing a fantasy novel with a female protagonist for a while now. My protagonist would be a liar, a thief, a storyteller who travels around the world and gets in really big trouble. I envision her as a cross between Locke Lamora and Kvothe, only that the story gets darker, especially towards the end.

I’ve done some research on the internet though, and now I’m worried about whether this would be a good idea. In fact I’m slightly discouraged. I’m worried that men won’t read a novel with a female protagonist. I’ve also read that people expect to find romance in a fantasy novel with a female protagonist, especially if it is written by a woman.

There won’t be romance. I dislike reading romance, and I dislike writing it. There also won’t be a strong woman struggling against patriarchy and being told that women can’t do this or that. Such novels don’t appeal to me. There won’t be a woman trying to prove herself. There’ll just be a woman going on adventures. There’ll be some humour, and there’ll be some violence. There’ll also be a little bit of politics, and a lot of really exotic locations.

What do you think of this idea? If you are male, would you ever read a fantasy novel with a female protagonist?

Would a fantasy novel with a female protagonist ever stand a chance of being published, especially if said protagonist isn’t constantly thinking about having sex with (supernatural) men?

I've been thinking about how many fantasy novels with female protagonists I've read recently, and the number I came up with was astonishingly low. All my favourite fantasy novels have male protagonists ...

Anyway, what are your thoughts on this matter in general?
 

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
Well, love interests, flirtations, tend to be a must in publishing it seems, but romance? Gag me. I skim/skip romance/sex scenes unless there seems to be a real point. I'm a dude with no issue reading female protags. What you describe wouldn't bug me a bit, so long as the story and writing are good.

Publishers? It probably depends. But I doubt it would be an issue.
 

Svrtnsse

Staff
Article Team
There won’t be a woman trying to prove herself. There’ll just be a woman going on adventures.

This is the part that really sticks out to me, and which I really like. From what I gather, this is pretty rare, and it's something that could actually be a selling point to a lot of people.
 

Incanus

Auror
I would have no problem reading something like this. I'd like to see more of it.

But I have no idea about the publishing possibilities. Hopefully, someone will do something like this that takes off, and then more will be expected/looked for.

My stories tend to be light on the love/sex/relationship side--thus I expect not to be widely read. But I encourage you to try. We might be rare, but we're not totally alone.
 

MineOwnKing

Maester
Your idea can work and you're starting out asking all the right questions.

Figure out which target group you want to appeal to and then craft the story to their tastes.

A very good example would be the Splatter Elf books by Philip Overby.

He is a moderator on this site and has published a few short stories on Amazon.

One of his characters named Katzia, fits into the type of female protagonist you're thinking about.

I think men will always be curious as to what makes women tick, regardless of the subject matter.
 

T.Allen.Smith

Staff
Moderator
I could answer all your questions from my perspective, but don't think it'd do you any good. The only question you need to answer is if YOU would enjoy reading that type of story.

If the answer is yes, there are surely others like you in the world who would also appreciate that premise, if well-executed.

Honestly, put those troubling thoughts behind you. Write a story you'd like to read & make it the best story you can write. If you write it well, there will be an audience.
 

PaulineMRoss

Inkling
To be honest, once you start focusing on the potential audience for a story, it's already slipping out of your grasp. Write the book first, and don't think about anything beyond your own interest in the story, and the way the characters and plot develop. Then set it aside and write another. And, ideally, a third. At that point you can begin to consider adjusting for an audience.

On the more general point, there are plenty of female protagonists in fantasy these days, and romance isn't an essential part of the mix. As someone very wisely said upthread, if you write the book you want to read, you can be pretty sure that other people will want to read it, too.
 

Penpilot

Staff
Article Team
I suggest you don't worry about something like this. It doesn't matter if the character is male or female as long as they're interesting and the story is good.

To me, thinking along these lines is counter productive. Write the story you want to tell, and let everything else fall to the side.

If you're really concerned about guys not wanting a story with a female lead, I point you to a few of the biggest movies/books to come along in a while. Hunger games and Star Wars the Force Awakens. Both have awesome female leads and have done well for themselves.
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
I'm not a little girl living in the 1950s, but I still find myself watching Cinderella from time to time. If you don't have a clear target audience, you can always pound through those audience barriers with a higher quality story. You're the writer - you're the artist - make it work if you want to.

That said, your protagonist is a big part of your target marketing, but it's not the end all, be all of it. It's all about setting expectations and making the right promises to your readers. If you have an FMC and you're not including romance, and you want the big action plots that tend to appeal more to guys, you just need to make that clear to your readers as early as possible. Open with a James Bond-esque, blowing up a building type scene, for instance.

There can be a lot of value in understanding your target audience. But, don't make the mistake of putting it ahead of your core competence - that is, that thing you want to do and can be the best at doing. Figure out what you've got in your writing, and then look at your natural target audience, and then consider better ways to reach them. But start with you.
 
Last edited:

WooHooMan

Auror
What do you think of this idea? If you are male, would you ever read a fantasy novel with a female protagonist

As a man, I'll speak on behave of all men and say no. There's no conceivable reason why a man would ever want to read a story staring a woman. I mean, that's silly. Would she just be making sammiches for 400 pages?

But seriously, I have been turned-off of books that have a woman as the protagonist but that is not, in any way, because I'm adverse to reading about women. There's been a lot of instances where I find a fantasy story staring a woman that comes across as the writer saying "look at this cool female character! I sure am progressive aren't I".

There also won’t be a strong woman struggling against patriarchy and being told that women can’t do this or that. Such novels don’t appeal to me. There won’t be a woman trying to prove herself.

Based on this, I think you'll be fine.

Also, does anyone else think the term "female protagonist" is kind of off? Today, I've used the term "female" to describe a dog and the end of an extension chord. I've rarely, if ever, use the term "female" when referring to a person. I feel like that term is a little dehumanizing. I'd prefer it if people just call them "woman characters".
I don't know, maybe that's just me.
 

Mythopoet

Auror
What do you think of this idea? If you are male, would you ever read a fantasy novel with a female protagonist?

I'm not male, but I quizzed my husband on the subject and he told me that he isn't opposed to female protagonists. However, in his experience he has seldom enjoyed a book with a female protagonist written by a female author and so seldom takes a chance on them. Also, he notes that the more the marketing aspects of a book look like they are aimed toward women (title, cover, description, etc.) the less likely he is to pick it up. That said, the most recent example of a female protagonist he liked that he could think of was written by a woman, so honestly I think marketing is a big part of it. Publishers often go out of their way to target specific gender audiences and make others feel like the book isn't meant for them.


Would a fantasy novel with a female protagonist ever stand a chance of being published, especially if said protagonist isn’t constantly thinking about having sex with (supernatural) men?

Yes, certainly. Plenty of novels with female protagonists are being published these days.

I've been thinking about how many fantasy novels with female protagonists I've read recently, and the number I came up with was astonishingly low. All my favourite fantasy novels have male protagonists ...

Anyway, what are your thoughts on this matter in general?

MY favorite stories tend to have male protags too. THough I can name several with female protags. Honestly, I think female characters are harder to write well than male characters. Even as a woman I find myself tending to come up with male characters because it just feels easier and it's easier to drive a story forward with them. I feel like it is easier to understand men than it is to understand women. I don't like to contribute to stereotypes, but that's just my experience.

Even so, I'm working on a story with a female protagonist now.
 

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
Also, does anyone else think the term "female protagonist" is kind of off? Today, I've used the term "female" to describe a dog and the end of an extension chord. I've rarely, if ever, use the term "female" when referring to a person. I feel like that term is a little dehumanizing. I'd prefer it if people just call them "woman characters".
I don't know, maybe that's just me.

Actually, I think you are humanizing or at least sexualizing the outlet, hello Freud? heh heh. I've no issue with male or female, doesn't seem dehumanizing at all. Male and female are generic, sure, but effective communicating without indication of age.
 
I’ve been thinking about writing a fantasy novel with a female protagonist for a while now. My protagonist would be a liar, a thief, a storyteller who travels around the world and gets in really big trouble. I envision her as a cross between Locke Lamora and Kvothe, only that the story gets darker, especially towards the end.

I’ve done some research on the internet though, and now I’m worried about whether this would be a good idea. In fact I’m slightly discouraged. I’m worried that men won’t read a novel with a female protagonist. I’ve also read that people expect to find romance in a fantasy novel with a female protagonist, especially if it is written by a woman.

There won’t be romance. I dislike reading romance, and I dislike writing it. There also won’t be a strong woman struggling against patriarchy and being told that women can’t do this or that. Such novels don’t appeal to me. There won’t be a woman trying to prove herself. There’ll just be a woman going on adventures. There’ll be some humour, and there’ll be some violence. There’ll also be a little bit of politics, and a lot of really exotic locations.

What do you think of this idea? If you are male, would you ever read a fantasy novel with a female protagonist?

Would a fantasy novel with a female protagonist ever stand a chance of being published, especially if said protagonist isn’t constantly thinking about having sex with (supernatural) men?

I've been thinking about how many fantasy novels with female protagonists I've read recently, and the number I came up with was astonishingly low. All my favourite fantasy novels have male protagonists ...

Anyway, what are your thoughts on this matter in general?
If anything, making a female character who simply goes on adventures is the best way to give a message about equality. The idea that female protagonist MUST struggle against a patriarchy always seemed hypocritical to me. If one wants to express equality, one should be able to make a regular story with a female protagonist, rather than always highlighting a less than subtle "fight the patriarchy" plotline.

Not sure for what it counts but I think most fantasy readers nowadays are just looking for an adventure. Sure, it might not be as popular to do what you're doing but remember that people tend to be stupid.

Write the story you want. For the record, I'm male and probably younger than quite a few people in this forum and I just look for some good adventure. I'd read the story, so I say keep writing and don't let others control your creativity!

Sent from my SM-G386T using Tapatalk
 

arbiter117

Minstrel
This is the part that really sticks out to me, and which I really like. From what I gather, this is pretty rare, and it's something that could actually be a selling point to a lot of people.
That would be my selling point!!! :D

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
I'm sure there's a market for it, especially for the "Mary Sue Girl Power" type character. Unfortunately there's not much substance to those.
 

glutton

Inkling
I wonder how much of the 'woman proving herself' element can be present before people begin to get annoyed. I don't have it as a central theme in my stories, but for example a girl might go to military school and be underestimated by her peers in the first chapter... but by the end of the chapter, everyone there accepts that she belongs and the rest of the book is about her fighting monsters, mercenaries, assassins, and evil masterminds while protecting her friends. 'Woman proving herself' isn't a primary focus in my books though since it would look ridiculous if everyone continually doubted girls who are basically portrayed as female Beowulfs or Conans lol.
 
Last edited:

glutton

Inkling
I'm sure there's a market for it, especially for the "Mary Sue Girl Power" type character. Unfortunately there's not much substance to those.

Gotta love a cute Mary Sue with a gigantic hammer smashing up Godzilla-sized monsters while fixing her makeup! (Last part added for humor XD)
 

arbiter117

Minstrel
I wonder how much of the 'woman proving herself' element can be present before people begin to get annoyed. I don't have it as a central theme in my stories, but for example a girl might go to military school and be underestimated by her peers in the first chapter... but by the end of the chapter, everyone there accepts that she belongs and the rest of the book is about her fighting monsters, mercenaries, assassins, and evil masterminds while protecting her friends. 'Woman proving herself' isn't a primary focus in my books though since it would look ridiculous if everyone continually doubted girls who are basically portrayed as female Beowulfs or Conans lol.
I tend to get annoyed especially when women in fantasy worlds are often as powerful and capable as the men (DnD-type), so in those situations I get the feeling the author wanted to shove that plot down the readers' throats even when it makes absolutely no sense for the prejudice to exist.

If the "superior" people were a mix of men and women, I like it a lot more because it's less "men always look down on women" (which if taken too far will just make male readers put the book down because they aren't mysoginists and what man wants to be in the company of misandrists?) and more "people in general look down on this woman because..." Then I like to read and see how the character overcomes the flaw (or is it a flaw?) everyone hates in them, and how that character gets accepted by her peers or learns to ignore the prejudice and live her life.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 

glutton

Inkling
I tend to get annoyed especially when women in fantasy worlds are often as powerful and capable as the men (DnD-type), so in those situations I get the feeling the author wanted to shove that plot down the readers' throats even when it makes absolutely no sense for the prejudice to exist.

In the case of my works there's usually very little magic and the female MCs (if they are not already established fighters at the start) are sometimes initially doubted in the context of being warriors because women are physically weaker than men on average and also smaller (small men are doubted in similar fashion as well). The doubt goes away quickly when they start kicking butt in front of their doubters though.

In a setting where magic is more relied upon and a primary source of personal combat ability then yes, it would make no sense for the prejudice to exist assuming men and women have equal access to magic. Mine tend to be non-magical melee fighter stories though with the magic users being rare and usually supporting characters or antagonists, and the 'woman being doubted' plot is generally only used if the female warrior character is a neophyte. The legendary slayer of giant monsters carrying around a 6' weapon probably won't be doubted as a warrior because she's female... unless it's a parody lol.
 
Last edited:

canvas

Acolyte
Dropping in late, but I thought I would throw my two cents in.

I'm male, and I write a lot of female protagonists. I've never really thought much on the reason for that, other than the fact that I enjoy it, but if I had to make up a reason for using female protagonists, it would be this:

No reason at all. I don't know how much sense that makes, but people are people, and not every part of their journey, nor their identity, will rely at all on their gender. I write female protagonists, but I feel like focusing on the things that make them "different" or their "reason" for being a female character makes no sense. I like the idea of a more balanced roster of our favorite fantasy characters, but not the idea of gender for gender's sake. If it's going to be normal, it has to be treated as normal, not pointed out with a "would you look at that."

I've obviously gone off-topic here, but I think there is advice to be found in that. Some people will want to read about a female character's struggles, but the more worlds we create where gender struggles aren't an issue, the more normal such a concept becomes. Characters are characters, and people will read a good story. That is probably all you should worry about.
 
Top