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Yes, it seems impossible that a guy would need help (gasp).
So I’m trying to make a female character, and since there happens to be plenty of female writers here, I figured I could get plenty of help out from y’all.
Are there more gals then guys around here? I’m pretty sure there are.
*Forum Signature here*
Soooooo, I’m not unnecessarily a writer…but I am a girl. What kind of help do you want?
"Who knows what the next month will bring? I say let us eat cake now!"
-Mr. Benedict@thewirelessblade I`m a girl! 🙂 What do you need help with?>
Assistant Guildmaster of the Phantom Awesome Meraki
~ Created to create ~Whoops!!! I meant ‘necessarily’…spellcheck problems.😒
"Who knows what the next month will bring? I say let us eat cake now!"
-Mr. Benedict@thewirelessblade Hi! I don’t think we’ve met. I’m NC. *shakes your hand* So, like many things *nervous laugh* I have a lot of random thoughts on that. Do you have any questions in particular, or would you rather I just throw my unorganized thoughts at you? 😛
*shameless self promotion* https://weridasusual.home.blog/
I can probably help answer specific questions. (I’m not so good at general information on how we girls think since it’s normal for me, lol.)
Although, this did just pop up in my inbox just this morning and might be helpful: 7 Tips for Writing Characters of the Opposite Sex. It’s by Hannah Heath, so at the very least it’ll be an entertaining read, but it’s likely to also be really helpful.
Speculative fiction author. Mythology nerd. Worldbuilding enthusiast. Singer. Fan of classic literature.
Hello there, most confused one. I happen to be a girl, and would be happy to answer any questions you have about we mysterious peoples. 😉 Also, that article Archer mentioned above is brilliant, so I would totally recommend checking that out as well.
"A hard heart is no infallible protection against a soft head."
- C. S. Lewis
If you want to make a girl tough, take the dad away. If you want to make the girl soft, take the mum away. If you want her to be emotionally unstable, take a sibling away in a tragic moment.
If you give any girl chocolate, she’ll probably be happy.
Girls either talk a lot or a little.
Thats all I have for now @thewirelessblade. Don’t know if it’s too helpful or not for you…
You want anything?! That’s kinda hard… I mean, it’d be A LOT easier if you could be a teeny bit specific. Or do you want stereotypes and generalizations? That also depends on what time in history (or out of history = fiction) you character lives.
I guess I would say…just think of them like guys, as in human. Ask yourself general questions…”What do all people struggle with?”etc….and if you really, really, want to know what girls are like…either talk to one’s you know, OR…ask specific questions. 😉
"Who knows what the next month will bring? I say let us eat cake now!"
-Mr. BenedictHAHA! MY CUP OF TEA! Gender roles and psychology! Huzzah!
Okay, so, I’ve happened to have studied this topic somewhat extensively (mostly for school – and probably not nearly as extensively as one would expect… I suppose I should have said extensive for me).
Women, typically, are more communication oriented. If we bring you a problem, we don’t want you to solve it, we want you to listen. (If you’ve ever listened to marriage counseling, you’ll hear this a lot.) Gossip is something we may be particularly prone to, though not necessarily – it usually depends on the person. We’re pretty honest, and usually mean what we say unless we want attention, in which case we will try to be vague and mysterious (which typically ends up falling flat). Romantics, typically.
Of course, there are always expections to this rule. I suggest you study psychology, whenever you get the chance. Is muy bueno.
Married a blacksmith, and now frequently uses his knowledge for writing fantasy.
Hi! I know I don’t post here much, but I thought I’d reply since this topic always kind of annoys me. The truth is, the most annoying female characters written by male authors are the ones that adhere too much to stereotypes (of any kind!). Girls are people first, and girls second (maybe not even second…there are other things that matter a lot, like age and experience and personality and…). So anyhow, the best advice I can give is make sure that your character is a well-developed character before worrying about gender roles.
The other thing that’s generally overlooked in a lot of today’s books is that girls are naturally less strong than boys (except, you know, maybe an average girl is stronger than a below-average boy, and so forth), so we rely on our brains more than strength. A lot of strong women in history have been tacticians rather than just tough.
Like I said, it’s hard to just define what a girl is like – the more closely detailed your psychological analysis is, the more likely you are to write a bad female character. The best way to get the opposite gender is to hang around them a lot in a friendly way. Some girls are super girly and annoying and mean (on that note, a lot of girls are mean, and they usually use back-handed compliments to be mean, but that’s a slightly different topic). Some girls are super nice. Some girls just like being tough and getting dirty. Some girls are self-conscious and shy. Most girls are various combinations of traits. We ain’t all the same.
So. Your female character should be a character first, just like your male characters – I mean, you don’t sit down and sweat about whether your same-gender characters are good representations of your gender. Then pick out things (or better, have someone else pick out things) that seem more like something boys would do than girls, and change those things.
That was long and random, but I hope there was maybe some tiny useful thing in there…
Good luck writing!!
I think it’s too limiting an idea. I personally am a mix of a lot of MBTI types. I’m right on the line with both E/I and J/P. That grid may be an okay guideline (I’m not familiar enough with the types to know how accurate it is), but I really think that you should just make the character you want to make without worrying about whether they’re “female enough.” Don’t disregard the physical differences (like women being naturally less physically strong than men), but don’t worry so much about making a character who checks off all the “female” boxes in everything or you’re likely to have a character who’s a walking cliche and makes your female readers really irritated. We’re just as diverse and complicated as guys are. Start by creating a well-rounded character and you’ll be on the right track. @mnvalentine’s suggestion of getting someone to read over afterward and pick out things that don’t fit a female character was a really good idea. Write now and fix the issues later, just like you would with any other aspect of writing.
Speculative fiction author. Mythology nerd. Worldbuilding enthusiast. Singer. Fan of classic literature.
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