I've kind of stolen someone else's question here, as its a comment on a previous question of mine, but it's a very good point - my leading character is a teenage girl, and I freely admit that if there is one person who utterly fails to understand the teenage girl, then that person is typing this question. Any previous attempts I have made at stories have featured someone I relate to - a young male - and all of them have been aborted. Does anyone else find themselves writing (and therefore immersing themselves in) a character who is fundamentally different to them? Or is it the same as, for example, writing about an assassin (which I don't) if you've never killed someone (which I haven't)?
Basically, can you create a believable, real, sympathetic character when you actually don't identify with them, or are even from the opposite sex?
It isn't such a problem if you start by outlining the traits of the character you intend to write about in the first instance. It is quite easy identifying with your own traits, likes and dislikes, but identifying these with another does take some research. If you can eavesdrop on people, say for example, in a cafe situation, you can build on this information.
I understand to an extent about writing for the opposite sex, because I always worry the same with my male characters. But I think being conscious of a potential problem is a good thing, because it means you can work at it as you're writing.
I mostly write from a female perspective because, well I have more experience in that department aha! Although I do have male characters here and there. I just enlist the help of my male friends to read those drafts and tell me what they think of the character, his thoughts, his feelings and the way he responds to things in the story and to himself.
Either way, I think writing a character you don't identify with isn't a bad thing! Good luck with it and I hope it's at least a learning experience for you~!
Hey Mark,
I was thinking the same thing. Most of the stories I have written have been from a male's point of view as I find it easier. I usually try and somehow associate myself with my characters, I try to put myself in their shoes and imagine how I would react. When I have to write about a woman, I try and base the woman on real people I know. I try to borrow traits of personality from actual people, BUT what I have realized is that sometimes, it doesn't have to be "correct" because no such thing exists. I don’t think there is a correct way someone should or must act and react. It’s all based on what the character knows and has experienced. What I mean is that sometimes, as long as your story explains why a certain character acts in a specific way, then who can, other than the creator, the writer, doubt the character’s behavior?
I am not saying you can write anything you want. The character must be believable, the character must feel real, but if you provide with a logical series of events, a good description that explains certain behavior, then you can probably get away with it.
In one of the stories I have written, a female friend commented that a female character’s reaction was weird. She said it didn’t make sense she would react in such a way to a certain situation. I was actually expecting that kind of comments the moment I wrote that scene. I told my friend to read the story all the way to the end, and if she still felt that way, then I would love to hear how she feels the character should have reacted. I asked her that because I knew that further down the story certain secrets were revealed that explained her behavior. When she reached that part of the story, she agreed with me that it was logical my character reacted that way.
So I would say yes, it’s harder to write about the opposite gender some times, or to get into the mentality of an assassin, but there are ways to “work around that.” Ways to make it believable as long as you have some of the basics. My first woman character appeared to be a tomboy. I wasn’t aiming for that, but naturally she looked like one as I, a male, tried to write about a girl. After I spoke with a couple of women and got their ideas on certain things, I managed to write a more believable female character that didn’t appear to be a tomboy.