Is your protagonist male or female?
I wonder if most of the main characters in novels are the same sex as the author.
There are examples of famous writers have failed when they have based their novel on the opposite sex.
There are also famous authors who have intelligently avoided the pitfall of writing about the opposite sex.
‘The Professor’ by Charlotte Bronte is based upon her experiences in Brussels, where she was a teacher in 1842. Much of the same subject matter of The Professor was reworked from the perspective of a female student into Brontë's later novel Villette, which attracted MUCH HIGHER critical acclaim.
Jane Austen wrote about men in situations she was most familiar with. In her personal encounters with men. In situations when both men and women were present. But she knew little of what men spoke about in the absence of women. Austen avoided pitfalls by writing about what she knew.
I often find myself making the main character male, as I don't know very much about how to write about female protagonists. If its a boy, I find myself easily able to relate, and if I want to write about any character, I need at least an idea of how their mind works. I could very well guess, but I prefer to rather do what I know best for now, so I can add on to my store of knowledge as time passes. Well, I think writer's write best what they have felt, experienced, known and have gone through.
Take Rowling for example, she was only able to write a master piece such as Harry Potter, due to all the things she went through and experienced, failure, love, sorrow, etc many things. So, my answer- For now I write what I am best at, but if I got an Insight or someone told or explained to me how, take a female character's mind, maybe I could do better. I say mind because, I often love to make my protagonists Complex, a habit of mine which I haven't been able to desert. But then its not the same for everyone is it?
But I will say this- You cannot write of how an Ice cream tastes like, until you've had one.
Well, I do believe that is true. :) Either way, I shall enjoy reading the opinions of the many others.