Male Authors, writing from POV of the female?

I don't know about specific people but if you found a list of male romance novelists on the internet somewhere, anything any of them wrote more than 20 years ago is pretty much guaranteed to have a female viewpoint character. Male main viewpoint characters within genre romance are a semi-new thing and still pretty uncommon, because the audience is still largely female and the themes of interest are often tied to the problems of the female side of mate selection and the female side of social pressures and social/political/economic struggles.

Well, here's the best approach to take:

I smoothed my skirts--just like my long, blonde hair, the things were a real nuisance in zero g-- and self consciously checked my makeup in my reflection in the console. It was running again, forming slight smudges under my brilliant, blue eyes, but with the zorgs attacking, I wouldn't have time to fix it. I had to go to the loo again too, because of my teacup bladder. Hopefully, I could hold it, so I wouldn't embarrass myself during the upcoming battle. I fingered my lips nervously.

My large, full breasts floated up, along with my skirts, as I unstrapped myself from the captain's chair. The zorg were real dreamboats, I'd heard. Ferocious warriors, but also very handsome in that ruthless plunderer sort of way, and they loved taking female prisoners. I hadn't had a good romantic subplot lately, and at 35 (albeit one with the body of an 18 year old, thanks to the 24th century's cosmetic surgery breakthroughs), my biological clock was starting to chime.


Okay, sorry. Seriously? Women are people. Each is an individual with her own hopes, dreams, fears etc. Yes, there are some average differences between men and women overall. As groups. Offset averages with overlapping bell curves. But no one is a perfectly average representation of their gender in every (or even most) way. You'll be writing an individual person, not an amalgamation of "all women." Write a person who is interesting first and foremost.

Probably the biggest mistake that men make when writing from the viewpoint of a female character is to stick male gaze in (like I did in my silly little thing). Worrying about whether a particular female character's attitudes, inner voice, and behavior is "typically feminine" or not though? Don't sweat it. We're all individuals in the end.

Most women write at least part of their book from the male POV. Why shouldn't men be able to do write from the female POV? Not just romance, but fiction in general.
Admittedly, sometimes men do a terrible job of this, but sometimes women do too. It's a question of skill, not sex.

Lil said:

Most women write at least part of their book from the male POV. Why shouldn't men be able to do write from the female POV? Not just romance, but fiction in general.
Admittedly, sometimes men do a terrible job of this, but sometimes women do too. It's a question of skill, not sex.

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I realize that you were referring to gender, but even so my first thought was that sex took some skill. Yes, my mind went there. It has no shame.

Without thinking much about it, I wrote a romance that was pretty much only from the male P.O.V. standing in the dock, wringing the 'em of 'er gown, she whines 'twas my ferst offense, yer honour. It made sense for the story, since the first half of the book consists of the hero trying to figure out who the heroine is and what the heck she's up to.

Now I'm wondering if I'm a GAOHT (Genius Ahead of her Time) or just some weirdo who doesn't deserve applause and acroymns.

I think the main thing is to remember that people is people wherever you go; also, check in with a female friend if you're really unsure. But confidence solves most problems, and a thorough round of editing probably solves the rest!

Lil said:

Most women write at least part of their book from the male POV. Why shouldn't men be able to do write from the female POV? Not just romance, but fiction in general.
Admittedly, sometimes men do a terrible job of this, but sometimes women do too. It's a question of skill, not sex.

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Anne Rice comes to mind. Has it never occurred to her that some men are interested in women?

Roxxsmom said:

Probably the biggest mistake that men make when writing from the viewpoint of a female character is to stick male gaze in (like I did in my silly little thing).

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My problem has been with female dialog. And not the big stuff -- I had a female character refer to her old Subaru as her "rust bucket" and my wife insisted that no woman would use that term. We agreed on "piece of shit" instead. Really?

Angry Guy said:

Anne Rice comes to mind. Has it never occurred to her that some men are interested in women?

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Have you read Victorio the Vampire, she can do it, just rarely.

Angry Guy said:

My problem has been with female dialog. And not the big stuff -- I had a female character refer to her old Subaru as her "rust bucket" and my wife insisted that no woman would use that term. We agreed on "piece of shit" instead. Really?

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I've used the term rust bucket a few times, but I admit, it's not something that I'd readily use. But to be fair, none of them men I know use that term, either. (I've gone with piece of crap and crapmobile.) Dialogue and terms vary depending on who is talking and where they are from.

My suggestion would be to write it like your hear it. Stay true to your character. Know where her language comes from-- example, if her dad was a car person who used the term "rust bucket" then she likely will, too. Then run it by a couple femal readers. Let them point out if anything sounds off, then sort those areas.

Like others have said, it's not gender so much as character. Know who she is and make sure the words she says fit her.


http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

crapmobile!

Everybody's already said everything I'd say!

I often see threads (on other forums, I've not been here long enough to know about here yet!) where a guy will ask how to write a woman, but I've yet to see one where a woman asks how to write a man. Just write a character. Women are people too! etc. etc.

I'd also say rust bucket, heap of crap, pile of poo, shitmobile...

Male writers just need to remember that women don't spend a lot of time thinking about their breasts. They might if, for example, a bra strap is digging into them or something, but they definitely don't go on about how high, firm, and round their young breasts are.
(I can't remember now where I saw this, but it definitely made me toss the book.)

ummm, not being a young woman with high, firm, round breasts, I thought about it. A lot. Just throwing it out there to illustrate the wisdom of "write a character.'

But would you do it in a creepy, objectifying your own body way? In a way that sounded like an old man perving on a young girl. Trust me. It was gross.

Jules Court said:

But would you do it in a creepy, objectifying your own body way? In a way that sounded like an old man perving on a young girl. Trust me. It was gross.

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LOL, I do trust you. It sounds ick.

Angry Guy said:

My problem has been with female dialog. And not the big stuff -- I had a female character refer to her old Subaru as her "rust bucket" and my wife insisted that no woman would use that term. We agreed on "piece of shit" instead. Really?

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I wouldn't use 'rust bucket', not because it is gendered in any way, but because cars have contained very little that 'rusts' for several decades. I'd have trouble fitting 'rusty' to the dented and scratched plastic shell of a Suburu.
You are entirely correct in thinking swear words define character. So right.

Re: female MC perving on herself

I have to say that this is a real pet peeve of mine in books written by males with a female POV. I haven't read many that were done well, particularly where there was a love interest.

On the flip side, reading how women write about how men think is sometimes almost as funny. I mean, if you want to know how men think, what they would find important, try reading a book written by a man for men--Tom Clancy comes to mind. Those books tend to be all about the action, with women coming into it only as very wooden characters.

Huh... come to think of it, I'm having trouble thinking of any male romance authors that I've read recently. Anyone got a list somewhere?

List.

See here, here, here, here, here.

kkwalker said:

On the flip side, reading how women write about how men think is sometimes almost as funny. I mean, if you want to know how men think, what they would find important, try reading a book written by a man for men--Tom Clancy comes to mind. Those books tend to be all about the action, with women coming into it only as very wooden characters.

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This is why I love those commercials where you're alternately hearing the thoughts of a man and a woman on some subject. They exaggerate, but not by much.

As Good As It Gets quote:

- How do you write women so well?

- I think of a man and I take away reason and accountability



Here is what this post made me think of.

Not that I would second that.

Novels written by a man from a woman's perspective? Widow for a Year - John Irving. Notes From An Exhibition, and , A Perfectly Good Man by Patrick Gale. For a start. I would recommend Notes From an Exhibition particularly because the author's 'in character' understanding was amazing to me when I read it (only one of the voices is a woman in this one, but A Perfectly Good Man covers 3 very different women)
Maybe give them a try.

I do, in first person POV, and I've been told by my betas that I do it remarkably good. So, either I do or my betas are teasing me. Seriously, it's not that hard, you (in case you are male) are more familiar with women dynamics, emotions, and mind mechanics than what you think.

For what it's worth (and he isn't current, but...), the author of the Dark Shadows books, Dan Ross writing as Marylin Ross, wrote from female POV. The Dark Shadows books may not quite fit the HEA romance mold, but he also wrote quite a few other Gothic romances under that name, like Devil's Rock.

Pardon me for jumping in here. I don't have any qualifications whatsoever in writing (haven't produced a single novel). That stated, this thread's topic has definitely (for lack of a better word) bothered me.

I don't know the dynamics/emotions/thought processes that goes on within the female's mind. (I sometimes wonder if I know my own dynamics/emotions/thought processes. I seem to wing it most of the time.)

My current WIP requires me knowing the thought process of a 'typical' grade 12 female student (including her unique traits/characteristics/personality). I'm winging it right now. Mainly because I think a female student is just the same as a male student in that she'd think about grades and her boyfriend and her best friend. I'll probably include (by
mistake) typical stereotypes of high school girls. (i.e.
"Oh WOW! Bieber is so cute!" or "Teen magazine's out!
look at that hunk!" *rolls eyes*)

I mean, I can try to empathize what a girl would sound/do for any situation she finds herself in; but, as a male, I can never know what a girl really thinks/acts like.

No offense to anyone.

ew

PS: New here. I'm aspiring to be a sf/f writer.

^Bieber's not a thing anymore, dude. It's all 5 SOS and maybe One Direction.

(yeah, sorry, this doesn't have anything to do with this thread)