Jay Kristoff, Author of Stormdancer (2012)
5 tips on writing outside your gender
Ok, confession time:
I am not a 16 year-old girl.
Shocking, I know, but honestly, the facial hair is a dead giveaway.
The thing is, the protagonist of my book IS a 16 year-old girl, and having never been a girl, teenaged or otherwise, some might rightly ask “Well, how on earth did you write one convincingly?”
I won’t lie – it’s difficult. But is it any harder than writing a convincing 532 year-old vampire? Or 20-something fighter pilot who blows things up in spaaaace? Or any of the other bazillion things in this world that I’m not and never will be?
Not really, no. The second most successful series of modern times was written by a woman, starring a teenaged male protagonist. Creating well-rounded, believable characters is a challenge for all writers. However, I’ve discovered there are things you can do to help you step outside your chromosomal boundaries. So in the spirit of giving, and in the hopes that you’ll all say “Well, that Jay Kristoff is a lovely man, and his book sounds frackin’ awesome”, I present them to you now:
Preparation
1. Read (duh).
Read books written by authors of the opposite gender, starring protagonists of the opposite gender. See how the home team does it first. Take particular note of the characterization that seems odd to you (see step 5)
Read books written by authors of the opposite gender, starring protagonists of the opposite gender. See how the home team does it first. Take particular note of the characterization that seems odd to you (see step 5)
Note: You might feel odd at the bookstore, particularly if you’re a 30-something male buying books for teenaged girls. Just shrug at the scary clerk looking at you all weird and say the magic words: “They’re for my niece.”
2. Beta powerz…. ACTIVATE.
Get yourself beta readers of the opposite gender. Not the kind that “squeeeee”. I’m talking about the kind who melt paint from the walls with their crits. Arm these betas with a rubber stamp that reads WDTLT (We Don’t Think Like This).
Encourage them to lay that thing down like the frackin’ hammer of Thor.
Get yourself beta readers of the opposite gender. Not the kind that “squeeeee”. I’m talking about the kind who melt paint from the walls with their crits. Arm these betas with a rubber stamp that reads WDTLT (We Don’t Think Like This).
Encourage them to lay that thing down like the frackin’ hammer of Thor.
3. Abandon fear.
You may experience self-doubt when writing outside your gender. But really, unless you’re writing an autobiography, you’re always going to be writing someone different from you.
You may experience self-doubt when writing outside your gender. But really, unless you’re writing an autobiography, you’re always going to be writing someone different from you.
If people were interested in reading about a guy who is frequently mistaken for Dave Grohl, but in reality, only gets his Rock God on with Guitar Hero 5, yeah, I’m pretty sure I could write that character convincingly. But considering no-one wants to read about that guy, I’ll have to, you know, make stuff up.
Kinda like every fiction writer in the world has been doing since forever. J
Time to write
4. Familiar ground.
Start with similarities. Human beings, at their cores, are very similar regardless of gender. There are things all people want/need. Sure, the way we go about getting these things might differ, but our motivations don’t: We seek out happiness. Recoil from things that hurt us. Seek a place to belong. Friendship. Love. Joy.
Start with similarities. Human beings, at their cores, are very similar regardless of gender. There are things all people want/need. Sure, the way we go about getting these things might differ, but our motivations don’t: We seek out happiness. Recoil from things that hurt us. Seek a place to belong. Friendship. Love. Joy.
“Rescue the kidnapped hottie”, “Avenge my murdered {insert significant other here}” “Find out why things turn into skittles every time I touch them” – These motivations work for any protag, regardless of their chromosomes.
We are not that different.
5. We are very different.There are some core differences between males and females (beyond the obvious), and you need a grasp of these before you begin.
Basic example:
I read a lot of fiction by female authors before I started writing STORMDANCER, and I was struck by the differences in the way different genders perceive their fellows.
When a girl meets a boy in these books, they invariably talk about the boy’s eyes. Or his lips. Or his bone structure.
Veronica Roth’s DIVERGENT:
He has a spare upper lip and a full lower lip. His eyes are so deep-set that his eyelashes touch the skin under his eyebrows, and they are dark blue, a dreaming, sleeping, waiting color.
Kim Cashore’s GRACELING:
His eyes. Katsa had never seen such eyes. One was silver, and the other, gold. They glowed in his sun-darkened face, uneven and strange.
It won’t surprise many of you, but boys do not think this way. When boy character meets girl character, he generally notices her hair, then her body. The eyeline (and thoughts) of the average boy tend to… descend. This is in our nature – if it wasn’t, every XY on the planet wouldn’t be constantly caught doing it.
Try it for yourself (No, I don’t mean ogle other people). Grab five books off your shelf. I’ll bet four of them follow the above rule. Now this is just one example, but you need to understand these differences to write a convincing character. If your male protagonist EVER mentions his love interest’s eyelashes, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.
When in doubt, the best advice I can give is seek the opinions of betas, or writers of the opposite gender you may know. The brutally honest kind are worth their weight in gold. But whatever you do, never, ever fall into that baffling belief that you should only write in your own shoes. Unless you’re a part-time super-spy or possessed of mutant powers, chances are, a book about you is going to be a boring book. Unless you challenge yourself, you will never grow.
Be brave. Believe. And above all, WRITE.
Stormdancer Blurb
The Shima Imperium is verging on the brink of environmental collapse; decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshippers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, land choked with toxic pollution, wildlife ravaged by mass extinctions.
AN IMPOSSIBLE QUESTThe hunters of the imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger – a legendary beast, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows thunder tigers have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death.
A SIXTEEN YEAR OLD GIRLYukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a hidden gift that would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her.
But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire.
Short Author Bio
Jay Kristoff is a Perth-born, Melbourne-based author. His first trilogy, THE LOTUS WAR, was purchased in the three-way auction by US publishing houses in 2011. He is as surprised about it as you are. The first installment, STORMDANCER, is set to be published in September 2012 in the US, UK and Australia. Jay is 6’7, has approximately 13870 days to live and does not believe in happy endings.
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What a cool post! I had just asked an author the question of writing from a guys perspective recently!
ReplyDeleteOh sugar i never realized that O_O I didn't think all girls looked at lips and eyes first and then I read my book (which was in a girl POV) and it was true so...yay I learned something new! :D And also, I haven't read Stormdancer yet but I'm sure Jay got the girl POV down perfectly :) Awesome post Nikki and Jay! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting! I didn't realise some of those things!
ReplyDelete