I'm continuing with the random ideas that pop in my head because of my short story, "The Last Dragon," in the brand spankin' new IWSG anthology, Hero Lost: Mysteries of Death and Life. But today's topic isn't just about that story. It's about a lot of my stories, at least the ones I've been writing for the past few years. Because they have something in common:
Male protagonists. It seems that every story I come up with is told from a male POV. The fact that these protagonists are also the narrators of their stories probably has more to do with me being more comfortable with first person. It just feels more personal to me; I can dive in more with the characters and really tell what they're experiencing and feeling.
But why the male POVs? Because I'm a girl, some people may think it's weird. They may even think the story is told by a female character until they get some kind of clue that it's not (which I try to do as soon as possible). But first, I think we have to go back in time.
I've come up with a lot of story ideas since I first started writing, but I haven't necessarily committed to writing all of them. One story idea in particular stands out from my earlier writing, though, and that was from a female POV. It was a YA fantasy, with a bit of a Twilight feel, but before Twilight was even a thing (so clearly I was ahead of my time...). I wrote it three times. I really was committed to it. I thought it was my book. But I was 14 when I started. Not everyone is a perfect writer when they're 14. Eventually I abandoned the book. Maybe I'll come back to it someday, maybe not.
But do I think I only wrote a book from a girl's POV because I was supposed to? Because that would be expected? I'm not so sure. I don't think it would have occurred to me at 14 to write as a different gender. I just wasn't experienced enough as a writer to tackle something like that. And I've always believed that my characters speak to me. The protagonist for this story was named Amber, and this was her story. It couldn't be told from someone else's POV. I did have prequel and sequel ideas, some dual-POV ideas with her and her love interest, Drew, but I never got them done.
So I think it's all up to my characters. The idea for Uneven Lines started as a concept, with no concrete characters in mind. I hadn't decided on their genders yet. It really could have gone in so many different directions. But then a few hours later, as I was sitting in my fiction writing class, basically Jordan appeared to me, said something along the lines of, "I'm here, bitch. Here's your story." And the rest was history.
Since then, all of my stories have been from male POVs. Again, I haven't written all of those ideas. But how does this relate to "The Last Dragon"? The protagonist and narrator, Raynor, is a 17-year-old boy. Why was this story from his POV? I could have told it from his sister's POV, or even the actual lost hero, although the story would have been significantly different. I think I chose Raynor because he has the most doubt. His sister Illy is too sure of herself, too confident. I thought the story would be more interesting from his POV. I think he had more to learn, more to discover about himself.
So I don't really know if I've actually answered the question of why I write from male perspectives. I guess it's just that those are the characters who speak to me. They're the ones who want their stories told. And I always listen to my characters.
I think with female characters, I just say, "go forth and kick ass." I'm more protective of my male characters (yes, even Jordan. You haven't seen my outline for Book 2...). They're more troubled. They have more complicated stories to tell. Looking back now, I think Amber was a flat character. Too much of a damsel in distress. I think Illy in "The Last Dragon" is the kind of female character I'd want to write. So maybe I'll change things up at some point. It all just depends on what characters pop up in my head.
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Characters do have a way of showing up in your mind. I don't think it matters what gender they are. If they want to be heard they will be heard and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot we, as writers, can do about it. :)
ReplyDeleteThe majority of my protagonists are either children or older people. Not sure what that says about me as a writer, if anything, but I just go with what the stories want. :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was just beginning my writing journey way back when in middle school, (oddly enough my first book attempt was also very Twilight-esk long before the book came out. But I had demons and alternate dimensions thrown in too) I wrote from a girls perspective for much the same reason. But something switched in high school and male character began dominating my writing. If I were really to loot at it objectively then I'd have to say cultural conditioning about gender rolls had a lot to do with it. The stories I wanted to write in high school were much more adventure based and less romance based. At that time many adventure type books were written from a male POV or at the very least had a male protagonist. Noticing this helped me come up with my most recent work which is an adventure based story with a kick ass female protagonist. :D
ReplyDeleteI write from male perspectives, too. My daughters actually think I write better from male perspectives than female perspectives - which might be weird, but maybe it's because I had a lot of guy friends as a kid and teen? I don't know. My grandmother always liked to tell me stories about her older brother's exploits and adventures. Sadly, I knew less about her adventures than his - I didn't know how far she rode her horses or how often she went on her own adventures until I read her journals after her death. Now, thinking of that, I want to write a few more female protags, but like you, I need one of them to speak to me.
ReplyDeleteMost of my stories start out with a male POV. Sometimes a female POV will come in, but looking through them, the ones that get finished all start with the guy speaking.
ReplyDeleteMost of my stories end up with a female MC, but they're the ones who speak loudest to me. I do rotate POVs in my fantasy series, and a decent number of them are male, but when it's a single POV story, chances are that single voice is female. To each their own. I love how Madeline put it—I just go with what the stories want.
ReplyDeleteMy first book was actually written from a female POV, which is pretty ambitious, I guess, although it wasn't in first person. That character was very determined and no-nonsense, and most of the female characters I've written since have tended to be more go-getting than their male counterparts. That's probably why I write from male POVs now - they're more like me!
ReplyDeleteI usually have female MC's in my books, but when I do write in a male's POV, it seems more natural. With a woman's POV, I have to be careful not to make her too strong, otherwise she'll be considered a bitch. lol And I sometimes forget to put in deep thoughts for my female MCs, not so with the men.
ReplyDeleteIf that's what you're comfortable writing, stick with it.
ReplyDeleteWriting from a female point of view was a challenge for me, but I've done it twice now. I'll probably stick with mostly male characters though.
I like writing from the male POV. In general like to write about people who aren't like me. That's one way to explore the way others think and feel and expand our view of the world. Great that you're enjoying that experience and I hope you keep going.
ReplyDeleteYou have to do what serves the story, and if that is writing from an opposite POV then fine. I have read stories written by women with a male POV and the MC just didn't feel like a boy for me. I had to keep reminding myself, 'it's a boy, it's a boy.' But I've also read great stories by people who wrote opposite their gender and it worked fine. So do what you need to do, do it well, and it will be an amazing story!
ReplyDeleteI write from a man's perspective half the time. It's simpler. They aren't as emotional so everything is bit more straightforward.
ReplyDeleteMost of my work is half/half for male and female perspective. Some people are really good getting the opposite gender right.
ReplyDeleteI've tried writing from the male perspective, but I can't get it right; I don't really understand how men think, like why they think it's okay to wait a week after a date to text back or to remember the names of every single player on their favorite football teams but forget significant others' birthdays. But I digress. :)
ReplyDeleteAlmost from day one I've written from a female perspective. I think it's directly due to the fact that the majority of my adult friends are women, so I always felt comfortable writing from that point of view. Whenever I write male characters, they have a tendency to be passive-aggressive to the point of being something that would be totally inappropriate for this blog.
ReplyDeleteI Are Writer!