Hello, wonderful readers! In some ways, I fear this post will be even more controversial than my last.
As always, you are all people of free will who may choose to ignore said-advice. However, I do think we could all benefit from challenging our writing habits, thus stretching our abilities as authors. This post is especially pointed at myself *runs and hides*
Perhaps the majority of authors are women, or perhaps the majority of readers are. Regardless, current books, YA or not, almost always have a female MC. It’s practically a given at this point.
My most recent read, the Fourth Wing series, is an example of this. Strong, magical female MC. And I have to admit it, but I like it. That’s part of the reason I think most readers must be female because the truth is, we like when the MC mirrors us in some way. And when fantasy is your favorite genre, gender might be the only thing you end up having in common!
But, I share this advice not as a reader, but a writer. It is easy to write what is comfortable. As a woman, I like writing female characters because I know them. Understand them. I am one. But at what point can this become lazy writing? One of my latest WIPs has me doing something I haven’t in a very long time – writing from a male POV. Not gonna lie, it’s pretty challenging. Again, I’ve always found it easy to write female characters because getting in their head and understanding their motive has always been easy.
I want to be a writer, not just because I enjoy it, but because I am able to push my abilities past my comfort zones. Choosing to write an MC you are not familiar with yourself also allows you the opportunity to connect with others in your community. It helps that I’m married and can ask my husband if I’m portraying my male character accurately, but that doesn’t mean their aren’t people in your own corner who can help you to develop characters that provide new and exciting ways to draw in your readers.
This applies to other aspects of character creation, too. For instance, what if you wanted to create a character to highlight certain disabilities? I would hope you’d ask people with said-disability so that you are able to provide an accurate representation. To me, that is all part of the fun of writing fiction. Your imagination is truly your limit!
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That’s all for now, friends. Enjoy the weekend!
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