How do YOU...

[CHWolf]

...Get into the minds of male characters?

I know, I know. First thread I start here and it makes men the central issue.

However, I've been told (by men) that I've written female characters well (again, by men) but I have no idea how I specifically go about it. It sounds like a bad pick-up line, but I guess I just write a character, and the gender isn't the determining factor when it comes to their personality and motivations.

By the way, here's a recent photo of me:

SO...


If you've ever written a male character, did you have any method - any trouble - any lessons learned?



How do YOU get into the minds of male characters?







Since most of you are new here, I'm going to spot you a couple barbed answers...

1.) "It's not easy to get into the male mind. It's always closed."
2.) "The male mind? I don't write fiction."

[jedipencil]

You have pretty good taste in men...

I realize this has nothing to do with Womanthology (please delete this if it is inappropriate) but I started (again) the tale I've been trying to exorcise from my head. The main character turned out to be male and it is told in first person, but it wanders in to the first person. Would you like to look at it? I posted it for the Fiction Friday this week, and can give you the link. If you find it worthy, I'd be happy to tell you my approach. If, of course, you think it is readable.

[CHWolf]

I would love to look at it even more than I love to look at the photo.

It's true either way you think about it.

[katiedoyle]

I agree about not basing your characters on gender, but rather on the personalities you develop for them.
When you start relying on typicalities of males and females, your characters cease to be real.
I think most of my characters are grounded either in aspects of my own mentality and personality, or those of people I know. There's always something real and then they kind of move from their. What makes them different from what I know and who I know? And what made them that way?
The personalities and drives of real people aren't necessarily based on gender, but on experiences, why shouldn't it be the same for characters?
That being said, I've really only written one significant anything with a male main character and I'm now going to read it a million times and question wether it reads as authentic or not. #yikes =D

[jedipencil]

I am a big supporter of equality, more than you might think. Equality in differences, if you like... As you say, individuality/character is most important and usually overrides gender.

Who is the character one wants to write about, is number one I suppose. All those things that make the character who you want the character to be, brave, wussy, kind, mean, whatever. And then, is the character a guy? Why? From deciding why he would be a guy, I'd go to pushing the characteristics that make him that particular guy - picky or relaxed or straight, bi, gay, multi-species (hey, captain Jack is fantastically interesting as a character), coffee-lover, tea-lover, on and on.

People are weird, and that's what makes them wonderful. Even in Chit-Chat.

My two cents, for the little they are worth.

CWolf, I'm pm-ing you now...

[Kaileigh Blue]

I honestly spend more time with men than I do women. A lot of my views tend to skew towards what people describe as male.

...I guess that's why I spend more time with men.

I'd disagree about writing a character then randomly giving them a gender (or anything else like race, sexuality, even religion.) All of those things will mold a person/character.

Unless you're just trying to write something short and none of that stuff will ever come up.

[CHWolf]

Well, yeah, I wouldn't recommend randomly assigning gender (unless it's purely a secondary-or-lesser character, etc.) but more like staying away from gender being THE determining factor.

IE: "Male character - awesome badass. Female character - loves the awesome badass."


Heh.

[TheOxfordPixie]

I think I tend to build a character's most important traits, then decide on things like gender, and then fill in the gaps. So, I might decide that I want this character to be the cautious one of the group, and that's their most important trait when it comes to how they act, and then I'll decide they're male, so that'll play into some aspects too - for instance, in a fantasy setting with 'traditional' values, this character would then also have been the breadwinner for their family, etc.

That said, sometimes it doesn't work that way. I do find it easier to write girls - I'm not averse to writing men, and lots of what I've written involve male characters, but I'm yet to really have a main male character, they're usually secondary. I think I just need more practise.

[Scaleyinx]

Originally Posted by CHWolf

How do YOU...
...Get into the minds of male characters?

The hubby is male...
The kid is male...
The dog was male...
Our fish was male...
The rooster is male...
The neighbors are male...
Their horse next to my fence is male...

Serious overload of testosterone around here...but otherwise, it's not that hard if you live or work around males. Observation is key. When in doubt, I just ask a male, in my girlie voice, "Would a dude do this?..." and I always get a reply. And it's usually much more awesomer (if, awesomer were a word) than I expect.



...of course, I always keep a mind melding Vulcan pixie on standby........just in case