forum What type of female characters would you like to see more of in a story?

Started April 27, 2019 by @Kinarymo

tune

I have only one or two tall girls. But that's because biology.

I have tall alien females because they're well..not human, so their biology isn't the same.

I do have short alien females though or just medium height. And variety of height for humans.

Most adult Fae are around 6 feet tall, so Esther, Poplar, Clove, and Alys are all 6 feet.
Vivian, Giana, and Ophelia are around 5'9"-5'11"
Maia and Trinity are short, like 5'1" and 5'4", respectively

This is a really hard topic honestly. I've always had trouble writing female characters, and I have no idea why, you know, since I'm a woman myself.
I don't really think you can write your character "as a person first," because gender really does heavily shape who you are, and a lot of characters really don't seem to translate well if you swap their gender. Sure, you might be able to pick a few traits and then make a character out of them later, but I almost always picture the person first, then choose a personality after, so that doesn't work very well.
As far as female characters I want to see more of? Soft and sweet, but when she opens her mouth to speak, she's ridiculously smart- I don't mean your regular old bookworm. I mean she's out here solving problems and always ready to be the brains of the group. I want more women portrayed as being interested in male-dominated fields (because there are still women who are scientists and mathematicians and doctors, but they get ignored a lot, or the male character gets that kind of occupation instead, while the woman is like a photographer or a writer or something more arts/humanities related). Point is, I grew up without any woman role models in my field of study, fictional or real life. We need those.

Complex and flawed ones. Being a strong female character doesn't mean that you have to never show emotion! Give them an interesting personality that a reader can fall in love with. Oh! And we need LGBTQ female character as well.

Oh! And we need LGBTQ female character as well.

Honestly? Yeah. I've only read like, maybe 7 books with LGBT+ characters and of those seven only one had a female LGBT character. It's nice to see some diversity, but at LGBT+ girls also exist.

at the same time though, for the amount of books that I read, seven is really not a lot.

Yea, I have a lot of LGBT+ frens and I love seeing diversity in novels!

I have nothing against LGBTQ+ characters, but for as many people in real life are actually gay I don't think they're all that underrepresented.

Depends on the school environment, I guess, but just saying if you put one in your story, don't like make them a cliche or anything. Ya know.

I don't just mean school environments. I mean generally in the world. But I suppose it can matter on you area

I read a lot of comic books and I feel like LGBTQ+ people are almost overrepresented in them

Thanks Lol.

Oh! And we need LGBTQ female character as well.

Honestly? Yeah. I've only read like, maybe 7 books with LGBT+ characters and of those seven only one had a female LGBT character. It's nice to see some diversity, but at LGBT+ girls also exist.

at the same time though, for the amount of books that I read, seven is really not a lot.

I've read a few more but not a lot, and I actively seek out books with LGBTQA+ girls in them.
Off the top of my head I can think of Let's Talk About Love, Radio Silence, Six of Crows, etc. but not a lot outside of YA especially

One thing is that wlw don't really have a Simon Versus like mlm people do. The closest I can think of is The Miseducation of Cameron Post which isn't exactly a cheerful read. I know Becky Albertelli tried with Leah On The Offbeat but from the reviews I've read it's not a super great book so idk

Haha yeah, Leah on the Off Beat was the one book I read with a female LGBT character. It wasn't horrible, but it really wasn't as good as Simon Vs.

I would like to see less vulnerability. People always make our women to be in need of saving. We are sometimes perfectly capable of saving ourselves. When you are writing a female character and you send in a man to save her, it robs her of a chance to prove to men that she can save herself. Make women more independent, and less Damsel in distress. I would like to see more Huntresses, Female army's, and more Female everything. when you write a story and you write a role that can be played by male or female, give it to us Females. We deserve it. (BTW this was not an attack on you or your writing. Just simply a opinion from a Female who has read a lot of books where the opposite has happened.) :D

Jude Watson. I approve.

I assume Jyn does as well.

Yessssssssssssssssssss
Siri, Bant, Ceresi, Adi, and Astri were just as big of role models for me as Leia and Padme were when I was a little kid

Padme and Leia were huge role models for me i agree @JynnieHas11Protons

Siri though.

Mothra.

Siri was the best!!!!
I love how her last words were telling Obi-Wan not to worry….

Her and Ferus Olin though. So good.

Sobs
I love my dead gay son