forum Writing male characters?

Started June 11, 2021 by @stolenbrocoli group

tune

I'm a female writer. Does anyone have any tips on writing male characters? Especially MCs?

I'm a female myself, but seeing as I'm either writing about BTS, either gay or straight Danganronpa ships (I have yet to write a lesbian one), or my own OC Aki, I have experience(?). However, I am not sure what you want. If my tips are horrible, I'm literally fifteen. I've only been writing since I was eleven.

Hi! I am! A man! Albeit a femme presenting guy, so take my advice on manly men with a grain of salt. But yeah, I can give you advice on how men exist if you want.

Yes to both of you lol. I need all the help I can get. And don't worry @Kokichi_Ouma, I'm only 16 and I've been writing for less time than that.

Well, let's start with what you'd like to know about.

I've written some male protagonists, but I think that doesn't matter here.
In my opinion, there is a little, if not none, difference between writng a male and a female MC, because it's not the sex that counts, it's their personality. Who is your protagonist? What do they want? What is their backstory that shaped them? You must get to know them just as you'd do with your best friend.
I guess that your main concern is a male MC's behavior, for example, in school. That's where the most differences show up. People go through puberty, they change their interests, and so on. But even here, sex isn't the main point of interest. It's more of a secondary thing. It's true that males and females have different sexual drives but are you really going to write about it?
Let's go back to the personalities. The best thing to do is to observe. Look at people at your school. Talk to them and see how they act. Everyone has different personalities, right? There may be some people that would be perceived as two peas in a pod, but after some observation, you'll discover that they had different childhoods. And if you can't go to school to see people, go to the city center, and just look at the people passing by. Feel that "sonder" as they call it, the knowledge that everyone has as complex life as yours. I know I'm starting to sound like I'm treating others like animals in a zoo but this is solely for gathering information for my writing. Still, I apologize.

Okay, let's get to the point, because I've ranted about people too much and haven't given any core tips of this disquisition. My biggest advice is: don't see the sex, see the personality. Because, if you really think about it, there's a lot of girls who are said to act like boys, and there are boys who prefer more feminine lifestyle. I've witnessed both and more throughout my lifetime. There are also trans people, bigender people, nb's, agenders, pangenders, and they all lived through different experiences, so my second advice is: know, who your character is. How do they perceive the world? Were they raised in a more conservative way, and think that gender should match the sex? Or a more liberal, where they decide who they truly want to be?

Tell me more about your character, so I can analyze them and give you some more information. I hope I gave you a starting point.

Let's go back to the personalities. The best thing to do is to observe. Look at people at your school. Talk to them and see how they act. Everyone has different personalities, right? There may be some people that would be perceived as two peas in a pod, but after some observation, you'll discover that they had different childhoods. And if you can't go to school to see people, go to the city center, and just look at the people passing by. Feel that "sonder" as they call it, the knowledge that everyone has as complex life as yours. I know I'm starting to sound like I'm treating others like animals in a zoo but this is solely for gathering information for my writing. Still, I apologize.

Oh, yes, people-watching! That can be fun because you might find yourself making up little stories about some of the people…. Though it's also a creepy thing to sit and people-watch. Lol

Yes to both of you lol. I need all the help I can get. And don't worry @Kokichi_Ouma, I'm only 16 and I've been writing for less time than that.

Okay! I just need to know what you're looking for. It's mostly personality, right? I don't make personalities for genders, but I get the fear of coming off as stereotypical.

Well, for guys, some of us feel a lot less intensely but then again, that's mostly due to hormones rather than anything else. Like, I'm AFAB and I cry way more than my cis guy friends but that's also due to me being a major baby so idk. Some of my guy friends on T say they haven't felt things as strongly since going on T so it just depends I guess, some feel things just in the same capacity as others would.

yes the emotional aspect is what i'm having the most trouble with because 2 of my male characters have some obsession issues (in different ways) and i'm just worried about absolutely butchering the portrayal. I've just read sm books by male authors where they just obviously can't write female characters and i don't want to make the same mistake.

It's an understandable thing to be worried about. While I would still need to know some stuff about the characters, I will always try to help if you need me to!

IDK; my husband is big, burly, cis, straight, and fairly masculine, and he's still more likely to get weepy than I am.