forum How do you write a realistic male character

Started January 27, 2022 by @Retr0inactive public

tune

Before anyone says "men are people too"
Yes, I know xd

But I want to write protagonists who are "strong" without falling into the toxic masculinity mess or anything cliched and bad

For your situation, maybe you can have a male character who is kind despite his circumstances? It's easily to fall into cruelty but it takes a lot of (inner) strength to be kind

From my experience (which is probably very limited as a female), toxic masculinity seems to generally fall into "doing this makes you a real man or not a real mean" so as long as you aren't communicating something like that in regards to anything I think you're good.

(Cis) male entitlement, or general male entitlement, is a bit of a no when it comes to writing strong male characters. Of course, the dumb of ass, respectful of women, and hot of bod aka himbo is always a good archetype to work with when needed? Idk man tell me more about your story and I can help?? Ish??

@Pep @Darkblossom
Thanks!! I'll take these advice to heart

@SPAMTON-G-SPAMTON
Idk if I really want to put him into an archetype, but basically (it's a bunch of male characters but I'll talk about one for now), the character in a position where he's not sure whether he wants to follow his family heritage or go off and do his own thing. Mostly, being pressured from his father and before you say anything, no, his dad isn't an asshole. His father can just be really heavy-handed when trying to show the importance of their heritage and all.
That has been the pressure he's been getting since he was a baby and now that he's older, he's still struggling with his own choice and all.

What I want to do is make him come across as strong but misunderstood without going into any of the weird "Aaaah woe is me" nonsense or the "I never show emotion unless it's anger" bs. For now, I'm thinking of just making him a fairly chill and approachable person despite the inner turmoil he has!

Well, maybe trying to give him a more complex personality might help? Like, focus less on the gender of the character and more on the fact that he's got a lot going on. I generally figure out the basics of a character and motivation before worrying too much about what demographics they fall into idk.

Ye you right
Thank you!!!

okay hear me out

most of the types of character "tropes" and personalities I make to use (for future projects as well, if the idea is scrapped) are gender-neutral. i used to only make female characters because i "didnt know how to write/draw anything else". most of my scrapped characters' personality traits are carried into the other (more diverse when it comes to gender) stories. i wouldnt worry about a "masculine" personality, because personalities dont really have genders, for me at least. i do think a "masculine" personality could be a funny running joke, though.

(this is not intended to be aggressive or passive-aggressive in any way)