Writing the other gender

At Oak Knoll Middle School outside of Richmond, VA they have a wonderful reading program. In it, students and their parents choose a book to read together and then they meet weekly to discuss it. I was fortunate enough to have both the boy and girls pick my book, The Hidden Sun. It was the first time both genders had picked the same book. After they completed it, I visited the school and gave a presentation. It was a blast.
The experience brought me to ponder on why The Hidden Sun appeals to boys and girls. It wasn’t really my intention when the book was written. I’ve come to the conclusion that it was a combination of things.
First, the story is written from several different points of view. In each “scene”, we are in the head of someone. Sometimes it is a male character, sometimes it is a female character. In that regard, I believe both genders who read it had someone to relate to.
Second, there are elements in the book that appeal to both genders. There are action sequences and competitions that the boys enjoyed. Then there are the romantic elements that the girls liked.
I’m currently writing my fourth book. It’s the third book in the Bariwon series. The main character is female. While I’ve been writing it, I’ve read several books from other authors. Often, they are written from one person’s point of view.
In one particular book I read, the main character was a teenage young woman. I’ll admit I struggled a little through the book because I had a hard time relating to her. Being the father of four daughters, as well as being married for twenty years, I’ve learned that men and women simply do not think the same way.
If that’s the case, how does a male writer create a believable female character and vice-versa? I’ve come to only one conclusion: through observation. The female characters I create are composites of various people I’ve known over the years. Even then, I’m sure there is a lot I’m missing.

I once attended a bachelor party (it was an LDS party, so it was very clean) and one of the gifts given to the groom-to-be was a fairly thick book called Everything Men Know About Women. When the receiver of the gift flipped through the book, we saw that all the pages were blank.

We Can Break Gender Stereotypes in Writing

Having just started a fun mystery serious by a male author that stars a female protagonist, the thought about male and female stereotypes in fiction has been on my mind lately. In the series, the Shandra Covington mysteries, by J. Scott Savage, the heroine breaks several female stereotypes, especially that guys always have bigger appetites.  She is a food fanatic and has the metabolism not to blow up like a balloon.  She prefers steak to salad and doesn’t ever stop to count the calories.  I thought it an interesting reversal of how many heroines are portrayed in fiction. 

I think a male author can effectively have a female protagonist and vice versa, but I think that in doing so, the author needs to make an extra effort not to fall into the rut of gender stereotypes.  I suggest the following as a start: 

• Men are more logical and women are more emotional.
• Guys like sports, working on cars, and weight lifting.  Women like cooking, gossiping, and decorating.
•  Men are afraid of commitment.  Women thrive on it.
• It’s shameful for men to show emotion.  It’s shameful for women not to.
• It’s a man’s duty to know how to fix the car, the plumbing or anything else around the house.  It’s a woman’s duty to know how to soothe a crying child or whip up anything from scratch. 

Shake things up a little in your fiction!  Have a man who likes to write poetry, or a woman who loves working on cars.  Today’s society is full of people breaking the mold, and that should reflect in your fiction.  What others stereotypes do you think are out there in fiction?  How can you avoid them? 

In a perfect example of breaking stereotypes, my newest release, “Portrait of a Mother” which comes out March 8^th, 2011, is a tender Mother’s Day story.  It’s very short, but I think it’s a tale both you and your mother can enjoy.  You can preorder it here: http://amzn.com/1599558106.