TuesdayTips132

Today’s writing activity/writers’ block exercise involves writing from the perspective of a different gender.Something that many writers find hard is writing convincing characters of a different gender to themselves, without resorting to cliché or producing cringeworthy results. I’ve looked previously at how sometimes male writers in particular can fall afoul of ‘the male gaze’ (Tip#84), producing embarrassing or awkward prose that objectifies their female characters.
Beyond that, it can sometimes be tricky just to write from another’s perspective. If you want an example of how a male author can write a realistic female character – in the first person, no less – you can do far worse than read Will Dean’s Tuva Moodyson series (check out Black River, the third in this terrific series). Not only does Will, a forty-something male, write a convincing young woman, he also made her hearing-impaired.

Many writers today can feel nervous about ‘colouring outside the lines’ and writing about somebody else’s lived experience (see Tip#77 for a discussion of cultural appropriation and how to avoid it).

However, writing is like anything – you get better with practise.

So today’s activity involves switching the gender of a character.
First of all, take a piece of gendered writing (one where a character is clearly defined as a male or female) and rewrite it in a different gender. Notice that I don’t say the ‘opposite gender’, because gender is increasingly understood as a spectrum with an increasing appetite for characters that are non-binary or don’t conform to traditional gender roles and stereotypes. Try and go beyond just switching the pronouns (he, she, they etc) and consider how that person might regard a situation, or act or speak differently. Don’t forget their appearance.

When you have completed the exercise, see if you can find someone else to read your piece. Ask them if the character sounds realistic? Have you inadvertently included stereotypes? Have you got carried away with your descriptions or simply overdone it? After all, the original piece of writing probably didn’t linger on the character’s gender, so try and be subtle.

What are your thoughts on writing different genders? Do you have any tricks or tips? As always feel free to comment here or on social media.

If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.

Until next time,
Paul.