Female Characters

[Rezcore]

I’m seeking advice, especially from women, on how to create authentic female characters. I’d appreciate a list of character traits and reactions that might be unfamiliar to me as a man. I’m currently working on a novel called Rieze: Legacy of War, which features women in intense and pivotal roles—ranging from defending a medieval keep to leading a nation as a queen. Specifically, I’m looking for guidance on how to portray a pregnant character or one experiencing menstruation. I want these characters to be fully developed and nuanced, not one-dimensional. Thank you for your insights.

 

[Nolff]

So first, you start with a woman with political knowledge who also has the power to back up her political figure. Then, put some rivals here and there and some goals she must achieve. From there, whether she's the MC or a side character, she can get into some hot scenes pretty nicely. Make sure to illustrate her with words that will come from a real life politician. I wanted to give you more suggestion but it seems like this alone is enough. So, yeah.

Wait...

Forget what I said, it's irrelevant

 

[Arch9CivilReactor]

You need advice from woman if you’re going in-depth about their lives as being female specifically. If you’re writing a character that just so happens to be female, then write them like any other character.

Even if they’re pregnant or menstruating, it’s like how you do not do in-depth into health topics unless this is a book about health specifically in relation to the plot. Downplay the things that aren’t that relevant, is what I’m saying.

 

[Rezcore]

You need advice from woman if you’re going in-depth about their lives as being female specifically. If you’re writing a character that just so happens to be female, then write them like any other character.

Even if they’re pregnant or menstruating, it’s like how you do not do in-depth into health topics unless this is a book about health specifically in relation to the plot. Downplay the things that aren’t that relevant, is what I’m saying.

I want the indepth knowledge, so I don't write 2d characters

 

[GlassRose]

Honestly hard to explain, there's nothing specific to it, just a vibe, a style, something that can be picked up on but not really explained. Best advice I can give you is to read some good female characters written by female authors.

 

[Cossimeri]

So, seeking advice from women in general isn’t really going to get you everything you’re asking for. Not every woman knows what it feels like to be pregnant. It’s not really an experience we all endure.

As for menstruation, I would first ask how often you write your male characters taking a shit? That’s a really crass reply, but menstruation is just basic biology, and it’s not really something most female authors write about unless it serves the narrative.

In the Throne of Glass series written by Sarah J. Maas (an exceptionally famous and prolific author), there is only a single moment where menstruation is mentioned, and it serves a key point. One of the character was imprisoned and malnourished. lacking vital nutrients her body stopped menstruating. The return of her menses is a signifier of her return to health. It also returns at an inopportune time forcing another character to craft makeshift supplies for said character to use. It shows us that this second character has a caring side. It makes us believe we can trust them, and sets up a key emotional moment that’ll happen later.

^ I tried to write that as spoiler free as possible, because I do recommend you read Throne of Glass if you haven’t. It’s solid A-tier classic high fantasy.

Genuinely though, women and men are not that different. While men do get painted as hot blooded and ”fueled by testosterone“ there are definitely women who act just as rash and headstrong. While women may be on average more empathetic and emotionally available, there are men who are just as caring and sweet as any woman could ever be. So write the women you want to write. If you are afraid your characters are becoming caricatures, then invite your female family members/friends/colleagues, to read your work and provide feedback.

Anything you obtain now will likely only reinforce stereotypes in your work, because it’ll all be too generic to apply usefully.

 

[Anonjohn20]

how to create authentic female characters.

 

[GlassRose]

I guess I'll try to give some specific things to keep in mind after all. Women are just people, they're all different like anyone else, and trying to use any collection of traits to describe them broadly will come up short. What might be valuable as something to build off of though, are what kind of struggles they have to go through societally.

A common issue that women have to deal with is being looked down upon for their womanhood. Women in positions of power often have to work far harder but get recognized for their achievements far less. Their opinion and thoughts and experiences are automatically seen as worth less, and they have to constantly fight that. And then there's all sorts of issues and societal expectations on how they have to deal with unwanted advances. Like, reject a man too softly and he'll keep pressing, too harshly and you'll get called a bitch, and he still might not stop. A male friend might come onto you with expectations and then get offended if you don't reciprocate. There's just so much fear that you're in danger around men, even those you think are your friends, so you don't go places alone, or if it's too dark, and you have to carry self defense tools, always feel like you have to be on guard, wary of any potential red flags, always putting up a strong front.

A woman in an important role like you describe might feel the need to hide or suppress their feminity in order to be respected, or feel safe.

Another thing is how women feeling sexual desire is portrayed. Women are often stuck in the idea that they don't want/like sex, or if they do they're a whore/slut/etc, and that's for some reason shamed, even though a man in a similar position wouldn't get a second glance. Which is another societal struggle women face. Also, it's a spectrum, not so black and white. I think that part of the problem is related to how women constantly feel like they're in danger, it means they tend to have more walls up when it comes to initiating sex, which leads to the perception that they're somehow less horny.

 

[Jocelyn_Uasal]

Just write them how you write men, it's not like men and women don't have similar personalities and trying to find a uniform female character is impossible.

The things that women hate most about men who write women are things like: Always talking about or bringing up their bodies, using female characters only as a tool to further the male characters ambitions without having any of their own, or just having them around so the male mc can have sex. I'm reading Babel-19 right now which is supposed to be a classic, and the author talks about the main character's body so much it makes me want to carve my eyes out with a spork. Another example would be Julia from 1984, a famously badly written women.

Basically, if you can avoid making a 'sexy' character then you're already like more than halfway there.

 

[Arch9CivilReactor]

I want the indepth knowledge, so I don't write 2d characters

Portrayal matters. Knowledge can give you context but just remember not to say everything you know about the topic. That’s my main point to be clear. It’s hard to explain.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

I’m seeking advice, especially from women, on how to create authentic female characters. I’d appreciate a list of character traits and reactions that might be unfamiliar to me as a man. I’m currently working on a novel called Rieze: Legacy of War, which features women in intense and pivotal roles—ranging from defending a medieval keep to leading a nation as a queen. Specifically, I’m looking for guidance on how to portray a pregnant character or one experiencing menstruation. I want these characters to be fully developed and nuanced, not one-dimensional. Thank you for your insights.

As I'm a teacher, I benefit from my daily interactions with different people. However, even before I was a teacher, I used to observe people on how they act.

 

[wresch]

If you follow reddit, watch for posts in xxchromosomes. Read them as a person. Notice the issues. The fears. Learn. When appropriate, apply what you learned to your character development.

 

[melchi]

If a nation is led by a queen just look at how Queen Elizabeth was portrayed. Also there are some stories/movies featuring queen Victoria too. As for bodily functions, like anything, focusing on it too much will bring up the question of relevancy.

If a book is called "Legacy of war" the further it strays from war the more likely readers are going to see that as bloat, filler, bait and switch or something similar.

 

[RepresentingPride]

I’m seeking advice, especially from women, on how to create authentic female characters. I’d appreciate a list of character traits and reactions that might be unfamiliar to me as a man. I’m currently working on a novel called Rieze: Legacy of War, which features women in intense and pivotal roles—ranging from defending a medieval keep to leading a nation as a queen. Specifically, I’m looking for guidance on how to portray a pregnant character or one experiencing menstruation. I want these characters to be fully developed and nuanced, not one-dimensional. Thank you for your insights.

I don't know why you want to add menstruation, to be honest. Each woman is different when it comes to it, and even in one woman, it can change each time depending on various things that happen in her life.
If you want to write it for the emotional side, then it differs again. There is also a pre-menstruation syndrome that can or cannot alter their emotions or physique. Some may feel depressed, and others may be tense and take everything someone says literally, etc....

For the pregnant part, there is the baby (obviously) inside. You can write about the feeling of its movement inside of her. There are some urges that come and go away in a few seconds. There nausea. The change in their body, some hate it, and they feel like it's not their body anymore. There are some who can't move during the pregnancy period due to a weak body, having too much pregnancy before, if the baby doesn't grow well inside, if there complications in a previous pregnancy, arterial hypertension, etc...

As you can see, pregnancy is the same. Each woman will have a different experience, and sadly, some will not have a good one.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I want the indepth knowledge, so I don't write 2d characters

I kind of tried this with one character. Find that Google/Bing/DuckDuckGo are very useful for getting descriptions of these various conditions (including of how they feel to experience), and then just go from there (of course I have the added complexity of having a female character with a male mind coping with these issues).

 

[CarburetorThompson]

Ask yourself ‘how would Andrew Tate write a female character?’ and just do the opposite of that

 

[QuercusMalus]

I found some of the articles here interesting, and well it's not focused on woman specifically, I think you may still find it useful.

Stereotypes & Tropes Navigation

Navigation of WWC asks and guides that discuss stereotypes and tropes. Character Creation Authenticity and PoC (guide) Stereotyping Tropes List (guide) Character Creation: Trace Your Logic | Check...

writingwithcolor.tumblr.com

For myself, the only difference is 1). A female character making a joke after being chased for several weeks through the wilderness on starvation rations, that the only good thing about it was that the stress made her miss a period. And 2). Occasionally had them deal with men who espoused the 'woman should be in the kitchen not in the military' and the general hostility that woman in authority positions can get from men in certain fields.

 

[Rezcore]

I don't know why you want to add menstruation, to be honest. Each woman is different when it comes to it, and even in one woman, it can change each time depending on various things that happen in her life.
If you want to write it for the emotional side, then it differs again. There is also a pre-menstruation syndrome that can or cannot alter their emotions or physique. Some may feel depressed, and others may be tense and take everything someone says literally, etc....

For the pregnant part, there is the baby (obviously) inside. You can write about the feeling of its movement inside of her. There are some urges that come and go away in a few seconds. There nausea. The change in their body, some hate it, and they feel like it's not their body anymore. There are some who can't move during the pregnancy period due to a weak body, having too much pregnancy before, if the baby doesn't grow well inside, if there complications in a previous pregnancy, arterial hypertension, etc...

As you can see, pregnancy is the same. Each woman will have a different experience, and sadly, some will not have a good one.

I have a seen, the the queen is defending the castle while on her period. I kind of feel understanding these things would allow me to make interesting women characters, even if most of what I learn isn't mentioned.

 

[RepresentingPride]

I have a seen, the the queen is defending the castle while on her period. I kind of feel understanding these things would allow me to make interesting women characters, even if most of what I learn isn't mentioned.

For a reference like that, you have Casca from Berserk. Before the "accident" people tend to forget she was badass. One of her fight was when she had menstruation, she lose, but face the same guy later and destroy him.

 

[greyblob]

are you asking about how to write women in general or just one that's pregnant