30 Days of Writing: #2
Aug. 31st, 2010 10:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lathriel2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females?
I couldn't begin to tell you how many characters I have. Less than 100, maybe. More than 50. (I guess that counts as "beginning to tell you") My sci-fi/fantasy series had well over 20 close-to-main characters in the first book. It was a weakness I noted early on in my writing, I had a tendency to create too many characters for a single work, when I really could have combined some. But when a writer creates a character, it's hard to see them disappear.
Honestly, I have an easier time writing females because I don't doubt that I understand them. But in writing females, I find that I'm always wondering, especially during dramatic scenes, if she's being too bitchy or whiny. It's hard not to let those social prejudices get in the way sometimes- a woman is angry, she's a bitch. A woman is sad, she's whining. But it's a personal challenge I like to take on. And besides, for me, writing a bad-ass chick character is a lot more fun than writing a bad-ass dude, because the world is full of bad-ass dude characters. It's beginning to become full of bad-ass chicks, too, but I still think we need some more.
I have fun writing males too, of course. In some ways, I have more fun, because I feel like I'm using my creative flow to explore the male mind- something I can't do when I'm not writing, usually. I don't really "get" men, when I'm not writing. But my Writer Self seems to, which is convenient. (Yes, writing is sometimes like being schizophrenic for me...)
And speaking of writing, I'm off to get some in before continuing the job hunt :) Wish me luck on that front...
I couldn't begin to tell you how many characters I have. Less than 100, maybe. More than 50. (I guess that counts as "beginning to tell you") My sci-fi/fantasy series had well over 20 close-to-main characters in the first book. It was a weakness I noted early on in my writing, I had a tendency to create too many characters for a single work, when I really could have combined some. But when a writer creates a character, it's hard to see them disappear.
Honestly, I have an easier time writing females because I don't doubt that I understand them. But in writing females, I find that I'm always wondering, especially during dramatic scenes, if she's being too bitchy or whiny. It's hard not to let those social prejudices get in the way sometimes- a woman is angry, she's a bitch. A woman is sad, she's whining. But it's a personal challenge I like to take on. And besides, for me, writing a bad-ass chick character is a lot more fun than writing a bad-ass dude, because the world is full of bad-ass dude characters. It's beginning to become full of bad-ass chicks, too, but I still think we need some more.
I have fun writing males too, of course. In some ways, I have more fun, because I feel like I'm using my creative flow to explore the male mind- something I can't do when I'm not writing, usually. I don't really "get" men, when I'm not writing. But my Writer Self seems to, which is convenient. (Yes, writing is sometimes like being schizophrenic for me...)
And speaking of writing, I'm off to get some in before continuing the job hunt :) Wish me luck on that front...
