Guys writing female characters

[Alschroeder]

If you're looking for female physiology, in addition to what Christwriter said... and BARRING THE EXTREMES IN EITHER GENDER...
(snip)
7) Unusual fact: Men get Cluster Headaches (too little blood flow to the brain). Women get Migraines (too much blood flow to the brain). Women never get Cluster Headaches, men never get Migraines. But, since the two feel exactly alike and have similar symptoms, there is a lot of confusion.

Could that be because...how shall I put this---the flow of blood in men is often diverted to a specifically male organ?---Al

[McDuffies]

I'll be working in a female lead character into my comic soon, it just wouldn't work if they were male. I'm trying to avoid the Wonder Bra Standard Issue Uniform of the female Alpha Shade troopers and go for something a little realistic, hopefully my combat simulation with the opposite sex will help me portray 'em better.

I'm kinda' doubtful though, there really isn't any difference between female and male soldiers when the midden hits the fan... They are a little more clingy towards their group than usuall troopers but that might be due to the uneven ratio of gender. Other than that, out of combat there are a fair number of differences, most of which I have no idea about, still gonna' try and portray 'em though, huzzah for uncharted territory!

Just remember, woman soilders usually are quite masculine. That means, breast0next to nothing. (just talking in general, though)

Yeah. Whoever said being a writer was easy needs to be put on deathrow.

Meh, I can deliver you a bad script with one story thread in a day. But if I want it to turn out good I have to get too involved in it and that's when I actually start hating writing.

[Rkolter]

If you're looking for female physiology, in addition to what Christwriter said... and BARRING THE EXTREMES IN EITHER GENDER...
(snip)
7) Unusual fact: Men get Cluster Headaches (too little blood flow to the brain). Women get Migraines (too much blood flow to the brain). Women never get Cluster Headaches, men never get Migraines. But, since the two feel exactly alike and have similar symptoms, there is a lot of confusion.

Could that be because...how shall I put this---the flow of blood in men is often diverted to a specifically male organ?---Al

That can't be right. That would mean that the smartest men have the smallest... organs... and I'm pretty smart...

I'll drop this line of thinking now.

[Zhan_Dvega]

I was always taught that women too had increased bloodflow to their naughty-bits when aroused, just that on them it wasn't... 'outwardly apparent'..

[Rkolter]

I was always taught that women too had increased bloodflow to their naughty-bits when aroused, just that on them it wasn't... 'outwardly apparent'..

They do. Men are just known to think with one head rather than the other.

[LAGtheNoggin]

Women tend to raise more questions and to give minimal responses to maintain harmonious exchanges. Men talk more, contrary to what is commonly believed, ...

I wouldn't have guessed when it came to the talking more, I've always noticed fathers tend not to talk as much. But still, I know I talk a heckuva lot when I get the chance... As a bloke I raise a lot of questions though, but that's generally against people who I know might be able to answer, ie, not strangers.

I'll be working in a female lead character into my comic soon, [...]

Just remember, woman soilders usually are quite masculine. That means, breast0next to nothing. (just talking in general, though)

Actually that's not entirely true, they have to drop the make-up and other cosmectics from life (and use standard issue bras and uniform, which don't exactly emphasise the figure) but every lady mil simmer I've seen have kept their femininity out of combat. Here's a series of photos about the women of the Isreali Defense Force* (made to seem rather strange (Women with guns? Oh my!) so they've generally picked the prettier than usuall to pose), and hey, they don't all look like bloke girls now do they?

* Link not worksafe, if you click sahihi menu and click on Cum Shot portraits you might be creeped out, made me laugh though; Now that's real juxtaposition ^.^

I don't like it when people think you've got to be a guy to be a good soldier. It's just the amount of sexism in the armed forces drives me insane... INSANE.

[CorruptDictatorNumber2]

Ahem, I think I'll just sidestep the direction this conversation is taking and comment on something mentioned quite a while back...

Flawed characters. Now I know that this probably seems almost insultingly obvious to anyone who has gotten past the Mary-Sue stage of character construction. I would, however, like to mention one thing I often see... a "dark past" does NOT constitute a character flaw. Nor does being too stupid to notice someone is in love with you. Nor does simply having a vice, such as being an alcoholic or a cleptomaniac. All of these things can lead to character flaws, but very often I have seen them turned into positive things. It's not like we're happy that Miss X's parents died in some horrible brutal way and now she's out for revenge and she's a heavy drinker (trying to forget her past, no doubt), but oh, it makes her soooooo cool.

These "flaws" usually have this effect, of somehow making the character endearing. Or being supposed to make the character endearing, but failing miserably when the readers see through it, as the case may be. Anyway, the point is that they are not treated as actual flaws, things that a normal person would not want to have.

I'm not sure if any of my ramblings make sense or constitute novel ideas (probably not). The point of this whole post, though, was actually pretty much to pitch the manga Paradise Kiss. (It's not a webcomic, it's an actual manga, which means yes, you'll have to buy it if you want to read it. Actually, who am I kidding? You can go sit in Borders for a couple of hours and read it for free, so long as an employee doesn't catch you. And they never do. ) While it's not perfect, it's definitely one of the best mangas I've ever read, if not THE best. More than half of that awesomeness can be contributed to the characters. They all have serious, BELIEVABLE flaws (most certainly including the main character), which turn them into real people. Sure, some of them are extremely unusual, and you're not likely to meet anybody like them, but they are still, at their cores, very very realistic.

So...yeah. And here's my two cents on women, from my experience (of being a woman):

Women rarely know what they want.
Many times they THINK they know what they want, and then they change their minds (much to the bewilderment of the men around, who weren't even certain of her feelings in the first place before she went and secretly changed them), and then they change them back, and then they get all confused. But unless they're really chummy with someone, they'll never admit to anyone else that they don't know exactly what they want.

At least, that's what I've observed and felt.

[McDuffies]

I'll be working in a female lead character into my comic soon, [...]

Just remember, woman soilders usually are quite masculine. That means, breast0next to nothing. (just talking in general, though)

Actually that's not entirely true, they have to drop the make-up and other cosmectics from life (and use standard issue bras and uniform, which don't exactly emphasise the figure) but every lady mil simmer I've seen have kept their femininity out of combat. Here's a series of photos about the women of the Isreali Defense Force* (made to seem rather strange (Women with guns? Oh my!) so they've generally picked the prettier than usuall to pose), and hey, they don't all look like bloke girls now do they?

* Link not worksafe, if you click sahihi menu and click on Cum Shot portraits you might be creeped out, made me laugh though; Now that's real juxtaposition ^.^

I don't like it when people think you've got to be a guy to be a good soldier. It's just the amount of sexism in the armed forces drives me insane... INSANE.

I was aware of that, but you've brobably seen bodybuilding competitions for females - up to the point where it's hard to differ them from males. I suppose developing muscles makes some other parts of the body (where there's no muscles) less exposed.

[LAGtheNoggin]

Yes, I get your point, except weight lifting and body building isn't soldiering. The army gives a very different kind of body development to those sports (the food isn't meant to build muscle, the type of excersise doesn't either), most ladys will retain their shape and femininty, really. I put most of the lack of femininity down to the uniform myself, not the actual lasses.

[Mercury Hat]

A woman doesn't have to be bulging with muscles to be physically fit.

Also, maybe you picked up on it when RKolter mentioned it, but women don't have natural washboard stomachs. That comes with work.

[BloodKnight]

Just remember, woman soilders usually are quite masculine. That means, breast0next to nothing. (just talking in general, though)

My comic is based on a DnD campaign. One of my players was a woman in the US army. She would probably gun you down like the soldier she is if you made this comment to her face.

I would, however, like to mention one thing I often see... a "dark past" does NOT constitute a character flaw

I concure. The only reason why I like dark pasts because they really put, in reflection, how fucked up the human race can be. Some of my character's backgrounds are based on the actions done by us in history (either it was 2 weeks ago to thousands of yeasrs ago). All 'dark pasts' are influenced by our behavior one way or another.

The only sole reason why I'm making a dark past for my characters is to give them, in the most darkest of light, on who they are. Why does that dwarf curse so much? Why is she flirty? Why is that person a sadist? It gives a very clear defination, while entertaining the reader, for who the characters are. It is a tool that I hope will be a benefit for my story.

I'd have her bluff/ lie her way out of it.

That would be very out-of-character. The character in question, Red, always sticks to the deal no matter what. She won't lie or bluff to get her way, unless it was her mortal enemy. Otherwise, it would hurt her crediability as an honorable mercenary/gladiator/whatnot.

If I were trying to defend myself, I'd be more likely to say
"Hey! That IS NOT true!" Or if I was talking quickly, "Hey! That's not true!" (in this case you're joining That and Is, which is ok, because the critical word in your sentence is NOT).

Blah.

If I was angry, I wouldn't really care about my vocab. I would either say "that isn't true" or "that's not true!" Either way, it does get the message across. When someone is angry, logic often throws out the window.

But if my artist has conflict with some of my dialog, then I'll change it. I just don't see it as a big deal.

[NotoriousMEQ]

That would be very out-of-character. The character in question, Red, always sticks to the deal no matter what. She won't lie or bluff to get her way, unless it was her mortal enemy. Otherwise, it would hurt her crediability as an honorable mercenary/gladiator/whatnot.

Then you might be better off not lettingher respond vocally, and doing something physical in answer. Like if she were a boxer punching a bag in the scene, she'd just hit the bag really hard dramatically, to take the really worn version of this sort of response. One of the advantages of having a capable artist is that you can convey things through expression and the art, rather than through the dialouge. Silent types in books need internal monolouges or someone very chatty to play off of to work, but in visual mediums, like comics and film, you can successfully have a character respond physically and still get through the same amount of meaning, if not more, than a verbal response. (Sure, you can write "he scowled in response", but it's very difficult to explain what sort of scowl, what direction the character is looking, etc, withouth being overly verbose and giving the short reaction too much emphasis. It's sooo much easier to film it or draw it, with all the nuances.)

OK, who wants to workshop writing scripts? Heh. This kind of stuff is fun.

-Megs

[BloodKnight]

That would be very out-of-character. The character in question, Red, always sticks to the deal no matter what. She won't lie or bluff to get her way, unless it was her mortal enemy. Otherwise, it would hurt her crediability as an honorable mercenary/gladiator/whatnot.

Then you might be better off not lettingher respond vocally, and doing something physical in answer. Like if she were a boxer punching a bag in the scene, she'd just hit the bag really hard dramatically, to take the really worn version of this sort of response. One of the advantages of having a capable artist is that you can convey things through expression and the art, rather than through the dialouge. Silent types in books need internal monolouges or someone very chatty to play off of to work, but in visual mediums, like comics and film, you can successfully have a character respond physically and still get through the same amount of meaning, if not more, than a verbal response. (Sure, you can write "he scowled in response", but it's very difficult to explain what sort of scowl, what direction the character is looking, etc, withouth being overly verbose and giving the short reaction too much emphasis. It's sooo much easier to film it or draw it, with all the nuances.)

OK, who wants to workshop writing scripts? Heh. This kind of stuff is fun.

-Megs

Red personality is based off someone I know in real life: flirty, very forward, but gets very defensive if she feels like she is being 'suckered punch' in a social situation. Look at an astrology book and learn about the Gemini; that is what Red is.

I don't think I really need to make something like punching a bag as a response. Art, I agree, is a great medium for telling a story. An artist once told me that a writer can say "She runs through the winds", but an artist can make her burn through the winds. I totally agree with the "show and not tell" aspect. Just look at the first two pages of the comic. Do you see any narrator telling what the hell is happening, despite the artwork is already doing that?

By the way, the scene takes place in a pub. As one of my characters said, "Why must we be at a bar again?" The only thing she does, in response in physical form, is when she slams of cup of water down onto the table when Veit is bothering her with a question. In the panel where she says "I...um..." she appears to be very defensive and turns away from Veit. I want to give the vibe that she isn't very confortable explaining about how her life is 'harder' then veit.

[Coyotzin]

OK, who wants to workshop writing scripts? Heh. This kind of stuff is fun.

-Megs

That would be a very interesting idea, actually; I always feel I have more to offer on the writing side than on art.

And on military girls... my girlfriend is an ex-paratrooper, currently fighter pilot trainee... and she's drop-dead gorgeous, thank-you-very-much

[Garasade]

I guess visual medium can enhance the script aspect of the story but it also means that one has to develop all around kind of aptitude for both of them to create a rounded and believable characters. That is something I have to think about very much.

[Nothingspecial]

3) Women have a much higher tolerance for pain then men do.

Out of curiousity, how was this measured?


To address the issue at hand, I must say that I haven't really written much for the females in my comic... yet. A storyline focusing more on Alyson is coming, and for that, I intend to use the old stand-by of feedback and bounce the ideas off of female friends, to see if they think it's realistic. If they think so, then it's kosher by me.

I think it's also good to keep in mind that some females are fairly masculine in how they deal with problems and some males can be fairly feminine. Having one or two women who don't fit into the typical female mode (as defined previously in this thread) is okay, and even good if it's intentional. However, if none of your women do, then likely your writing is bad.

[Vorticus]

3) Women have a much higher tolerance for pain then men do.

Out of curiousity, how was this measured?

Number of swift kicks to the groin region taken before subject collapsed.

[Skylark King]

OK, who wants to workshop writing scripts? Heh. This kind of stuff is fun.

-Megs

Count me in. I love that sort of thing. Of arting and scripting, scripting is definately my strong suit. I'd love to take part in anyway I can.

[Jim North]

3) Women have a much higher tolerance for pain then men do.

Out of curiousity, how was this measured?

Number of swift kicks to the groin region taken before subject collapsed.

And then, of course, the impregnation, nine-month gestation, and birth-giving tests. You'd think rough, tough men would be able to handle pushing a baby through their urethra.

[War]

Passing a kidney stone is supposed to be a lot like giving birth. Wanna try?