Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Writing Male Characters

I took part in a conversation a while back about nailing the male voice when we're writing. Several people enthusiastically said, "Oh, you've got to read So-and-so's advice on writing real men. She's the best!" Or "You've got to read Someone-or-other's guidelines. No one writes real men like her!"

I read, and kept wondering, what am I missing? Do I live in another universe? Are we of different species? Because the men in my life don't talk like So-and-so's or Someone-or-other's. The primary distinction of So-and-so's male characters was that they grunted a lot and spoke in incomplete sentences. For Someone-or-other, they cussed. (I was going to say cursed, but there's cursing and there's cussing, and these guys cussed) and they jumped to a lot of conclusions. (A woman broke their hearts? All women were bad.)

The popularity of grunting, cussing heroes proves they have their place, but when did this become the gold standard? My father was a strong man -- a soldier, a protector, a provider -- and not once did I ever hear him swear or see him run roughshod over anyone else. He was kind to children and gentle with animals, and he loved his family dearly. He wasn't sappy about it, but everyone knew.

But based on the standards of the alpha hero, he's not a real man.

There's so much more to a real man than the way he verbalizes. Instead of focusing of narrowing our choices to only a few, let's write about all the real guys out there. There's too many good ones to limit ourselves to just a few.

9 comments:

  1. Yes! I'll say it again. You make the hero real. Who among us married a prince or a gazillionaire? I would much rather read about a cop or detective or soldier who is like the man you described. Hmmmmm. A.J. or Jack or Reece or the Marshall boys? Oh, yeah.

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    1. Thanks, Deb! I love my sailor/cop . . . I can see the appeal of the gazillionaire, but the princes and sheikhs . . . Yep, just give me normal average everyday guys. They're my first and only loves. :)

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  2. OMG! THANK YOU FOR THAT! Granted, I don't hear too many guys think a woman's eyes are cerulean blue or that the sunset is magenta...but I do hear men use words > 3 syllables long. (I actually was "corrected" in a critique a few times for that...they were of the grunt variety.) I ignored them and let my guy be smart. :)

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    1. You're welcome, Rhenna. There are just certain nuances of language that most guys don't get (and shades of color certainly qualify in our family -- I'm fine with a hero artist or landscape architect understanding, but all my guys think taupe, tan, khaki, beige, etc., are all just silly ways of saying brown).

      But I know and write intelligent guys who can hold their own in conversation. By all means, let your guy be smart, since that's true to his character.

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  3. Still the hunky, grunty macho guys can be lovable. I bet it's a fine line to write them sympathetic.

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    1. You're right, they can be. I like 'em to communicate when they need to (or at least learn that skill by the end of the book), then they can be grunters when they want to.

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  4. Easy is the quintessential (sp???) hero. Just the right amount of tough guy plus soft hearted guy.
    He's the b-e-s-t BEST!
    Of course, I have yet to read one of your heros I don't lov--er--like. Ü

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    1. You'd steal Easy from me if he were real, wouldn't you?? :)

      Thank you for the compliment. I do love my guys!

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