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Men. They are half of the population. Many of us are married to them. Several of us have dads, sons, brothers, or nephews.
Yet, for the female writer, it can be challenging to write from the male point of view. Actually, It can be downright terrifying.
The editorial team discussed this common concern, and Cam thoughtfully stated,
I would say the trick to writing the male POV is to listen, really listen, to the different men around you—how they talk, and what they say (and what they don’t say).
In addition to putting on your listening ears, Mandy and Cheryl suggested reading books written for men by men. Take note of what the characters discuss, as well as the cadence of the sentences. If you need suggestions, look to Chuck Palahniuk, Tom Robbins, or Jon Krakauer.
Consider writing from the opposite gender–I bet you will enjoy the challenge. And maybe–just maybe–it will help you appreciate the men in your life a bit more.
With that in mind, here are few tips to consider when getting in the male mind:
1. Be direct. Men tend to say what they mean and mean what they say. Instead of saying, “Do you guys feel like getting Indian food?” many men would more likely say, “Let’s get Indian.”
2. Notice what men notice. If a woman comes down the stairs wearing a lavender silk wrap dress with a sequenced clutch and peep-toe Jimmy Choos, he’s going to note that she “looks hot in the purple dress.”
Unless he works in the fashion industry, he won’t notice the rest.
3. Use short phrases and real language. Let the words around the words convey the emotion. If you want a great example of this, watch this clip from Good Will Hunting.
WARNING: BAD LANGUAGE. CLICK AT YOUR OWN RISK.
We’re interested in your thoughts. Next Wednesday, Lance will turn the tables and talk about how he writes the female point-of-view.
Please, in the comments, join the discussion. How do you write men?
How do I write the male point of view?
I listen. I read. I let the voices in my head establish a rhythm and a pattern and meld together to be THE VOICE of my character.
Which, really, is how I write my women characters as well.
Then, once it’s written, I read it out loud. This is followed by the usual crossing out and rewriting and banging of my head against the wall until the character that I’m hearing in my head translates into the printed word.
Also? The head banging usually repeats itself a few dozen times before I’m done.
No pain, no gain.
As somebody with a bruised forehead on this end, I can relate.
It’s a struggle. As much as I want to make bullet-pointed lists of writing advice, you’ve hit the reality head on. It’s messy. It’s circular. And it takes practice.
This is interesting since I had to write something from a female POV a few weeks ago for a guest post. I was terrified it was going to be all wrong. I have no experience with writing compelling dialogue of female characters (especially teenagers, which this guest post required.)
I interviewed my two teenage boys about how the girls act in school (which wasn’t much help) and asked my wife to read and re-read my piece (more times than she wanted to by the looks she started to give me). She was able to offer a few good suggestions for changes.
In the end, readers noticed my “blocking” more than anything which leads me to believe that it distracted from whether my female dialogue was true or not.
This is a great topic and I’ll be paying a close eye to what has to be said. I’ll be back next week as well, to see what Lance has to say.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment. It’s so true. In order to really write characters, we need to observe, and ask, and observe some more.
It sounds like you’re doing all the right things!
I’m looking forward to Lance’s take as well.
I wouldn’t say it’s one of my strengths, but I like your tips about listening and observing more than anything. It’s how I’ve improved my dialogue writing in general.
Your example about the clothes makes me smile, because it reminds me of a particular scene in Legally Blonde (yes, I’m all about the serious films over here.)
You know, based on our talk, how dear that movie is to me. Last season!
This was interesting. I have mostly written non-fiction so far, but am intrigued by trying my hand at fiction. Helpful advice and something I hadn’t thought much about. Thank you.
I’m so glad you enjoyed. I think a lot of the suggestions—listening, reading, observing, serve all writing, not just fiction or MPOV.
I write romance in third person so most of my books contain at least some content from the male POV – but I am now working on my fifth book where the main character is the male so it is mostly from the Male POV – it’s an interesting challenge as he’s 19 and, well it is a romance, so I really need to get inside his brain – I’m enjoying it but it does test the old grey matter!
I can only imagine how adding youth adds another layer of challenge. No, actually, I know it does. When I was trying young adult fiction, it was hard to think “young” again.
Maybe I’m just weird, but I love writing from the male POV. All my planned stories are from the male POV too. They just come easier to me than female POV stories.
I think we always bring ourselves and our experiences to our work. I’m so glad you can possibly assist those of us who struggle with this.
I’m married to a cop. A 27 year veteran with two brothers in LE. I listen to cop talk and brother talk. Shortness of dialogue for a man is not always the case. My brother in law is VERY verbose, but a man’s verbose is definitely not a woman’s verbose. Volume is definitely a factor in male exchange but that’s often hard to convey in writing while being sparse with words. Deprecation and insults are also a big part. My biggest observation is when things are really tough, men boil it down to what’s important and their words have weight and importance.
Wonderful points, and oh-so-true!
I find it easiest to write from a man’s perspective by modeling him after a man in my life. I think “how would he say this?” or “how would he respond?” and it helps. It’s still pretty difficult, but it’s the same process when you are writing from a woman’s POV who might be drastically different from you. That’s why reading is so important for writers. It’s a way for you to study the different nuances of language between genders.
Amen. So, so true. If you aren’t a reader, I can’t see how you can be a writer.
I often write from a male’s point of view. I guess I tend to think somewhat like a guy so that helps. But I agree with what’s been said already. OBSERVATION is the key. Watch what males around you say and do. There are distinct patterns that males use to communicate with each other versus when they communicate with females. The same goes for females. I teach about this at work. If anyone wants some more info on those differences, feel free to email me.
You know? That could make an interesting guest post. Email me at; camp1974@gmail.com if you’re interested.
I actually think that I write men well, I figure that I’ve had enough of them in my head and my bed (LOL) that I was always listening, always hearing.
I have people outside of these places, like people who read my writing who are NOT writers tell me that I write men very well. That they can see them and hear them.
when I am really writing a MPOV and he is playing a sport or putting gas in the car, or being rejected by a woman, I see him the way he would be. The cursing, the frustration, the clueless stares ..and I also take (STEAL) a lot of what men have ACTUALLY SAID to me over the last 42 years and I use it, I make their words come out of the mouths of my characters.
Again, wonderful points! Experience plays such a role in our writing.
And if they once were your date? So fair game.
I actually wrote a short short story in male voice. It was my first attempt at doing so. I think it was pretty good, of course it can use a little polish, but over all it was good. At least, that’s what I think and a few others as well.
I created a a love story. The twist was that it was being told through the voice of a male. It was the most challenging writing project for me that I’ve ever had!
You know, this is interesting and very uncanny that you would look at this now… I’ve never THOUGHT of it nor analyzed the male POV in my writing before but I just started what I feel will be a series about a particular couple and I’m writing from the husband’s point of view …this should be interesting to see it unfold.
When I write from a man’s point of view (especially when writing dialogue) I write the way I would speak if I wasn’t measuring my thoughts and worrying about how someone else would respond to what I have to say. There is a directness that I like (and am sometimes envious of!).
That being said, as a number of other commenters have stated, I think listening to the way people talk and trying to get a handle on the nuances of speech is really important.
There are some great tips here. I’ve never written from the male perspective. There are definitely men in my novels/short stories, but they’ve never been the main character. I am actually thinking about trying some of that in my current work in progress – the way I’m writing it lends itself to multiple main characters.
[...] week, I talked about writing the male perspective. Today, Lance shares how he writes the female point-of-view. So, without further ado, welcome [...]
I will take this as a sign that my new WOP is on the correct track. Needed this and all the comments – spot on, per usual.
XO
WIP
Nice.
I find the most successful gender switch in the novel, Smilla’s Sense of Snow where Peter Hoeg writes his female character, Smilla, as a dazzling and brilliant, believeable woman. Which women writers have written from a male perspective as effectively?