Ah, man, c’mon.
There generally aren’t many hard and fast rules when it comes to fiction writing.
Those who studied fiction writing as part of a very important degree may disagree, and yet many are still of the opinion that you can’t teach somebody how to write.
Either you got it or you don’t. Either you know how to write dialogue or you don’t.
Either you’re good at writing from the point-of-view of characters who you don’t share a gender or general outlook on life with… or you’re this guy.
Following the prominence of a Twitter hashtag called #OwnVoices which aimed to highlight the importance of marginalised groups writing about their own experiences, one lad decided to weigh in.
He wrote that people should be able to write from any perspective they want as long as they can “pull it off.”
And in some ways, he’s right – if you can accurately portray a character who’s different to you and make them believable then fair play – you’ve got a talent. You can “pull it off.”
This guy, however, cannot.
And a nice woman named Gwen C Katz decided to point that out to him… by sharing some of his work where he writes from a female perspective.
And oh God if it’s not just a bit depressing.
A male author is insisting that he is living proof that it’s possible for a male author to write an authentic female protagonist.
Here’s a quote from his first page. pic.twitter.com/f6d5bN2EHq
— Gwen C. Katz (@gwenckatz) March 30, 2018
The quote details that the character is “tall but not too tall,” that she has “curves” and that her pants are “impossibly tight.”
Right, so, lots of necessary information there.
Gwen goes on to point to another passage where the author describes the protagonist being looked up and down by someone who “liked what he saw.”
Do you want another quote? You want another quote. pic.twitter.com/JYfYZlYj6u
— Gwen C. Katz (@gwenckatz) March 30, 2018
She also gave this man a “sultry flick of the eyelashes”, you know, as us women are always doing.
Following that, the protagonist was “blushing on command” and simultaneously not being a prude while also not being a slut.
She’s not a prude but she’s also not a slut. pic.twitter.com/jwm8rRfH7e
— Gwen C. Katz (@gwenckatz) March 30, 2018
She also describes a total creep as “adorable” – you know, the way gals always do on nights out when someone is being inappropriate and weird.
Fair play to her, like.
“Completely adorable” is DEFINITELY a phrase real women would use to describe predatory men. pic.twitter.com/hxOnu0l0Mo
— Gwen C. Katz (@gwenckatz) March 30, 2018
Anyway, this whole debacle went on for a while, and to be honest, it was pretty funny to see someone so adamant that they can write female characters be torn to shreds.
And although so many incredible male writers are totally capable of writing believable female characters, one thing remains certain – this guy cannot.
