I'm a bit self-conscious about the way I portray the leading women in my stories. I worry that my writing might be offensive in some way—and also predictable. Both of the novels I'm working on (
200 PC and
Bring Me to Life) have male protagonists, both of whom have attractive female love interests. I can name many other parallels between the two:
- Both protags are somewhat clueless, with regard to life in general and to women in particular.
- Both women are self-assured and powerful, though in different ways and for different reasons.
- I give the protag opportunities to admire these women physically in prose from time to time.
- Both women have beauty that is beyond skin-deep, and both protags recognize this from very early on.
- Both novels end (well, are projected to end) with protag and lovely lady in a committed relationship.
I don't see anything wrong with these scenarios, but I'm afraid I might be too close to the writing to see the flaws. I posted a short story on
Critters some time ago which presented a paradise wherein the protag (who is male and somewhat clueless—hmm, see a pattern developing?) was provided with the "perfect" mate. More than one Critter had a comment on the order of, "We get it already, she's hot, why belabor the point?"
I don't want this blog post to devolve into psychoanalysis, but I do feel compelled to think about why it is I write this way. I enjoy exploring the less self-assured male "hero" who turns out to have a starring role in saving someone or something. I think this guy tends to have a certain way of relating to women, and I think I probably understand that way quite well. Consequently, the way I portray my protags' attitudes toward their leading ladies is, I believe, realistic and understandable. It could be that the situations I concoct might not be entirely believable—but to some extent, that's the nature of fiction. It could also be that some readers would be offended by my chosen portrayal of these women...but frankly, there will always be some readers offended by something or other.
Do I make my women too beautiful? Do I spend too much time admiring my work? Do I belittle them (or anyone else) in this manner? Do I go out of my way to create unrealistic situations for the purpose of exploiting the femininity of these characters?
No, no, no, and no, I trust. But perhaps I'm too close. It won't be very long (I hope) before I'm ready to send one of these novels through the queue, and we'll see what the Critterati say then. But I'm not going to change my writing style; it's hard enough to write as myself, much less as someone I'm not.