Originally posted to Patreon: July 2nd, 2017
A while ago I came across a thread about men writing in the point of view of a woman. The person who started the thread was concerned because he had written stories in the point of view of a woman and received criticism that it wouldn’t sell because he was a man. He wanted to know if it was worth him trying to write in the point of view as a woman if no one was going to read it.
I understand people being hesitant about reading a book in a woman’s point of view when it was written by a man. There’s been a lot of bad writing out there where women are too one dimensional, or unoriginal, or play into tropes and cliches, or the women just continually do things that most women would find ridiculous. Although there has been plenty of good writing as well.
Usually, I would be a bit hesitant to read such a story myself. If I was familiar with the author or the story seemed interesting enough I would get it and hope for the best, but I (and I assume most women) would rather read stories about women written by women.
This is mostly from my own observations, but most women are tired of having their stories told by men. It’s not a man can’t do it thing, it’s women can do it for themselves kind of thing. Still today there is a vast majority of popular male authors as opposed to female authors. And while things are improving, there is still a great thirst for women writers.
Now while I crave more and more women writers, and gladly welcome and encourage every girl who wants to write, that doesn’t mean men can’t write good female characters. If anything I’d love to see more of it. Yeah, there’s a stigma against it with some people but that will only go away if men continue to write fleshed out and interesting female characters.
So if any guys were worrying about writing books or stories focused on females, please don’t be. Put as much effort into your daughters as you do your sons and people will find your writing and they will love it. I look forward to reading it all!
Charlotte L Tracey 