Male or Female...and Why?

[Lobo De la Sombra]

Thanks for the comment, Max, and thanks for your kind words about my ladies.  As for writing from the female perspective, I have a suggestion that might help some.  Any time you get a female character in a situation, think about women you know.  Ask yourself, what would this one do?  Ok, what would that one do?  Then, once you've answered those questions to the best of your ability and imagination, use those answers as a template to craft the response of your female character.  All of my characters, male and female, display personality traits I'm familiar with from people I know, or have observed in passing from people I don't know.  To be honest, I'm not even sure if that will make sense to anybody but me, but I hope it helps.  Besides, if I only wrote what I knew would make sense to other people, I wouldn't write much.   

[Lobo De la Sombra]

Thanks for your comment, Arkane.  Myself, I tend to switch between male and female for dominant parts, though I do favor the female character.  For anything else, I find there are very few roles a woman can't fill beautifully, if properly written.  I say few because, as an example, I would enjoy seeing someone like Roseann modelling thongs about as much as I would enjoy seeing John Candy modelling speedos.  I say that, of course, in the sincere hope that I haven't put unwanted visuals into impressionable minds.  I guess the point I was aiming at before I veered off course there is that, in writing as in anything else, personal preference is a major factor.  You characterize your preferences quite well, and I hope you continue to do so for a long time.

[Arkane]

As for writing from the female perspective, I have a suggestion that might help some.  Any time you get a female character in a situation, think about women you know.  Ask yourself, what would this one do?  Ok, what would that one do?  Then, once you've answered those questions to the best of your ability and imagination, use those answers as a template to craft the response of your female character.

Well, I often do that for picturing a male character's actions also... still I think it's complicated, so I'm vary of any attempt of really enter the female mind.
Anyway often bdsm stories are not about realistic females at all.

[Arkane]

Thanks for your comment, Arkane.  Myself, I tend to switch between male and female for dominant parts, though I do favor the female character.

Well somehow with a male aggressor or dominant, I figure this one to be a jerk, a bully or something like that. Unpleasant. Nothing sophisticated, nothing appealing. No charme, just muscle power and arrogance. (Obviously the story could be different from that, but this is my first impression).
It's difficult to write down "why" because I never posed the question to myself before, but even if I had the dominant role when I was lucky to try it, in bdsm stories I don't really like to see men in that role.

[ElectroPainLover]

After thinking more about this subject, I believe I will be offering a mix of male and female protagonists. Just running different scenario's through my head I have been able to come up with some pretty viable story-lines with a male being dominated by a female. Sorry, I could never see me writing about M/M however. My mind just doesn't go there.

I have submitted five stories this week, so, to give Gromet a break from me trashing his inbox, I will slow down a little until next week or the week after. I need to give some thought to what Jessica will find herself up against in part 4. Hmmm.

EPL

[64Fordman]

I use Lobo’s technique when I write. In my career I’ve met countless thousands of people that I use to create composite characters, including a long stint at truck stops. I have to tone the truck stop people down in my stories though, they’ll give you the shirt off their back and the last dollar in their pocket but they are nuts.


ElectroPainLover,

Just a heads up, in a few short weeks Gromet will be accepting stories for the 2016 Halloween Special. It’s a great way for writers to let their imaginations visit the twilight zone. Some writers even create Halloween chapters of their ongoing series. Keep it in the back of your mind if it sound like fun.

[ElectroPainLover]

ElectroPainLover,

Just a heads up, in a few short weeks Gromet will be accepting stories for the 2016 Halloween Special. It’s a great way for writers to let their imaginations visit the twilight zone. Some writers even create Halloween chapters of their ongoing series. Keep it in the back of your mind if it sound like fun.

Thanks for the information Fordman. I know I have seen several Halloween stories on the site and had no idea how or why they were derived. Now I know.

I will keep it in the back of my mind and see what I may be able to spin out of the idea. Hopefully I will come up with something interesting.

Thanks again.

EPL

[A Pensive Pen]

This is an interesting topic. When I first started writing I would have thought that I gave equal weight to male and female perspectives, but pretty much every submission I've made says otherwise. I heavily privilege female characters, though I have a couple unpublished works with male protagonists. This thread has me wondering exactly why that is.

In large part it's my personal preferences, sure, but in part I think I've always viewed this genre as giving female characters a lot more range. Of course there are stereotypes for both male and female characters, both dominant and submissive, but I've always felt like females can transcend or outright break them more easily. Male switches, for example, seem tricky to me, as the way they typically act dominant and the way they act while submissive can easily contradict each other and make the character muddled. Archetypes and perceived gender roles are hard things to break. If I, say, wanted to write a scene with multiple mixed gender characters, and completely avoid stereotypical roles by having dominants and submissives from both genders, my work would be cut out for me.

Now don't get ahead of me. I see this as my problem to get over, not something inherent to writing the types of stories I write. It's definitely something to think about and work on.

- Alex

[ElectroPainLover]

Great post Alex!

I, just plain and simply, never thought of writing with a male as my lead character/victim. Since Lobo started this thread, I am now going to write some stories with male protagonists with females as their...whatever. I am simply going to write about what I fantasize could happen to me. Write as if I am the protagonist and go on from there. After thinking of it this way, I will have many stories to write...as many stories as I have fantasies--believe me, there are many!

Lobo and the many other posts have sparked my thought process. I want to contribute to our female members, stories, they may enjoy more than just a man writing from the males idea of 'rising enjoyment. As a male submissive (should I ever actually get the chance to be one) I have always wanted to please my ex and/or lovers before I would allow myself to be pleased. They just never knew my true reason for this, as, all my relationships have been extremely vanilla and I prefer something with a little more flavor.

I hope I can write stories with a male character that may cause a few of our female reader to be pleased! I can only hope to be that good, but, I do hope.

Dana -- EPL

[Lobo De la Sombra]

Thanks for your comment, Alex.  I think, if truth were to be told, we all have our own personal gender bias, both in real life and in the characters we create.  We are all, each in our own way, tellers of stories, whether we actually put those stories into words or not.  Our stories come from us, from our thoughts, our dreams, our fantasies and desires.  As such, each story falls pretty well within our own comfort zone.  It is possible to create a story outside that zone, but it takes conscious effort to do so.  After all, we are all the end result of centuries and generations of customs, traditions, beliefs, things that divide us to this day, and gender is probably the oldest of those divisions.  When it comes to character creation, neither gender is the right choice, just as neither is the wrong choice.  As in all other things, it's a matter of personal preference, and no one preference is more or less valid than any other.  My questions are meant to spark discussion between writers, and maybe even comments by readers on their thoughts, and I couldn't be happier with the response this question has received.  Write within your comfort zone, write within your own personal passion, and I've no doubt there will be more than a few people out there who appreciate the results.

[Daffy Duck]

I agree Lobo.

But just once in a while, it is nice to write outside one's own comfort zone. It keeps the author and the audience fresh.

Daffy

[Daffy Duck]

Addendum......

Talking about comfort zones, I wonder whether authors and readers stick to one type of story genre ?

Daffy

[ElectroPainLover]

Hey Daffy.

I believe most writers do stick to their particular genre. It seems like Trash writers mainly write trash...Mummification authors tend to stick to it...I personally fall under the Bondage and Self-Bondage genre and could never see me writing a Trashcan or Mummification story as I really know nothing about those subjects. I could probably muddle through a Latex story, but, the closest I have been to wearing a latex body suit is a neoprene wet-suit. I really do not believe the two are even close in feel and wear, so could I actually describe spending hours in a Latex body-suit. I believe my readers would see right through my bullshit. So, I stick to what I know...bondage and especially, self-bondage.

Just my observations...and...it doesn't go for all of our writers as I have seen some skip along the genres, but I think for most it holds true.

Dana -- EPL

[Lobo De la Sombra]

I think everyone has their own personal favorites, and most people do tend to stick to the areas they prefer.  That would make me an exception to the rule, I guess, since I've got stories in nine different sections, and my reading preferences are pretty well as wide.  One of the nicest things about the Plaza is it gives everyone the chance to enjoy their own preferences, and the chance to explore new areas.

[ElectroPainLover]

Yes Lobo...and you were one of the ones I was thinking about when I said I had noticed some that have skipped across the genres. I have to agree with you that Gromet's Plaza offers a very wide variety of story genres and displays the works of some very talented authors. That is why I like the site(s) so much.

Dana -- EPL