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Do you prefer to write a specific gender?


Grimscythe
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Do you prefer to write a specific gender?  

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I suppose I've got lots of questions popping into my head for the roleplay community. This next one centers around the topic of gender preference when writing your characters. If your characters are predominantly transgender, please vote using their gender identities.

 

One of the things I've noticed as I poke around different roleplay groups and resources is the predominance of discussing issues stemming from player preference. What I refer to when I say this: I've seen several players and site owners show concern for whether the lack of interest in their stories stem from their preference to play a specific gender. Others express feeling as if they are forced to play a gender they don't enjoy playing just to drum up any interest at all.

 

Personally, I've almost always written female characters. However, as I endeavor to grow as a roleplayer and writer, I've started to explore characters that I normally don't create. For me, this means writing males, which I've discovered I'm not as good at as I hoped. I don't know if it's because of my internal monologue, or the fact that I have little to no clue how to write men. (It's probably the latter, considering in the book world we often bemoan men's depiction of us when they write women.)

 

So my question is this: do you have a preference for what gender your characters are? Have you ever felt forced to write a character you didn't want to write in order to find plots because of a lack of interest in your preference for plotting purposes?

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I guess I could say that I prefer to write more male characters than female ones. I've been told that I play great males which to me is interesting since I'm not one. I've found myself more comfortable with male characters as when I have written female characters they come off seeming more tomboyish and not likely the types that make for good pairings romantically. I do write female characters and I don't feel forced to, I just would rather play males. I have seen where sites have ratios and not wanting too much or too little of certain genders and I've always felt that limiting to me. I feel people should write what they enjoy (because that's what writing as a hobby is all about to me). I also don't knock someone for trying new things. We all didn't do well with things in the beginning. We grow over time. 

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I honestly slightly prefer writing male characters since my first characters were male, but that hasn't stopped me from writing female characters, though. it just took me a bit longer to get into writing female characters. There is a level of intimidation that comes with writing for a character of an opposite gender, but I think most of my worries were me getting way to into my own head about the "what if's" and such.

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I tend to write more male characters rather than female characters. I'm not sure why to be honest, I think it's just something I'm more comfortable doing. I know my preference doesn't limit plotting and I'd never force myself to write for a character that I didn't enjoy writing with, for the sake of a plot. That said, you have me thinking that maybe I should making more female characters one day...

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I primarily write female. I'm not big into writing men. I have a lot of reasons but a top one is I feel pressured to play them OOC to how I intended them and plus I have a lot of male role models/people in my life and I just don't like playing them as much because of it.

 

I do play male characters. I don't think I'm good at them even though people swear they love them.

 

As for playing characters I don't want. It happens. Not really going to get into details but I avidly avoid it where possible.

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I prefer writing male characters, though mine are always "nice guys" in the positive sense.  My last figure is/was a female, but it was because I was the only man on the board.  The women always kvetched about their experiences with my gender, so I forced myself to choose a female canon to fit in.  It ultimately did not work, so now I am back to drawing up young men again.

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33 minutes ago, Jacob said:

I prefer writing male characters, though mine are always "nice guys" in the positive sense.  My last figure is/was a female, but it was because I was the only man on the board.  The women always kvetched about their experiences with my gender, so I forced myself to choose a female canon to fit in.  It ultimately did not work, so now I am back to drawing up young men again.

 

Eek, that's a horrible experience! I'm glad you got away from that. Did you find it difficult to write a female character?

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3 minutes ago, Grimscythe said:

 

Eek, that's a horrible experience! I'm glad you got away from that. Did you find it difficult to write a female character?

 

Thank you so much!  It was not as difficult as I had originally thought, but as the character was a Victorian lady, I kept having to review every single post to ensure she read as a period heroine and not a nineteenth-century gentleman.

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2 minutes ago, Jacob said:

 

Thank you so much!  It was not as difficult as I had originally thought, but as the character was a Victorian lady, I kept having to review every single post to ensure she read as a period heroine and not a nineteenth-century gentleman.

 

There is totally nothing wrong with a woman that behaves like a nineteenth-century gentleman. 😇

 

I get that though. I find myself, when writing men, often referring to them as women. For that reason, I too have to review posts before I send them. Otherwise, they sound a bit awkward.

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I don't really have a gender preference when it comes to characters, and out of my four mains, two are male and two female. That being said, on boards in the past, my female characters never got much play or interest, and I felt like I had to play males if I wanted any plots at all. Turned out to just be that my groups at the time were trash! Fortunately, I'm in a much better situation now, and can play whatever I want, safe in the knowledge that someone will bite.

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I primarily write female as well, as the last longer term RPs I did writing as a male, I ended up in some forced shipping situations that broke the characters for me, and have killed the muse that had let me write from the male perspective.  I recently tried again, and found it still to be the case, so I admire those that can successfully genderbend.

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I write for both male and female characters, but I've always felt more connected to my male characters than my female ones. It never really had much to do with plotting because I've got a pretty decent group who are open to just about anything but I think it was more of a reflection of me. Although I identify as agender in RL, I've always had a more masculine lean in interests and I've often wondered if that presented itself in my writing as well.

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Hmm

 

I lean towards males ususally. I do have one long time female character that is such a tomboy- in a sense- that I adore her.  I have in recent year created a few females, and I enjoy writing them- even though my stable is males. 

 

I am a bit of a tom boy mostly so maybe that is why? I know most of my males are not free - they either have an npc or already for years partnered.  My females are pretty undateable- mostly because of their career choice or race. Also I have been told I can be a bit intimidating as a writer - mostly because I muse like a maniac and storytell really uniquely. ( I dont think I am intimidating actually, I think it has more to do with other typists' perceptions when they hit my up to thread and it does not go the way they seem to have pre made in their heads- no harm no foul)

 

Vampires- male.  I do have one Toreador female - new fang. - I kinda like her

Shifters - mostly male

Humans - a female - very cool detective

Fey-  both

Mages - Males predominantly

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I used to prefer writing women, but now I tend to RP more men than I used to. IDK what it used to be, but sometimes all I would play would be strong female figures.

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I normally play predominantly males (and by predominantly I mean I'd have like 30 characters and 4 were female with a couple nb). I say normally because my current site swung suddenly in the opposite direction but it's probably got more to do with the genre than anything (female Sims are easier to find CC for, and also easier for me to make look nice. But I don't really have a preference. It just happens that a large number of my characters are normally male. -shrug-

 

As for writing them and plotting... I've not seen much major difference. The only time I can see it really mattering is if you're going for romance because most of the people interested in romance seem to only play the f in mxf relationships. People like my girls as much as my boys and my neithers and boths. I have a way higher chance of pairing certain ones off than other ones, but you know it is what it is and I'm usually not specifically after romance anyway soooo yo.

 

Are male characters easier for me to write as a writer? Not really. But I don't find them hard. Girls aren't hard for me either, neither are nb characters or transgenders. I don't think there's any secret to writing a certain gender the 'right' way because human gender identity is a unique experience for everyone. Maybe someone's never met a man that acts some way but it doesn't mean they don't exist. Humans are unique and varied that way, and I don't believe someone can come and tell you that you're writing your character's gender wrong any more than they can tell someone they're not acting like their gender (the fuck is that supposed to even mean?). Sooo... there's that jazz. But that gets slightly off-topic, so I'll stop here. Lol

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