Writing Craft Wednesday:Writing in the Male POV – Part 3

by | Aug 3, 2016 | Writing Craft

I am a woman. I think like a woman. I write like a woman. But what if I want to write like a man? If men are so straightforward and simple, shouldn’t it be easy to write in their point of view? Apparently not.

 

After my first failed attempt, I dove into researching how to write in the male POV. For the last couple weeks, I have shared what I learned about how men talk and how men think.  Today we are wrapping up our study of writing in the male POV with a look at male behavior.

Without further ado…

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Male Behavior

  • Use strong verbs to describe their movement. Guys generally don’t wander and linger. They know where they’re going and they don’t mess around when they get there.
  • When guys hang out together, there is usually an activity involved, whereas women can just get together and chat for the sake of chatting.
  • The male ego can drive a guy to do things that are slightly crazy or a lot crazy.

 

“Almost all guys are defensive all the time. Lots of crossed arms, lots of small head-nods in agreement. Friendly guys will go for the back-slap or hair-ruffle (though ruffling is a bit demeaning, it’s the older-brother-little-brother gesture). With girls, it’s far more awkward. Maybe some casual, testing-the-water touches. Otherwise, guys are typically quite self-conscious around girls.”

– InkandQuills.com

Men…

  • Are action-oriented. They do instead of think about it.
  • Are rarely prepared to wait for any great length of time.
  • Like being in charge (or at least like thinking they’re in charge!)
  • Have better detection of light and have better depth perception.
  • Are really great at faking being strong and tough. They present a confident front.
  • Listen and give advice on how to solve a problem.
  • Rarely admit being wrong.
  • Rarely respond to direct commands unless it’s issued by a boss or other ranking figure.
  • Rarely cry.
  • Rarely have intimate friends. They tend to have a larger circle of ‘casual mates’
  • Look for a physical way to end conflict–the quickest, most direct method you can imagine. Imagine physical contact or using anything blunt, heavy, or sharp

 

If the murderer were right there, then the Manly Guy will not stop to feel sad, he’ll go into Revenge Mode immediately, and nothing will stop him. But if the murderer is far away (the normal case) then the Manly Guy will go through the normal feelings of loss. Then he will map out a plan of action that will take him to the murderer and he will execute vengeance in a Manly Guy way, which will probably involve high explosives or machine guns or hot pokers placed in inconvenient places.

– AdvancedFictionWriting.com

 

Girl/Guy Interaction – According to a Man

Guys always notice girls. In the same way that guysalways notice every threatening-looking guy in a room, or the same way they notice if there’s a television.

The second look–the double-take–that’s the big one. The first look doesn’t count, that’s instinctual. The second look means we’re interested, or at least, willing to double-check.

As a guy, the general rule of thumb is, “Unless you knowotherwise, she’s taken.” To that extent, guys can look at girls, imagine what it might be like with her in a relationship, but then tell themselves a dozen reasons that wouldn’t work.

– InkandQuills.com

 

 

What do you think? Are there things that need to be removed? Need to be added? Comment below and let me know.

Previous posts about Male POV:

Writing Craft Wednesday: Writing in the Male POV – Part 1

Writing Craft Wednesday:Writing in the Male POV – Part 2

Interested in learning more? Check out my favorite articles from my time of research below.

Advanced Fiction Writing – Wrapping Up Those Manly Guy Characters

Advanced Fiction Writing – On Writing Convincing Male Characters

Keri Arthur – Male POV

Ink and Quills – How to Write from a Guys POV

 

Hopefully with the tools in hand that I have discovered, you will be reading about my believable swoon-worthy hero soon.

 

Writing Craft Wednesday:Writing in the Male POV – Part 2

by | Jul 27, 2016 | Writing Craft

darcy.jpgFitzwilliam Darcythor.jpg

Thor

 

Two great swoon-worthy heroes, and who doesn’t love a swoon-worthy hero? As a writer, I strive to make my heroes the type that makes you swoon despite their flaws.

 

After learning the devastating truth, that my hero was a girly-man, I sought out to learn how to better craft the male POV in my writing. This sent me on a hunt through dozens of articles written by men, women, published authors, and editors to discover what makes a realistic male POV.

 

Last week I shared what I learned about male dialogue and conversations. Today I am wrapping up with bulleted lists on what I discovered about the male’s inner world.

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The Inner Male

  • Short snippets of inner monologue are best. One or two sentences is a good target.
  • A man always thinks of himself in positive terms, even when he botches things terribly. He will phrase his defeat in terms that make it clear that he was put in an impossible situation or that he was off his game. (Of course, you can still have characters who struggle with self-image, but even then they can still have times of thinking like this.)
  • A man would never describe himself as helpless. EVER. He may be down for a time while he waits for the next opportune moment, but he is not helpless.
  • When a man sets his mind on a target, everything else vanishes from thought until the mission is accomplished.
  • Men aren’t going to agonize over whether or not they should kiss the woman, they do it, then deal with the consequences afterward. Teenage guys might naturally agonize, though.
  • Men are very visual. The way a woman dresses creates visual images a man’s brain that can linger for days, months, or even years.
  • For every problem, there is a solution, but the consequences don’t matter as much as simply solving the issue to begin with. They may just try the direct, brute-force way first.
  • Emotion, except for anger, is usually kept under wraps or repressed altogether.
  • They think about responsibilities, deadlines, family, life, and sometimes there is literally nothing. (Is that seriously possible? I can’t even wrap my head around thinking nothing.)
  • Most guys like to imagine they don’t have feelings. They use the ‘push it deep down’ approach 90% of the time and the remaining 10% of the time, it is bottled up until it eventually bursts.
  • If you push a guy, he’ll get angry; if you break a guy, he’ll cry.
  • Guys understand a woman’s emotions; they just don’t know what to do about it.
  • Most guys only know eleven colors: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, black, brown, gray, white, and pink.
  • Guys do NOT always think about sex. If they do, they are not the type of guy you want being your hero. Real men can and do think about other things.

 

What do you think? Are there any things that could be added to this list? Any things which should be removed? Leave your comments below and come back next week for my final installment with Male Behavior.

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