Kennedy - Strong Female Characters

Strong Female Characters: A Busy Writers Guide

First Edition

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Editor: Christopher Saylor

Published September 2013 by Tongue Untied Communications

ISBN: 978-0-9920371-0-9

Every how to become a better writer list includes studying craft. Years ago, as a new writer, I took that advice to heart, but found that many craft books didnt give me the detailed, in-the-trenches coverage of a topic I wanted. They included a lot of beautifully written prose and theory without explaining how to practically apply the principles, or they gave numerous examples but didnt explain how to replicate those concepts in my own work.

I ended up buying three or four books on the same topic to understand it fully and get the balance of theory and practice I was looking for. I spent more time studying craft than writing, and all the exercises in the books seemed to take me away from my story rather than helping me work directly on it. For the modern writer who also needs to blog and be on social media, who might be juggling a day job, and who still wants time to see their family or friends, thats a problem. Do you know anyone who doesnt have more commitments than theyre able to handle already without adding study the writing craft on top of it?

Were busy. Were tired. Were overworked. We love writing, but often wonder if its worth the sacrifices were making for it. We know were headed toward burning out, but dont know what we can do differently.

To quote Allan F . Mogensen, the creator of Work Simplification, its time to work smarter, not harder.

I wrote The Busy Writers Guide series to help you fast-track the learning process. I felt writers needed a fluff-free guide that would give them the detailed coverage of a topic they required while also respecting their time. I want you to be able to spend the majority of your writing time actually writing, so that you can set aside your computer and enjoy the people and experiences that make life worth living.

Each Busy Writers Guide is intended to serve as an accelerated masters class in a topic. Ill give you enough theory so that you can understand why things work and why they dont, but also enough examples to see how that theory looks in practice. Ill also provide tips and exercises to help you take it to the pages of your own story with an editors-eye view.

My goal is for you to come away a stronger writer, with a stronger piece of work, than when you came in.

Because A Busy Writers Guide to Strong Female Characters is a mini-book, its a little different from the full-length guides in the series. Instead of having a dedicated Take It to the Page section at the end of each chapter, youll find questions and prompts within the chapters themselves.

So lets get started

Before we can talk about how to write strong female characters, I first need to cover the inevitable debate over what we mean by strong female character . And, more importantly, what we dont.

When I say strong female character , Im not simply talking about a three-dimensional character whose sex is female. Life-like characters are important to any story, but creating believable, consistent characters with emotions we can relate to is a broader topic. (And one Ill be covering in depth in a full-length book in the Busy Writers Guide series.)

So, then, what do I mean by strong female character ?

In a New York Times article titled A Plague of Strong Female Characters, Carina Chocano writes, I get the feeling that what most people mean or hear when they say or hear strong female character is female characters who are tough, cold, terse, taciturn and prone to scowling in order for a female character to be worth identifying with, she should really try to rein in the gross girly stuff.

She goes on to conclude that Strength , in the parlance, is the 21st-century equivalent of virtue . And what we think of as virtuous , or culturally sanctioned, socially acceptable behavior now, in women as in men, is the ability to play down qualities that have been traditionally considered feminine and play up the qualities that have traditionally been considered masculine . Strong female characters , in other words, are often just female characters with the gendered behavior taken out. [Emphasis mine.]

And, yes, those stereotypes float around in books and moviesthe character that could go from being a woman to a man with a simple name change and a haircut.

But when you think about strong women in real life, is that the image that comes to mind? Because, you see, what makes for a strong female character is exactly what makes for a strong woman .

Strong female characters, like strong women, can enjoy painting their nails, wearing makeup, and putting on a beautiful dress. They can wear stilettos or ballet flats or hiking boots. They can be moms, even stay-at-home moms. They can be musicians or cooks or doctors. They can cry. They can comfort a friend. They can listen. And, yes, they can even be afraid of bugs. (After all, even Indiana Jones was afraid of snakes.)

None of those things define a strong woman or a strong female character.

So what does it mean when we talk about a strong female character?

Smart can mean book smart the way a quantum physicist is, but it can also mean a woman with common sense that lets her find creative solutions to everyday problems. Or it can mean a woman whos talented with using her hands and can paint a picture or fix a car. Smart , in this context, isnt defined by IQ.

She has a skill that earns respect and contributes to society. Her intelligence makes her competent, able to help others, and not totally dependent on another person for her entire existence. (Some dependence is okaynone of us are entirely self-sufficient.)

Hermione Grangers character in Harry Potter didnt play down qualities that have been traditionally considered feminine and play up the qualities that have traditionally been considered masculine, yet she was a strong female character largely because of her intelligence and magical talent. She contributed to the search for Horcruxes in a meaningful way, so much so that Ron (in the movie version) admitted they wouldnt have lasted even two days without her help.

Weve all seen the female character who stands by when she clearly should have acted. As much as I love the classic The Princess Bride , would it have killed Buttercup to whack the ROUS (rodent of unusual size) with a stick while it was gnawing on Westley? A strong woman would have defended her beloved.