The Red Green Show

Do you ever watch the Red Green Show? At the end of most episodes, when the men gather for their lodge meeting, they say the following "Man's Prayer":

"I'm a man,
But I can change.
If I have to.
I guess."

In good fiction male characters shouldn't feel like females with masculine names. We shouldn't try to change anyone. It can be challenging to write from a male character's perspective if you happen to be of the female persuasion. The truth is, men have a different take on the world and how to relate to others than us women.

I'm speaking in generalities so don't let me offend those sensitive New Age men who don't mind showing their emotions and letting their softer side show.

What motivates men? The same things that motivate women--yearning for importance, wanting to be loved unconditionally and lauded for our gifts and abilities.

It's how these yearnings manifest themselves that the differences arise. Our culture doesn't value crybabies or mama's boys--men are taught from a young age to suppress such expressions. Just ask Dr. Phil.

So when I write from a male character's point of view I try to keep these things in mind:

• Don't overexplain--actions speak louder than words when it comes to why men do what they do. Men feel deeply; they just don't go on about it.
• Don't be a chatterbox. It's usually the ladies who use up their quota of words each day. Men tend to be sparer with words.
• Feelings are to be suppressed. This isn't to say that male characters don't have feelings--they do. But they express their feelings in more subtle ways, a flinch of the cheek muscle, or in thier private thoughts.
• Work is supreme. Men are taught that their value comes from providing for their family. Some do this even to the point of losing the very family they're trying to provide for. But most men seem to be wired this way.
• Everyone wants to feel important.

Now, there's a spectrum of variation on all these points. Some men are more apt to cry at a movie, others will only talk sports. If you show both the inner and outer side to your male characters--flaws, idealisms, good traits and bad--your men will be three dimensional.

As with all characters in fiction, keep thier actions and reactions consistent with who your reader has come to know. Or let the reader in on the "why" of an out-of-character action so it won't seem pasted on. And always show the reader who your characters are the same way you discover who people are in real life--in their dialogue and body language and add in "markers" to make them unmistakeable.

More later,

Traci