(The sound of a pen scratching.) LOGO.
Hellooo, everybody! It's almost time for the release of my upcoming dark fantasy novel The Savior’s
Sister, which follows Leila, the badass queen of Thessen as she tries to thwart her assassination.
In honor of this, I am tackling one of your most heavily requested topics that happens to have
a lot to do with The Savior's Sister, and that's how to write women in fiction. Because telling
people to write women as if they're people clearly isn't cutting it... Before anyone gets their crotch
in a knot, I will be directing these tips to male writers ONLY because they're the ones who are
constantly asking me how to write women in fiction. However, these tips can apply to literally ANYONE
who is struggling to write female characters. Also, in case you forgot, my presale giveaway for The
Savior’s Sister is still going down! Anyone who pre-orders a copy of TSS in any format, whether
it's hardback, paperback, or e-book is eligible to enter the giveaway and they can win a bunch
of prizes! One of those prizes is a signed copy of Barefoot on the Beach by the amazing
Katlyn Duncan! Katlyn Duncan is a fellow YouTuber as well as a hybrid author. She's got tons of great
advice over on her YouTube channel and she is a super supportive and wonderful human being! I
have her information listed below! One lucky winner is going to be walking away with a signed copy of
Barefoot on the Beach at the end of today's video, so stick around for that! And don't forget, I will
be posting one video or live stream per day during the release week of TSS. That week is going to be
jam packed with content, so if you want to stay updated and get all of the details right as they
hit my channel, be sure to subscribe and ring that bell down below. On to my best tips for writing
women in three, two, one, go! Number One (1): Social expectation is NOT biology. This is extremely
important to consider no matter what gender you're writing. There's a huge difference between societal
expectation and psychology or biology. A lot of stereotypes do not stem from how an actual
gender naturally behaves; they stem from societal expectations. For example, women are stereotyped
as being highly emotional. However, researchers say that this label comes more so from societal
gender roles as opposed to biology. Not all women experience emotion the same; we're just expected to
express our emotions more freely than men because society says so. Another example is arousal. Men are
expected to be horny, whereas women are chaste and pure. But I'm sure you can think of a ton of crazy
horny women out there! The reason I mention this is because a lot of writers write gender based off of
socialized gender roles as opposed to writing them as multi-faceted human beings. If every
woman you write is a crying, hysterical, submissive prude, then you're just regurgitating stereotypes.
Number Two (2): Societal expectation is societal. I'm talking to all you world builders out there!
Even though societal expectation isn't biology, it's still something to take into consideration.
For example, if I’m writing a woman who exists in our world, she might feel more comfortable
expressing her emotions than a male character because our society says women are allowed to
do that. However, this doesn't apply if I'm writing a woman who exists in a completely
different world. When you create a world, you create their norms, including their gender expectations.
You don't HAVE to follow our norms. If you want to create a world where women are expected to
become hardened warriors, then do it. In the realm of Thessen from The Savior's Sister, sexuality is
considered open and fluid, which means women aren't expected to be virginal like they are in a lot of
societies within our world. Ultimately, when writing your own world, you create the gender norms, so be
free my child! And don't be misogynistic! Number Three (3): Sexy is NOT a personality trait. It's fine
if you want to write sexy women! I love sexy women! I write them, myself. But sexy is not a personality
trait. It's a subjective opinion based on aesthetic or sexual appeal. If your female character
only exists to be sexy, then you haven't created a character - you've created a barely sentient
fleshlight. Your female character needs to be more than fap fuel, at least if you're trying to NOT be
an asshole. Number Four (4): Women have agency, too. Women have minds and opinions, and sometimes they even do
things and make decisions! I shouldn't have to say this, yet here we are. Even the most passive dishrag
has some semblance of agency. I assume they picked out what they were going to wear in the morning
and at least wiped their ass after they took a shit. She doesn't need to be goddamn Napoleon,
but functioning humans take action, however small. Think of it this way: take a look at every scene
your female character appears in. If all she did was agree with the male characters or act
sexy, then she's not a human being, she's a blow up doll. Number Five (5): Femininity is NOT a prison.
It's very common for writers to portray women in one of two lights. Either very femme, or very tough.
If she's femme, she's either a villainous bitch or a vulnerable damsel in distress. If she's tough,
she's either very masculine or some kind of tomboy. If you want to write any of these variations,
that's fine. Femme bitches and tough tomboys exist. However, understand that femininity and strength
are not mutually exclusive. You do NOT have to make your female characters reject femininity
in order for them to be strong, capable, or badass. Being feminine just means enjoying things that are
typically labeled as pretty, like makeup. But a CEO can wear makeup to the board room and still boss
the shit out of everyone there. Number Six (6): Our lives don't revolve around men. One of the most
annoying female stereotypes is the marriage and baby fever cliche. Your female character
is obsessed with landing a man, settling down, and popping out teacup humans. I'm not gonna pretend
this woman doesn't exist. I know just as many Brittneys and Kaylas as the next guy. But there
are just as many women who don't value marriage or don't want kids. I don't wanna have babies! They're
sticky and stinky and they don't even pay rent! Pfft, losers... And I don't know if you know this, but a lot
of women don't even like men. And yes, sometimes we get together and talk about guys, but we also talk
about movies and cheese and literally anything else. Pro Tip: The Bechdel Test is a great way for
examining this issue. It's a really easy way for determining whether or not you're writing women in
a way that's realistic and human. Basically, if your story features two or more women who speak to one
another at least ONCE about something other than a man, then congratulations! You've passed The Bechdel
Test! If your story doesn't pass, fix it! For the love of God! Number Seven (7): Calm down on the female
suffering! Torture is a necessary facet of fiction. You don't have a plot without conflict. Thus, I'm
not saying your female characters can't suffer. But their suffering shouldn't exist solely to motivate
a male character. It's very common for a female character to either die or be sexually assaulted
solely for the sake of upsetting a male in their life. Usually a father, brother, or partner. You never
see how this trauma affects the female character. You either get torture porn or you just see how
upset the man in her life is. This is dehumanizing! It paints female characters as plot points and
disposable. It can also be triggering for readers, particularly those who have experienced trauma and
then had their voices go unheard or ignored. Again, I'm not saying women can't suffer in your books,
but dipping your toes into offensive cliches is NOT the way to do it. Number Eight (8): Women don't have
the male gaze...’cause they're women. A lot of men writing from the perspective of a female character
will describe her appearance as if she's viewing it through the male gaze. In other words, they
sexualize the crap out of her and rate her body by what they personally find sexy. There are entire
social media accounts devoted to dragging men who write women like this. If you've been living under
a rock and have no idea what I'm talking about, an example would be: “I am a female character with
succulent, pert breasts and erect nipples, a luscious ass only slightly drooping with age
but still adequately desirable in the right lighting, and delectable lips that demand attention
despite my naturally shy and insecure disposition.” No human woman would describe herself this way.
I'm not saying a woman can't feel hot; she can certainly look in a mirror and think, “Damn, I'm
a snack!” But she thinks she looks good from HER standards - not the standards of men she doesn't
give two shits about. Believe it or not, most women do not try to look nice to appeal to men. They
try to look nice to appeal to their own tastes. We don't give a shit if you wanna fuck us, ‘cause
we don't wanna fuck you. Number Nine (9): Disrespect is a neon sign. The reason people complain about
how a lot of men write women is because the unconscious sexism is a lot more blatant than
they think it is. It's easy to tell when you don't respect your female characters because they're not
written in the same way as your male characters. You've got a cast of 10 characters. Nine are men,
and one is a woman. The nine male characters get normal physical descriptions. The female
character's description is sexualized... Your nine male characters are layered. Your one female
character is a femme fatale who was assaulted as a child... Your nine male characters get to shoot
the bad guys. Your one female character gets to use seduction as a weapon... You see where I'm going with
this? It may sound like I'm exaggerating, but I'm literally repeating the cast of characters from
a manuscript I critiqued years ago, and I'm sure this formula fits into thousands of books out
there. It's very obvious when you don't see your female characters in the same way that you see
your male characters, because you're writing them as complex and deep but your female character gets
the same tired formula. And Number Ten (10): Ask a woman! If you're NOT a woman and you're writing women,
maybe definitely ask a woman if you're doing it right. And by a woman, I mean ten women...or twenty. Ask
ALL women! Get female critique partners! Get female beta readers! Get female sensitivity readers! ALL
THE WOMEN! And don't ask your mom, or your grandma, or any woman who's just gonna be nice to spare
your fragile ego. Ask women who will be 100% honest when ya done goofed up. Let them
read your manuscript, and when they tell you you've done something wrong, LISTEN to them! At the end of
the day, they know more about being a woman than you do because they ARE women and you are not.
So that's all I got for you today! I actually have a lot more tips about writing women. This is just
the tip of the iceberg! If you'd like me to make a part two to this video, comment below! I'd be happy
to do so! And as promised, it's time to hand out a prize! My presale giveaway for The Savior's Sister
is still going down, and one lucky person who pre-ordered a copy is walking away with a signed
copy of Barefoot on the Beach by Katlyn Duncan! The winner is...this person! Thank you so, so much for
pre-ordering TSS! And a huge thank you to Katlyn for supporting my release and just being an
awesome human being in general! If you want to read a fantastical, romantic, action-packed book, be sure
to pre-order The Savior's Sister! You can pre-order it in e-book, paperback, or hardback, and then be
sure to enter my presale giveaway! That way, you can win a bunch of prizes! All of the information
is listed below! Don't forget to subscribe to my channel! I post new videos on Wednesdays, and if
you want to be alerted as SOON as I upload, ring that bell! And be sure to follow me on
social media! I'm on Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook - and of course, you can tweet me @JennaMoreci!
Bye! (Male Voice) You've read Tobias’s story. Now, it's time for Leila’s! The Savior’s Sister, coming soon...