Reader Gender

I was at a local writers group meeting last week, and listened to the beginning of a story by one of the male participants--a story about a young woman dealing with her family's vagaries. The strongest characters in the scene was male--brother of the protagonist--with a strong personality and interesting dichotomy of emotions. I wanted to know more about him. After general critiquing, I asked the fledgling writer why his protagonist was a young woman--in fact, why all his stories were told from the point of view of young women or girls. His responded that he read that most of the readers in the country were women and, therefore, thought his character selection would give him a chance at a greater audience.

I and others in the group proceeded to point out that while the majority reader gender might be female, it didn't mean they only read books about or by women. If that were the case, all those action/PI/thriller male writers should just pack it in--they'd be doomed. Not to mention the myriad male mainstream and literary writers. But they aren't doomed, because character and story development are what draw any reader.

It seems a great many just-starting-out writers of fiction think first about their audience and try to craft a story that will fit. The creative process of writing fiction doesn't usually bend well to that stigma. First, there has to be a story or situation that is compelling, and where the protagonist's reaction and influence on it is believable. Passion has to come from the writer where it will be transmitted through the characters to the reader. I've read many stories where I'm not even fond of the main character, but the situation is dynamic enough to keep me reading, to make me wonder, what will happen, and often, how the character will develop because of this.

I hope at the next writers group I'll learn more about the captivating brother and see a change of focus.