Differences in gender and POV

I started writing a story, and a few questions crossd my mind. Should I write in first-person or third-person POV? Which is better for a "new" writer? Is it ok for me, a female writer, to have a main character who is a male? And, if my MC IS a male, should I use first-person (or is this just weird since I'm a girl?) or third-person? (For the record, right now, my MC is a boy.)
Oh, and should I keep some mystery by using only my MC's POV, or should I get in the head of other characters? For this question, I should probably say that, in my story, there's the main characters (OF COURSE) and then there's a "minor main character", who's always (or almost always) with the MC. This minor MC is a very shy girl, and I don't know if I should explain her mind and what she is thinking when she is quiet and doesn't say a word to the MC, or if I should force the MC and the readers to keep up with a bit of mystery.
Thanks a lot for reading this biiiig speech!! (ok, this smiley is just cute)

I've heard it said that third person tends to be the safer option for beginning writers, but I think you can go with whichever POV you feel personally most comfortable writing. It might also depend on what you tend to read - is most of the fiction you read frst person or third person? You might want to go with the one you're more familiar with.

I think it's perfectly ok for a writer to have an MC of the opposite gender, even though I do believe there to be some general differences between men and women. You might get some things wrong and your story might not appeal to everyone, but that doesn't mean it can't be liked by many (my father, for example, complains that Harry Potter doesn't read to him like a boy/young man, but that hasn't stopped Rowling from being successful!)

You should generally stay with one POV within one scene. Scene and chapter breaks are opportunities to switch POV, so if you want to write the occasional scene or chapter from the girl's POV, you can do that. "Head hopping" (changing POVs mid-scene) tends to be confusing for readers.

Should I write in first-person or third-person POV? Which is better for a "new" writer?

The one you're more familiar with will probably be the easier one. Third person past tense is so standard, it can be easier. First person I think could go either way. The advantage to first person is that you're automatically in a very deep POV, so you don't have to work as hard for that. The narrative can easily have conversational thoughts without too much effort on your part as the author, because it's just like being chatty in dialogue, only to the reader. In third person it can sometimes be a struggle to make the narrative and character's thoughts sound natural.

On the other hand, if you're not very good at writing in a deep POV, first person can turn out awful because you're not taking advantage of its tools/strengths. I think I personally would recommend third person as easier, at least until you are confident about psychic distance.

Is it ok for me, a female writer, to have a main character who is a male?

Every one of my protagoinsts is male. Every. Single. One. On a list of 8 current projects and backburner ideas. Maybe they're girly guys, I wouldn't know. I've never had anyone tell me they thought my men weren't manly enough, for whatever that's worth.

I think the key is making a believable and lovable character. If their goals, motivations, and backstory all form a complex, intricate personality, then all their decisions and actions will be based off that and they will be a convincing character. Every one, men and women, experience the same emotions, and there's a spectrum on both sides of how people behave and display those emotions. If you similarly have a spectrum of characters, I doubt anyone will notice the slight deviations from gender stereotypes.

I'll also add that since I write SFF, I always modify the cultures. It's pretty typical for me to blur gender roles in my societies. I pick other things for stereotypes. For instance in my current WIP, no one thinks twice about two men getting together, but if one of them's a central worlder and one of them's a fringer, suddenly ooh, not so sure about that. Women can be commanders and leaders and politicians, but no fringer woman would be taken as seriously.

And, if my MC IS a male, should I use first-person (or is this just weird since I'm a girl?) or third-person?

I have a friend who is a stellar writer of first person YA novels. His characters are full of life and personality. One day I read a new work with a female protagonist, and you know what? It sounded EXACTLY like his other protagonist, who is male. I could not keep it in my head that she was a girl. It may be simply because his characters were too similar. Maybe it's because there was some subtle difference in her phrasings that made her sound like a teenage boy. I don't know. This would be another reason that I'd suggest third person is easier, since there are some serious nuances to voice in first person.

Oh, and should I keep some mystery by using only my MC's POV, or should I get in the head of other characters?

This is entirely author preference. Would it be to your advantage to have multiple POVs? In my stories, I deal a lot with shades of grey, and place characters on both sides of an issue. Because I love love love dealing with the differences in perspective, I always use multiple POVs so I can show very distinct perspectives. Sometimes I also want to show events that are beyond the MC's knowledge, or have two parallel plots that collide in the end. For instance the Emperor's been kidnapped, and his sister thinks he's dead. We see his struggles with his kidnappers, then jump to the other side of the galaxy where she's grief-stricken and planning to kill everyone responsible. This makes it exciting for me because both parties are moving together toward the conclusion and it's fun when they finally meet.

This minor MC is a very shy girl, and I don't know if I should explain her mind and what she is thinking when she is quiet and doesn't say a word to the MC, or if I should force the MC and the readers to keep up with a bit of mystery.

If you're asking the question "Should I force my readers to keep up with some mystery?" the answer is probably no. Mystery for the sake of mystery can be extremely frustrating if handled poorly. The questions you should probably be asking are things like...
- Does her perspective put the issues in the story under a different light?
- Is her perspective unexpected, such that a glimpse of it would be surprising and rewarding?
- Do I lose anything by revealing her thoughts/do I gain anything by hiding them?
- Is the mystery meant mainly for the other characters, or do I want the reader to try and puzzle it out too? Will it increase reader enjoyment to have a powerful reveal at the end, as opposed to showing how we got there along the way?

Okay hope this helps! Cheers.

Hey there!

I'm going to go against the opinions here that third person is easier for a new writer, and say that first person, in my experience, is a lot simpler. With first person, you're literally talking as if the experience is yours; something we're all familiar with- because we've always talked that way! I went to the dentist today, I ate an entire watermelon, I wish my book was published. It's a POV we're used to in our day-to-day lives. You could argue that we also say: he/she ate an entire watermelon, but it's still not quite as common. Really, just do which ever you're most comfortable with.

Of course you as a female can write from the POV of a male MC. Writers have been doing it since forever! You have J.K. Rolling writing about Harry, John Green writing about Hazel, etc. And John Green wrote Hazel from first person- it's perfectly normal! Let's make something a little clearer; in writing, the writer has nothing to do with the story, except in writing it- and of course we're not including if you were actually writing a biography of your life. You are writing your characters story, not your own. Which means you have to get into there head. They are the ones talking in the story; not you. With that in mind, it's not weird at all that you'd be writing in first person from a males POV being a female yourself.

When it comes to POV switches, it's really up to you. Quiet people tend to think a lot, so it might be worth showing her POV. It really depends on what you want to do. But when it comes down to it, just write. Figure out what's best for you! Everyone's different.

Have fun!

Should I write in first-person or third-person POV? Which is better for a "new" writer?

First person is best when the character has a unique quirk to their voice you cannot physically capture with third person. First person is actually incredibly difficult to do well, simply because you are completely and totally within a character's head. You are seeing what the character sees, how they see it, with absolutely no wiggle room to include anything that they wouldn't think, notice, or believe.

That being said you will get practice in whichever method you choose. You can start with first person and develop skill in that, but it will take you awhile to get a genuinely good in first person. I consider myself fairly well versed in first person and I only got that way by writing one character for a solid five years. I studied a lot of first person and how to write it out properly and spent time figuring out my character's viewpoint in direct relation to how she is a viewpoint character. I spent a long time figuring out her headspace, which in some cases is totally different from mine, just to write good first person. I do not have to do anywhere near as much of this work in third person.

While I still keep in mind how the character will see the world when I'm writing in third, I'm not so locked into their voice that I have to spend as many hours figuring out the exact syntax and phrasing the characters would use. The character's perspective still informs how I write (I write in close third), but I have far more room to deviate. Meaning, I have room period. First person doesn't have much if any room for deviating.

It takes a fair chunk of work to make a first person character really come to life on a page. That isn't to say a beginning writer can't take it on, but third person is less work and gives you more freedom to poke around other characters, or point out things the character doesn't know.

Is it ok for me, a female writer, to have a main character who is a male?

Absolutely! If you hadn't noticed, many female writers have male main characters/PoV characters, including J. K. Rowling and Maggie Stiefvater.

And, if my MC IS a male, should I use first-person (or is this just weird since I'm a girl?) or third-person?

See my previous point about the amount of work it takes to get a fleshed out first person PoV character. You'll have to do that amount of work regardless of what gender the character is. Because people are people and while yes, men and women are socialized differently, they still have individual personalities and their own way of seeing the world.

Don't worry about it. You'll have to put in the work for figuring out how the character sees the world regardless (even in third person, you still have to figure out who the character is and how they'd describe things). That doesn't change regardless of gender.

Oh, and should I keep some mystery by using only my MC's POV, or should I get in the head of other characters?

That's completely up to you. Write the story how you want to write it, and see what happens. Sometimes multiple PoVs are required, sometimes they're not.

Although I will say that in multiple PoVs, it's often better to have third person throughout. It is much easier to keep track of multiple PoVs when you have the names in text to know who's who; if you take multiple PoVs with first person (where they are all first person), then you have to differentiate the voices to the point you can tell different people by how they speak and what they notice. You could have one first person narrator with other narrators being in third, if you so chose. Anything can happen.

But you do need to make sure the voices are strong.

Everyone: THANKS for giving me with such great answers!!
But, onde last thing, what does a male character need to become more "male"?
I know this depends a lot on the character's personality, but what do you think is required for people to actualy believe that the character is real?

But, one last thing, what does a male character need to become more "male"?

Nothing.

There is a certain amount of genetic predisposition for men to have certain brain structures, but I have a fairly firm belief that there hasn't been enough research sensitive to the full spectrum of gender to put much weight into it. You also have to keep in mind that while men and women have a certain amount of different brain wiring, that doesn't necessarily impact their personality all that much.

The human brain is extremely plastic and will adapt to whatever situation it's placed in. Therefore, to answer your question about how to make readers believe the character is real, you have to consider their backstory.

Your two key questions are: how did they grow up and how did they adapt to their environment. This includes things like how their parents treated them, their natural core personality, the responsibilities (or lack thereof) placed on them growing up, how society treated them, any major events (possibilities include: natural disasters, moving, changing schools, one or both parents losing their jobs, one or both parents getting better jobs, divorce, death in the group of friends/family, birth somewhere in the family/friends group, chronic illness, any combination of the above), and how they react to events (are they naturally fearful, bold, chipper, stoic, ect), and if they've had to adapt their natural reactions to survive (aka somebody naturally fearful acting bold because they shouldn't express a fear reaction, for whatever reason).

The thing is, you're going to be answering those questions regardless of the protagonist's gender. The parameters will change (men and women are usually expected to behave differently and have different responsibilities put on them), but the general process of developing the character will stay the same. You come up with who they are, how they got there, and why they're like the way they are.

And that has nothing to do with how "male" or "female" the character is. It has everything to do with figuring out who they are.

And again: THANK YOU. You really helped me!!

Should I write in first-person or third-person POV?

Writers usually have a POV that they naturally write in. So that would probably be the easier option. But when it comes to different POV's in general, I feel that first-person is more personal, getting inside the characters heads and knowing what they're thinking and feeling while 3rd-person gives a little more flexibility story-wise because you can show stuff that's going on when the main character isn't there and tell the readers things that the main character doesn't know. So, whichever you think would fit better with your story. I have seen it done, however, where the book is written in 1st-person but there will be a chapter or two in 3rd-person to give the reader a bit more information.

Is it ok for me, a female writer, to have a main character who is a male?And, if my MC IS a male, should I use first-person or third-person?

That's totally fine! I'm currently working on a duel-narritive with a girl main character and a guy main character. Plenty of woman authors write male characters (Marie Lu - Legend, JK Rowling - Harry Potter (though that's in 3rd)) while plenty of male authors write female characters (Rick Yancey - The 5th Wave). If you're not sure how to write from an opposite gender, you might be able to do a little be of research on it or read a few books with a guy main character. As for writing in first or third, I don't think it matters. Whichever you're more comfortable doing.

Should I keep some mystery by using only my MC's POV, or should I get in the head of other characters?

I'm not sure this is something that other people can really answer without knowing the story. But it might help if you ask yourself a few things. Why should I go in the head of other characters. Will it help me tell the story better? Do I want my readers to know this character on a more personal level?

Another thing with duel-narritive, is that there are many different ways to do it. You can switch between characters every chapter (Like my story or Legend by Marie Lu) which can be done with two or more characters. Or you can write it in chunks, like, five chapters from narrator A then switch for five chapter to narrator B. (Like The 5th Wave). Another thing, which was also done in The 5th Wave, is there were four narrators, two were written in 1st person while the other two were written in 3rd person, and the 3rd person ones only had one chapter each to give us more insight into the story that we couldn't have gotten from the main characters chapters.

So what it really comes down to is how you want to tell your story, what your story is about and what the best way to tell it is. I hope this helped! Happy writing!

-Lefty