Young Writers Society

I've been pondering this for a while now because I'm not sure if it's the right story to write. But the idea has been sitting in my head for a long time. More importantly, the MC has been banging around in my brain. And I know I want to write the story.
The problem is with the fact that my MC is one I'm very unfamiliar with. For the most part, he's a...he. I very rarely write from the male POV because, well, I'm not exactly an expert on what goes on in the heads of men. Secondly because he's older. I've generally kept to the POV of younger, like, under 20 year old character.

So, does anyone have any tips on writing from POVs that you're not particularly familiar with?

First of all, if it's just his age and gender that's making you uncertain, write the story anyways. The most important thing is that you know his personality, how he reacts to other people and in certain circumstances, etc. If you know that, you can make him a pretty believable character regardless of the POV.

Remember a man is a human, too, and so many of the worries and thoughts in his head will be the similar to a woman's. Of course he's going to think about things like how he's going to pay the bills, or his sick elder father (bear with me) or impressing a member of the opposite gender. What I'm trying to get at is, there are some things so common to humanity it doesn't matter whether you're male or female--you can still feel their effect. I think what's intimidating you is that men don't tend to express themselves as easily as women...but that doesn't mean they have nothing to express.

Probably the best advice I can give you after that is talk to someone who falls into the same category as your character--older and male (That doesn't mean you should go out and talk to some random creep on the street, by the way). You don't even have to tell him about your story--just ask questions on things you're not sure about--"How would you react to...?"

For the age difference, just imagine what a person his age might be going through in everyday life. Is he in college? Grad school? Is he completely out of school and enjoying a satisfying career (or maybe not so satisfying)? What he's going through is going to influence his actions and thoughts.

I'm afraid otherwise that--unless you can magically morph into an older male--you'll have to leave the rest to imagination. Only you can give him quirks that make him original and interesting.

Good luck, and I hoped this helped.

The Enigma gave some good advice. I just wanted to add my own two cents.

The best way to get to know a character is to just write them. The whole way through. They can bounce around in your head as much as you want, but until you sit down and write them you'll remain uncertain as to how they'll react. Then, take a look at the draft and see which voice seems to be the most prominent, or which spots seem off for his situation/character. Then edit accordingly.

That's the only way I've found myself able to actually get the character voice right, even after so many years of thinking about my MC and her personality. Just write the story to get it out, and shape the character voice later.

Read books with a similar protagonist.

Hi

I had the same question when I began my novel. I also usually write in female perspective, just because I think it's easier but I wrote in the male perspective POV anyway because my novel is alternating, at first I was afraid to make him sounds weird but honestly, as Engima mentioned, you just have to make sure you know his personality, his likes, his dislikes. His history and how he reacts to certain things and apply that to what kind of actions he takes.
As the age difference, I think it depends on his education and the way he was raised. Honestly, I work with a lot of customers and I notice that education and they way a person was raised makes a big difference to how a person reacts to me or anyone else. The manners are a lot better and well...they're just more mature, right?
I'm just pointing out ideas and my thoughts. Good luck!
Cheers,

~Pink