If you are writing a story for a mixed-gender audience, your cast should be about 50% female, and the women should get about equal screen time. If you only have one major female character, you may be tempted to make her hyper-competent, to show that you believe women can be capable too. This may make her feel unrealistic. It’s better to have several women, with diverse skill sets, instead of having a single walking talking Swiss Army knife of a female character.
Give a leading lady an active role throughout the story, not just one or two moments of usefulness.
She wants to prove herself and make a meaningful contribution to her field. She wants a friend. She wants to cure the disease that killed her mother. She wants to win a competition. She really, really longs for a pet cat.
Some writers jump to “female” issues, like pregnancy or abusive men. But women experience more than this in their daily lives. Consider family troubles, school/career problems, health issues, relationship troubles, and other areas to explore.
She learns to step up, let her voice be heard, and be a leader. She learns to relax and take life a little more slowly. She learns to ask for help in coping with her PTSD from her difficult past. She stops looking down on people who aren’t as smart as her. She figures out what she wants in life.
Show that it’s okay to wear skirts or dresses, and success doesn’t mean becoming more masculine. A woman can still be traditionally feminine (dressing girly, liking pop music, dating) while being successful and awesome. Don’t let femininity be seen as degrading. Don’t have your heroic men (or women) express disgust at pink, girly things, or being placed in a role that is usually reserved for women. Or if they do, show how this is wrong. While showing women who succeed in STEM is great, succeeding in STEM isn’t the only way to be successful or strong. Show women that are successful in other areas such as the arts, music, or literature.
Many curly-haired women and/or women of color like to see curly-haired female characters and/or female characters of color. Disability is more than wheelchairs and white canes. Also consider Deaf women, chronically anxious women, autistic women, women with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. . .
Mary Sues can also be male. Male Mary Sue characters are sometimes called Gary Stus or Marty Sues. Mary Sues tend to have many things handed to them (e. g. incredible inborn magical talent, super duper rich) but may have tragic backstories to show how far they’ve come. Attention is often called to the Mary Sue, sometimes at the expense of the plot. When she falls, the whole world rushes to her aid. Many beginning writers create Mary Sues, so don’t feel bad if you discover that you have one. It’s very normal, and you can revisit the character to grow them beyond their current characterization.
The character may be constantly falling down, tripping, hurting themselves and bumping into everything and everyone just to show oh-how-awkward the character is. Often, these characters keep repeatedly thinking how common and boring they are compared to other people, noticeably their romantic interest, and how said romantic interest “could have literally anyone else but chose me!” This can become painful to read. Bella Swan from Twilight is sometimes cited as an example. Anti Sues tend to be female, because usually Mary Sue accusations are leveled at female characters.
The sassy black woman, the Indian doctor/call center worker, the spicy Latina, the genius Asian girl, the Native American who is extremely connected to nature, and other racial stereotypes The fat, lazy couch potato The welfare queen The man-hating lesbian, the confused bisexual woman, the asexual woman who “just needs to get laid,” the transgender woman whose existence is a joke to be made fun of, the LGBT+ character who gets killed off The violent/dangerous mentally ill woman The disabled woman who ends up cured or dead, or is just a burden on others The greedy or hypercritical Jewish woman, the terrorist or victimized Muslim woman, and other religious stereotypes
This may happen by relegating her to the less exciting B-fight during the climax,[6] X Research source or having her face the major villain first but get defeated and need the man to save her. She may even be “fridged,” or horribly maimed/killed to motivate the male character(s) to stop the villain.
This does not mean to never place women in distress. It is okay for one of them to need help, especially if women occupy strong and active roles throughout your book. One way to invert this could be to place a strong woman in distress, only for her to save herself, and perhaps her would-be rescue party as well. Or let a woman save another woman. Or let a man be in distress for a change, so the woman can save him. Men are allowed to need help from women too.
They may be murdered, raped, disfigured, beaten up, or forced to suffer through overall horrifying things just so the hero can be sad. [8] X Research source This may happen to the hero’s romantic interest, a family member, or even someone he doesn’t know well. They don’t even have to be developed (Debbie from Savage Dragon) or be introduced before something bad happens to them (Mal from Inception) to be used as a way to emotionally scar the hero.
In a perfectly mixed-gender story, about 25% of the conversations would be between women, 50% would be between a woman and a man, and 25% would be between men. In a story for predominantly male audiences, there may be fewer conversations that pass the Bechdel Test. (Be aware that women do read “men’s books!” And men can like and relate to female characters too. )
Avoid going to great leaps just to pair up your leading lady; this usually doesn’t go over very well. If it seems like it might feel forced, then don’t give her someone to date. Let her stay happy and single. Happiness is not always a man. Happiness could be a good career, a happy family life, or a dog that gets very excited when she comes home from work each day. If your cast is more male, and you want them to be paired up, try making some of them gay or bisexual. Remember, men don’t need women to be happy either.
