I’ve been sitting on this prompt for a little while, but I got distracted by the news. It’s been so damn awful lately. Not that the news is any better, but I figure it can’t hurt to have a distraction.
A couple weeks ago, I was sitting there, minding my own business, just reading the internet when I ran across a bunch of insane men’s 70s fashions
The thoughts! Oh, the thoughts! Full of witty, silly things. One after the other, as I saw these men in their lounge underwear. Their catsuit daywear. Their onesies and twosies and sweater vests and caps. Where are they from? What are they thinking? Who are these men?
How to write a man
First I googled how to write strong male characters, and immediately found myself elbow deep in descriptions of the most stereotypical male behaviors. Men say what they mean. They think about sex all the time. They don’t share their feelings.
That seems rather ridiculous as a rule. I can see playing around with stereotypes to find your character, but relying on them soley is a sure way to write a boring character who no one wants to be around.
Then I found this post from an adult male writer who writes from the POV of a 16 year old girl.
The TL;DR on that one:
Read. Read. Read other examples to spark ideas.
Get input from beta readers.
Ignore any fear and just write. Just get something on paper.
Write what you know.
Then branch out to what you don’t know.
Rinse and repeat as needed.
Then there’s this post. I found it to be incredibly stuck in a binary. Now, you may want to write exactly that binary. Go ahead. Ultimately, if you follow this man’s advice too closely, you’ll end up with a very one dimensional men.
Example: He says, “We are, after all, pretty simple. Generally, we say what we mean. Guys don’t generally try to lay down a trail of hints that have to be figured out.”
It’s annoying worn out advice, and I want to rip the sentence apart and fling it out the window before it’s finished. It assumes that men are on the level. They say what they mean. The mean what they say. But if you’ve ever looked at politics, relationships, buying a car, or any human interaction, it’s simply not that simple.
Characters who deviate from what they’re “supposed to be” can drive the story, particularly when said character has been put in a new situation.
Example: Anything by Hemmingway. Read his complete short stories, especially the Nick Adams stories..
Then there’s this forum thread from the NANOWRIMO website. It includes advice like:
Read more pirate novels.
and
Men smell bad.
and then the real advice which is quite excellent.
This isn’t a rule by any means, but as a male, I think that you might be uniquely qualified to write about my half of the gender pool. Not being male yourself, you’re freed of any blind spots or delusions about maleness that I might have, and you can write what you observe in us. Think of yourself as Jane Goodall, and we, your primates.
Brilliant, isn’t it?
Now onto the (illustrated) prompts themselves.
Writing Prompt Option One:
Why is this man’s clothing so dirty? In what world or era is advertising like this considered acceptable? Or maybe it’s not advertising. Maybe he is a serial killer. A band of them, even.
Writing Prompt Option Two:
There is a crime to be solved. On the one side are the men who committed the murder/kidnapping/Bad Santa-like heist of the local shopping mall where they were met by a gang of small Morlock like creatures who seek to take over the planet.
On the other side are the men who will solve the crime. They are happy/intense/one has just found out his boyfriend left him for another man/another found out his dog died. He is usually not this emotional.
Writing Prompt Option Three:
Why is this man wearing a onesie?
Writing Prompt Option Four:
These men are not from earth. Tell me their story.
Writing Prompt Option Five:
Douglass Bull is an unsung here. One easy piece.
There. You already have your title and character name. Now write the story.
Final Option:
Choose your own adventure. Peruse said article and see what it inspires.
