Male and Female Writers

sun-star · 08-27-2004, 09:28 AM

Do you think men and women write differently (fiction or non-fiction) and if so, in what ways?

And do you prefer one to the other?

Lief Erikson · 08-27-2004, 09:58 AM

Not me. I've read from some excellent authors, male and female. I don't think there's anything inherent in one type that gives them an extra edge

. Though I know the question could be taken differently, to say men and women may have different natural abilities or tendencies.

Have you noticed any such things in writing?

sun-star · 08-27-2004, 10:18 AM

I was just curious as to what people thought, really. I've heard some people say that they think men and women use imagery differently, have different approaches to characters, etc. Sometimes I see it, sometimes I don't.

I'll try and think of some examples...

Beren3000 · 08-27-2004, 11:05 AM

I haven't read many female writers, but I found no differences inherent to gender when it came to writing. I'd think that female writers would tend to use "dreamy" imagery and metaphors from nature. However, I don't think that holds for all women writers (nor the opposite hold for male writers). I think that the main factor influencing a writer is his/her own personal experience, regardless of gender.

BeardofPants · 08-27-2004, 02:16 PM

I find that male writers tend to be a bit more matter-of-fact, which is important in the genre of sci-fi. Having said that, I tend to read mainly male writers.

Telcontar_Dunedain · 08-27-2004, 04:22 PM

Not any more than one male author to another.

08-27-2004, 09:28 AM	#1
sun-star Lady of Letters Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England Posts: 2,476	Male and Female Writers Do you think men and women write differently (fiction or non-fiction) and if so, in what ways? And do you prefer one to the other? __________________ And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool.

08-27-2004, 09:58 AM	#2
Lief Erikson Elf Lord Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Fountain Valley, CA Posts: 6,343	Not me. I've read from some excellent authors, male and female. I don't think there's anything inherent in one type that gives them an extra edge . Though I know the question could be taken differently, to say men and women may have different natural abilities or tendencies. Have you noticed any such things in writing? __________________ If the world has indeed, as I have said, been built of sorrow, it has been built by the hands of love, because in no other way could the soul of man, for whom the world was made, reach the full stature of its perfection. ~Oscar Wilde, written from prison Oscar Wilde's last words: "Either the wallpaper goes, or I do." Last edited by Lief Erikson : 08-27-2004 at 10:00 AM.

08-27-2004, 10:18 AM	#3
sun-star Lady of Letters Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England Posts: 2,476	I was just curious as to what people thought, really. I've heard some people say that they think men and women use imagery differently, have different approaches to characters, etc. Sometimes I see it, sometimes I don't. I'll try and think of some examples... __________________ And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool.

08-27-2004, 02:16 PM	#5
BeardofPants the Shrike Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: San Francisco, CA <3 Posts: 10,647	I find that male writers tend to be a bit more matter-of-fact, which is important in the genre of sci-fi. Having said that, I tend to read mainly male writers. __________________ "Binary solo! 0000001! 00000011! 0000001! 00000011!" ~ The Humans are Dead, Flight of the Conchords

08-27-2004, 04:22 PM	#6
Telcontar_Dunedain Warrior of the House of Hador Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 4,651	Not any more than one male author to another. __________________ Then Huor spoke and said: "Yet if it stands but a little while, then out of your house shall come the hope of Elves and Men. This I say to you, lord, with the eyes of death: though we part here for ever, and I shall not look on your white walls again, from you and me a new star shall arise. Farewell!" The Silmarillion, Nirnaeth Arnoediad, Page 230

08-27-2004, 11:05 AM	#4
Beren3000 Fëanorophobic Join Date: May 2004 Location: Between the pages of a book Posts: 1,417	I haven't read many female writers, but I found no differences inherent to gender when it came to writing. I'd think that female writers would tend to use "dreamy" imagery and metaphors from nature. However, I don't think that holds for all women writers (nor the opposite hold for male writers). I think that the main factor influencing a writer is his/her own personal experience, regardless of gender.

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