Male vs. Female characters

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In a book, do you prefer male or female characters?

No preference. I like to see characters that interact on many diferent levels. For that reason, I'm usually not into books that are all girls or all boys; there's gotta be some variety.

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Why do you think this is? (what sort of traits/qualities do they have which appeals to you)

I feel that there are inherent traits present in each gender. If the cast has too many males or too many females, some persepectives on the situation might be missed. There are things girls notice or do that guys don't, and vice versa. I like stories that show all sides of the situation, and that requires variety. Although it is possible to have lots of variety in a unisex group, I feel like the mixing of genders adds a little something more.

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What can really annoy you about female characters in stories? e.g too whiney, emotional etc?

Yup, but that would be annoying in a male character too. I think those traits are more annoying in a female because its soooo stereotypical. For example, lots of people like a strong female character, like an Amazon warrior-princess or something like that, but if a male lead had those traits we would all think "ugh, another muscle-bound meathead coming to save the day." Too much of anything risks becoming an annoying stereotype.

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When writing, do you create mainly male or female characters? Do you find one gender to be easier to write than the other?

I find men easier to write, but I always bite the bullet and write females too, to keep things balanced. I'm getting better at it... I think. But one thing I really struggle with is romance. When males and females start falling in love with each other, my writing starts to fall apart. I'm pretty lousy at any emotionally-charged scenes. But, I'm working on that too.