SD Part 4

Highlights to a video on the Youtubers views on female and male traits in YA fiction and how they believed these characteristics are harmful and don’t portray realistic expectations.

- “wet lettuce” lets the story happen to them. Victimhood. Weak.

- “badass chick” motivated. Unemotional. Masculine traits. Reaction to wet lettuce but goes too far.

-Ignoring natural physical differences between gender

-It’s okay to be masculine male and be good not disempowered or villainized

-Don’t need to make men inferior and or stupid to make woman look good

-If you can change the woman into a man and it doesn’t change the story, then it doesn’t work

-Vulnerability is a strength

As a male author writing a book with three POV’s, two of them woman and one a man, I am self-conscious how I portray my female characters, especially when the MC is a woman. Watching this video caused me to run my characters through the filter of this female Youtuber to see how my characters held up. I know I am writing an adult fiction (Grim/Dark) but that doesn’t excuse me from all the valid points that she brings up in her video.

My MC becomes a victim after witnessing the inciting incident, powerless to stop it from happening. She is vulnerable and emotional in response to this. She tries to put up a wall and hide her emotions, which the badass woman uses, but she continues to show her vulnerability throughout the story. She relies on her magical prowess to dominate the battlefield, but that does not equate to invulnerable. This point will is noticeably clear throughout. If faced with a male in close quarters, she will be at a disadvantage. Clever wits and use of magic will be her strengths to overcome it, not physically. She is active in trying to reach a goal, but it may not be the one the readers expect. It may appear that she is being passive towards the main plot in the beginning, but that is going to be a misdirection. Not every plot needs a single person to kill at the end.

The other female POV is a highly trained archer and tracker. She has a similar past to the MC, but reacts differently, which is why she is the foil character. She is motivated and loyal to her cause and personal goals. Her companion is a male who escaped after being tortured and mutilated and now stays hidden all the time. Instead of using that experience to play the victim card all the time, he turns that vulnerability into his strength and fights back. He lost some of his physical prowess because of the torture, but he makes up for it in his cunning and wits. He can still hold his own. He isn’t inferior or stupid. He listens, follows, and respects his female companion because she has earned it. He is a survivor in a world where not everyone does. Both the 2nd female POV and her companion don’t need the MC, but because of manipulation by others, the MC believes she needs them.

The 3rd POV is a male that specializes in using magic to enhance his close combat, fighting to enhance his masculine traits. He portrays both good and bad traits. It will be up to how the readers interpret how he is judged by the end of the book.

The villain is a devoted researcher that only cares about getting results. This lack of fighting prowess himself is his own vulnerability, and it does not go unnoticed. He has his own goals and desires, even if they lead him down a path of death and mayhem.  

For actual progress on the WIP itself, I tried writing the first past scene section, the pair first pair in my first chapter where I blend the past and present similar to how Jay Kristoff did it in Nevernight Ch 1, but mine has a larger time gap between them. I made more progress in my first character concept art for this WIP and I record my process. You can find that here on my website under Writing Journey. My goal is to continue working on the first chapter. It is the hardest technical chapter I will write in this book (most likely) and I want to take my time. After I get the words down, I can hit the gas and dig my heels into the first draft.