Let's face it -- men and women are different, and the ways in which they talk, act, and think differently cause all kinds of distress for writers. That's why a seminar called Writing Between the Sexes is the most popular program I do, not only for the writers who attend but for me.
Last weekend a great group -- First Coast Romance Writers -- gathered in Jacksonville, Florida, to share a day of discussion with me. And did we ever have fun!
Writers fall into a trap when we write about characters of the opposite sex, because we make them act as if they were us.
Women writers tend to write about guys who are chatty, who ask questions, who share feelings, who think things to death -- and act just like one of the girls.
Male writers tend to write about gals who give advice, who are pushy, who approach pretty much everything in sexual terms -- and act just like one of the guys.
The result is often a reader who's turned off -- even if she doesn't completely understand why.
We had a riotously good time on Saturday as we went through the many, many ways in which thinking, talking, and acting differ between the sexes. Thank you to Ada and Abigail and Suzanne, to everyone who played a part in bringing me to Jacksonville, and to everyone who took part!
Thanks to Lynda Gail Alfano, Entourage Member Extraordinaire, for the photos.
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