5 Tips For Writing Strong Female Characters
These days, it seems like cliche tropes have taken over and I see the same prototype of a “strong female character” written the same way over, and over, and over again. It was actually one of the things that got me off of my butt and into writing my own stories. I couldn’t stand these cookie-cutter cloned “strong women” who have no flaws and can do no wrong. Those characters aren’t realistic and definitely aren’t appealing. Today, I will share my five best tips for creating a strong female character that anyone can relate to.
Tip One: Flaws are not a sign of weakness
Everyone has their flaws. Every single human on this planet. No one is without fault. We all make mistakes. Showing emotion isn’t a weakness. Messing up isn’t a weakness. I think that a lot of modern day shows and movies tend to forget this about female characters. I can’t tell you how many times a female character is written to be monotone, emotionless, and robotic. Which also makes them very boring.
To err is to be human. A strong female characters shouldn’t be perfect. They should learn from their mistakes. This enables them to grow and become stronger. For example in a story I’m currently writing, the main protagonist starts off by not wanting to fight back. She figures that the best solution to all of her problems is to be quiet, keep her head down, and eventually they will all go away.
It isn’t until her inaction causes some very serious consequences that she realizes that ignoring her problems won’t make them go away. She has to do something about it. She’s also not instantly good at it either. She doesn’t go from quiet little wallflower to ninja assassin overnight. There’s a learning curve. She doesn’t win every fight and even the ones she does, she’s not the best at them. It’s only through losing battles that you can grow strong enough to win them. Which leads me to my next point…
Tip Two: Injury is not a sign of weakness
I can’t tell you how many recent shows or movies I’ve seen where the female protagonist never gets hurt (or barely more than a scratch). Even if she’s fighting someone significantly larger and stronger than her. I don’t know when movies and shows became afraid to show women fighting for their lives and actually getting hurt but boy do they want to stay away from that now. People seem to think that the mark of a “strong woman” is a woman who is impervious to harm. Except, that’s not accurate at all.
If you are going to be writing a story with a woman who is in a situation where she has to fight, she’s also going to have to get hurt. It’s not a sign of weakness, nor is it some kind of sexism or hatred of women to have them realistically injured in a fight. It’s just how things work. In one of my books, Weapon Of Choice, the lead female character, Galina, is put through the wringer.
She is struck, assaulted, humiliated, and tortured. She feels pain. She feels agony. She tries to fight back and she loses. All of this serves for a better story because Galina is learning from her mistakes. She is getting stronger. Over time she realizes what, and who, she is fighting for and so when she has her eventual victory it’s so much better because it’s earned. When something is easy it’s not deserved.
Tip Three: Realistic behavior and dialogue
Just because your character is a strong, independent woman, it doesn’t mean they can’t get angry. It doesn’t mean they can’t be rude to people who don’t deserve it. It doesn’t mean that they know everything and are an expert at whatever it is they do. As much as people complain about “mansplaining” it’s equally as annoying when a woman does it. Especially a female character in a book.
If your protagonist knows everything and is always right, that’s not only unrealistic but will make for a very boring story. No one is an expert on anything. People can come very close, but I assure you even the most well-read and educated person in whatever field you chose will eventually come across a problem they don’t know the answer to. This is why you have to make sure that your protagonist isn’t a know-it-all busy body. It will get tiring very fast.
Having your character admit to not knowing something, or asking for help, shows how strong they are. That they are smart enough to know that they don’t know everything. This is how characters grow from nothing into heroes. Everyone has to start somewhere in their journey and everyone has a lesson they can learn.
Tip Four: Traditional Beauty Vs Homely Girl
The looks of your female character don’t matter. These days it seems like everyone wants to downplay extremely beautiful women and make them more dowdy and homely as it’s thought that, for some reason, this is “relateable”.
Well, just like in the real world, people come in all shapes and sizes. Some people are more naturally beautiful than others. Some people are not. If you want to make your protagonist exceedingly beautiful that should not and will not take away from how realistic she is as long as you follow the proper rules by giving her flaws and making her realistic.
On the other hand, you also don’t have to make her a flawless beauty that stops traffic anytime she crosses the street. The point is that you don’t have to downplay the looks of your character to make them more relatable nor do you have to ensure that they are a supermodel. You should write what you believe fits the character and what you picture in your own mind.
The females in all of my stories range in levels of beauty, race, size, and height. Remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder anyway. It’s also not only physical traits that make a person beautiful. You may be writing what you believe to be the sexiest woman on earth and someone else may read the same thing and think you are wrong. That’s okay too. Strong female characters come in all shapes, sizes, races, and cultures. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Tip Five: Personality Shines
When you are writing your character you will want to give her a very in-depth personality. Quirks that we all have. Nuances that lift her off the page and make her three-dimensional. You’ll want to think of things that you may believe are unimportant or don’t matter. Even if some of these things never actually get put down on the page, just knowing them yourself will help you to write better and create a more engaging woman.
All of my lead characters (whether they be male or female) are like real people to me. I know them inside and out. If you were to ask me what their favorite food, song, book, movie, color, or activity was, I would have answers for all of them. Is all of this necessarily written within the page of my books? Definitely not. However, understanding your characters to that level will also help you understand their movies, and help you to write them better.
No one wants a flat boring character. A straight-A student who never got in trouble and always does things the right way. Blech. A good character can still do bad things. They can still have bad habits like smoking or biting their nails. You need to think of what makes a person real to you, not some TV trope that’s been done a thousand times over. Write the woman that you want to see, or even the woman that you want to be, and I know that isn’t a boring one-dimensional woman that puts people to sleep.
