Writing Like a Man

One of the things I found hardest in the beginning of my writing was male dialogue.  Two guys bantering back and forth, things a man says to a woman in the heat of the moment, and realistic displays of love were all examples of finding the nuances of manly communication.  I still struggle with it at times.  I'll occasionally stop mid-sentence, look at my husband and ask, "What would a guy say here?" or "What word would a man use in this scenario?"  In the beginning, he looked at me like I was nuts but now throws out examples.  Another reason why I love him so much;-)

Mostly, I have to worry about pleasing other women with my writing as that is my target audience, but everyone wants their writing to seem realistic.  It would be distracting if I used awkward phrases.  Not to mention voice.  Voice is one of those things that could take up an entire blog entry in and of itself.  Your voice will never sound appealing or natural if you can't write authentically.  Your characters' personalities, as well as their gender, have to be obvious to the reader.  Their dialogue is a perfect way to convey this.

In some of my manuscripts, the main hero is often a military man of some sort or a cop.  Frequently, they sit around in groups with other men talking.  This is when it's particularly challenging.  I've bought books about these subjects, written by men, and studied them to gain some understanding of the male mind and mannerisms.  Hopefully, I'm getting it.  In the end, he has to be appealing to other women and that's where I can take liberties.  We all want a man to say certain things to us and that's where I have fun with writing like a man.  I can make them do whatever I want.  Alas, if only the real world was the same:-)