Sweeter Than Wine (Post 2)
NICOLE
The bus pulls away, leaving me in the middle of Bordeaux wine country. Vines border the road to right and left, stretching into the distance as far as I can see. The fresh air, laden with unfamiliar scents, is intoxicating.
I stare up at the house. It’s built on the only ridge for kilometres around. Château Ravel. I know not all Bordeaux winegrowers live in palaces and I wasn’t expecting a real castle. But I wasn’t expecting this either. My heart gives a nervous flutter. Chance will be a fine thing, I think. What would I give to live in a place like this!
Several of my female friends who are writers have told me they find it as easy (if not easier) to write from the male perspective as from the female. The converse is most definitely not true, if my experience is in any way typical of male authors.
I have a very clear picture of Nicole in my mind – her appearance, her voice, her personality. Yet getting into her head and writing Nicole’s character was one of the most difficult things I have done in my life.
Why should that be, I wonder. Are we males so transparent that women can read what is in our minds even when we don’t know it ourselves? And are we wired in such a way as to be incapable, not only of venting our own feelings but of understanding those of the other half of the human race?
These are two questions I tried to address in fleshing out Andy’s personality. Did I get my creations right? Having now put them both out into the world, I can only leave it to my readers to judge.
ANDY
The sound of crying comes from the kitchen. I feel terrible, guilty, out of my depth. My stomach is a whirlpool of conflicting emotions. After five years of doing nothing but focus on my studies and career ambitions, suddenly I can’t focus at all. Maybe it would help if I knew what I did wrong. After what happened during the storm, I thought we wanted the same things.
Tomorrow, I’ll talk about two more of my characters in Sweeter Than Wine.
Bookheathen Scribblings 
You can put me in that group of female writers who find it easier to write from a male perspective, but I can’t explain why. I was surprised to discover I am not alone, however. I hope some of your male followers respond to your question, rhetorical as it may be. Good food for thought for character creation.
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I would have to agree with you. I have found writing my story from my perspective Jordan quite easy. In comparison, I am struggling to write the story from
Alice’s point of view. First I thought it was because Jordan was nearer to my own personality but I have tried writing a small piece from Warren’s going to view and found that simple even though he is my complete opposite.
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Thank you both! I am becoming fascinated with this seeming contradiction. Maybe I should speak to a psychologist. 🙂
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I think sometimes its easier to write a female perspective because we pick up on minutiae and they seem easier to meld into a character, while we do not observe ourselves so highly?
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In some ways that might be so, yet I found it so difficult to grasp the emotional life of my character and that was what I was after.
Thanks for your input.
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