Comments on: The Art of Writing Believable Men

By: Marin

Marin — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:16:47 +0000

The best gift my husband ever got me was for my birthday (the week before Halloween) one year. He got up really early and put in a new doorbell, because the old one drove me batty and I was absolutely dreading trick or treat. He had to do it without his glasses because they were in the bedroom and he didn’t want to wake me up by turning on the light. Nothing says I love you quite like that.
I don’t like sappy heroes – I find them tedious and unbelievable. I like strong, intellectual men, rather than strong, physical men, and a little vulnerability in an unexpected way really makes the story for me.

By: Bavarian

Bavarian — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:25:13 +0000

Girly talk by men? Have you ever heard conversing a few men about their cars? What’s the difference to girls talking about shoes?
And speaking about feelings? There are men who do and others who don’t. There’s an old saying in German: Whats the heart is full of, the mouth goes over (don’t know a correct translation). Why should that not count for men?
By the way: some women speak freely about their feelings, some are more reserved and find it difficult to express themselves.

By: Leigh

Leigh — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 12:25:58 +0000

Thanks SandyLu562. It was a fun discussion and I appreciate all the comments.

By: Escolhas (Semanário 115) « Caneta, Papel e Lápis

Escolhas (Semanário 115) « Caneta, Papel e Lápis — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 14:18:55 +0000

[...] of (maybe useless) advice, no The Deadline Dames; – Can your heroine be too strong?, no WordPlay; – The art of writing believable men, no All about Romance; – What to do with too many words, no ACME Authors Link; – 5 ways to edit [...]

By: xina

xina — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 17:09:33 +0000

Tee: Don’t stop now; it was just getting interesting. Nora Roberts has been doing that for a while. The men get together and I swear they’re women conversing.

Yes, and so many authors do the same. I was recently on a Brockmann reread and she usually does pretty well with men conversing together, but in one book 4 SEALS were together chatting like women. I thought, if they start talking about a shoe sale at the mall...I'm closing the book, because it was almost as bad.

By: SandyLu562

SandyLu562 — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 15:32:20 +0000

Tee: Don’t stop now; it was just getting interesting. Nora Roberts has been doing that for a while. The men get together and I swear they’re women conversing.

Thank gawd Rourke isn't girly like that!

dick: Well, ya’ know, in general I don’t think most women would say something like “f*ck you, buddy!”

20-somethings say "eat me" to their girlfriends; I almost fell over the first time I heard that (being at least 25 years older at the time) LOL Personally I'm head-over-heals with my very own Engineer Type as my girlfriends and I call out geeky, articulate, brainy, smart, funny men. When they all get together they discuss the state of their prostates (rolls on the floor in agony). I was about to bring out the uterus HAHAHA Leigh, what a fun discussion and what great comments from everyone!

By: Tee

Tee — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 22:55:19 +0000

xina: I will stop now….rant over.

Don't stop now; it was just getting interesting. Nora Roberts has been doing that for a while. The men get together and I swear they're women conversing.

By: xina

xina — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 22:45:16 +0000

Well, the portrayal of the contemporary male in many, many contemp. romances has long been a pet peeve of mine. I don’t think it has anything to do with what sort of males the reader is used to or has lived with. My father is extremely articulate. My mother would have not married him otherwise. He was devoted to my mother in their 60+years of marriage and had no qualms with expressing that love. He didn’t swear around his family and was far from macho. They had a marriage that most will never have. However…..he did not share his deepest feelings with males around him like the men in romance novels do (contemporary). Really, sometimes it just makes me uncomfortable how some authors write men just like women. It is not the show of love for the heroine, it is the girly “sharing of feelings” that we know that men just don’t do. I mean, come on…we all know that. Some romance authors write men like women..except they pepper in a “f*ck you” here and there. Ugh. I will stop now….rant over.

By: willaful

willaful — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 18:25:32 +0000

dick: That men in real life never verbalize feelings as heroes in romance fiction do is an untenable generalization IMHO. Some do, some don’t.

Hear here! Or however that’s spelled.

Being married to a very unstereotypical male, I find it irksome when people insist that all characters have to be true to one vision or another. We are large, we contain multitudes. My husband has said many things to me worthy of a romance novel and I would not be one bit surprised if he told a friend that I was his life. He is openly uxorious and proud of it.

I like reading about all kinds of people. Sticking to one model or another is boring.

By: dick

dick — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 14:52:50 +0000

Well, ya’ know, in general I don’t think most women would say something like “f*ck you, buddy!” Am I generalizing when I say that just isn’t “real” woman-speak? Probably, because there certainly are some. So, I assume, as some author must have done, that it’s “real” enough if some would say it. I think the same is true of of the line “she’s my life,” for some men would speak thus of their significant other.