How To Craft a STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER (who isn't totally annoying)

what's up my friend Abbi here and welcome back to writers life Wednesday today we are talking about the strong female character TM we all love the strong female character right why is that because gone are the days of the damsel in distress we don't want our prince charming to swoop in and save our girl we want to see our girls save herself and the day and probably the prince too while she's at it but unfortunately in the writing world the strong female character has become a stereotype an annoying one in most white books today you can usually find the strong female character leading the story with an iron fist and a leather jacket and probably short hair because all tough girls have short hair or at least have to chop off their long hair in an act of rebellion our strong female character can probably also fix cars beat people up and fire an automatic weapon because she's just that strong know the sarcasm please but here's my question does a physically tough character make for a strong character don't get me wrong I love tough girls and fiction girls who aren't afraid to get dirty under her fingernails and punch someone in the face if necessary but I've gotten tired of seeing the strong female character just become the tough mean cynical bitter female character that's not a role model for anyone to look up to girl or boy and today I would like to suggest that we can create female characters who are both strong and kind female characters who are both lovable and fierce as a writer this is something I've thought about a lot so today I've compiled a list of 6 ways that you can make your strong female character strong and not annoying okay number one let her have actual weaknesses all characters have to have weaknesses right we know this but why is it that the strong female characters don't seem to get that many weaknesses I know I know it sounds kind of like an oxymoron like the strong character is weak but that's reality all the humans have flaws male or female so first and foremost you need to make sure you're strong female character has actual weaknesses don't make it perfectionism okay that's just don't just don't something that debilitates her either physically mentally emotionally just something as an actual weakness something she has to deal with everyday and work through in order to achieve her ultimate goal a great example of this in fiction is where is it Hawk from the blood race on a daily basis Hawk struggles with PTSD and disturbing memories from her past in fact this is a huge theme in the book seeing yourself as you are not as you were Chuck is a totally kick-butt female character but her PTSD does make her vulnerable at times and it's something that she's struggling with through the whole book and something that she eventually has to overcome in the story number two let her be a girl the thing that bothers me the most about the strong female character stereotype is most of the time she just acts like a guy somehow that's all it takes to be strong that makes me so angry how is this a celebration of females if a girl likes leather jackets and short hair and tattoos cool power to her that's her personal preference but if another girl likes to wear pink dresses and paint her nails does that make her weak no it's the inner strength that matters your outer appearance wardrobe and hobbies have nothing to do with being courageous this is not to say that I don't like female characters who are tough tomboys I do but I would like to see more girly female characters get a chance to show their strength - a great example of this crest from the lunar Chronicles aww Kress the cinnamon roll of TLC besides thorn of course she's not your typical strong female character she likes fancy dresses singing opera crushing on cute boys but she's also a hacker a rebel and saves the day on more than one occasion she's sensitive and kind but courageous when she needs to be and totally boss and a great role model you'll love this one number three let her learn something from a man wait wait wait please don't run away screaming I can explain I'm all about girls breaking stereotypes and doing stuff that's usually considered a man's job such as fixing cars and beating people up and building houses but where did these fictional girls learn to do all this stuff some of them are self-taught and that's totally fine but I just like to remind my fellow writers that it's okay to let your strong female character learn something from a male character that doesn't take away from her awesome female power the fact is most things that are stereotyped as man's work are stereotyped that way because it's just more common to see men doing them that doesn't mean a woman can't do it just as good if not better but it kind of makes sense for her to have learned that thing from a guy a great example of this Victoria from the BBC series Victoria when the young Queen rises to the throne she doesn't know the first thing about ruling a country for a long time she relies heavily upon the guidance of her friend and prime minister Lord Melbourne who teaches our a lot about what it means to be a leader later Victoria welcomes advice and assistance from Prince Albert - when she finally swallows her pride and sees that he knows things she doesn't none of this takes away from how totally boss Victoria is she's courageous and stubborn and the freakin Queen but she's also not afraid to admit that she couldn't do it alone number four let her be strong when no one else notices my personal favorite kind of strong character is the character that suffers quietly in the background while nobody notices their suffering not only is this a great opportunity to amp up the inner conflict of your characters but it's also a great way to showcase their strength it takes a lot of bravery and kindness to quietly face your own challenges without complaining about them to others sometimes the hardest battles we fight are the ones that just stay inside our hearts and minds a great example of this is Eleanor from Sense and Sensibility I can relate to Eleanor on a number of levels not to mention I always get her whenever I do like the what Jane Austen character are you quiz the thing I relate to the most is how she bottles up her emotions throughout most of the story she's forcing herself to keep a secret that's breaking her heart meanwhile trying to console and help her brokenhearted sister who has no idea that Eleanor is suffering but this makes her such a strong female character she doesn't cry and complain to others she handles her pain with grace and kindness as hard as it is to bear number five let her struggle as a woman I know firsthand we face disadvantages this world is not perfect and there are unfortunately a lot of hateful and sexist people out there so if you're writing realistic fiction historical fiction or even a fictional future with different social standards it might make sense to highlight some of the disadvantages that women face the world is sexist sometimes but that makes your strong female character even stronger when she bucks against societal norms and succeeds despite the obstacles in her way we need more equality and love in the world so why not bring these issues into your story a great example of this see if I can get this one without looking Jo March from Little Women I think it's safe to say that basically nothing comes easy for Jo in fact her life just seems to be one to struggle after another but mixed in with that is laughter and joy and magic and friendship and family and that's what makes her story so relatable life throws a lot at Jo but she meets every challenge with strength and courage she's also a girl way ahead of her and last but not least number six let her fail sometimes we're all human and all humans fail sometimes a lot it's just not realistic for your strong female character to win every battle and conquer all her enemies in one fell swoop let her trip and fall sometimes let her be defeated but she will rise again we all love superheroes right but we love them even more when they show their human side I promise this is not anti strong female okay it is just the opposite it makes your character stronger to fail and get back up again it's also amazing to see how many times a character can fail and the audience is still cheering for them a great example of this Scarlett from gone with the wind if I were to make a list of all the times Scarlett messes things up we'd be here all day after fighting her way through fear anger love and heartbreak she loses the one man who's her equal she fails because of her narrow-minded selfishness yet still at the end of the story we care I'm like red we want to see Scarlett succeed and maybe grow up a little bit too she's a character we can believe in because she's the furthest thing from perfect okay my friend that is it those are my tips my six ways to make a strong female character relatable awesome inspiring a great role model and not be just this annoying bitter cynical rude you know what so now it's time for you to tell me what you think what do you think makes a strong female character what's your favorite character trait in the strong female character and comment alone tell me an example in a movie book TV show whatever of a strong female character that hits all these points and is actually relatable good awesome inspiring role model and just an awesome female character all-around smash that like button if you like this video and be sure to subscribe to this channel if you haven't already because I post writing videos every Wednesday and I would love to see you here also be sure to share this video with somebody who maybe also is very annoyed with the strong female character stereotype being so annoying I will see you next time my friend go write some strong awesome female characters rock on [Music]

Channel: Abbie Emmons

Views: 51,133

Rating: 4.9734659 out of 5

Keywords: strong female character, writing, author, story, characters, girls, female, ya fiction, trope, strong characters, development, abbie emmons, writerslife wednesday, writerslife, writing advice

Id: ubfvWrSQBO4

Length: 11min 8sec (668 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 12 2018