How To WRITE Awesomely

How to WRITE IN MALE POV

#2: Lust.

Guys are visual. The way women dress creates visual images in a guy’s brain that can linger for days, months, or even decades.

I hope I don’t have to draw a picture here, but honestly, women seem to be completely unaware that guys don’t think their dress is “cute.” Guys aren’t looking at your dress at all, ladies, they’re looking at what’s under the dress or what’s not even covered by the dress. If they like what they see, it’ll stick in their brains for a long time. You can decide for yourself whether or not you want those images in a guy’s brain.

#3: Feelings.

Guys are a lot less likely to share their feelings than women are. For most guys, feelings are private things which are none of your business. If you ask and he won’t tell, then asking again is not going to get you anywhere you want to go, but it could get you blacklisted for any future conversations. Be warned.

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Men think differently than women. They don't always pay attention to detail, depending on the male. Their mind frame is different than us women.

Let’s start with the obvious: 

Men are pretty basic.  That’s not to say they aren’t complicated, thoughtful, or fully aware of what’s going on.  Most of the time they just don’t care.  Certainly not the way women do.  Ask a woman how she feels, and you’ll get a complete rundown of how she slept the night before, how bloated she feels, how upset she is because of what her BFF said, how mean her boss was, if she’s starting her period, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Ask a man how he feels, and after a quick mental check:  Am I hungry? Sleepy? Thirsty? Horny? He’ll usually answer fine. And that’s that.

((Although I am fully aware there are some feminine men who are sensitive, this is just a generalization.))

The same holds true in dialogue.  Example:

Her:  Let’s go to the mall.  There’s a big sale in the furniture store, and I saw an ad for the cutest little table that would be perfect by the couch and would set off the dark stripe in the drapes and look great with that new rug we got last week.  What do you say?

Him:  Mall?  (That’s pretty much all he heard out of the entire sentence, so that’s what he’ll react to.)

And then there’s description. A woman might spend half the afternoon trying on every item in her closet multiple times to get the absolute perfect ensemble. She may have worked on her hair for an hour and re-applied her makeup three times. When she’s finally ready, she’s a work of priceless art.

His response:  “You look hot.”

He doesn’t think in terms of her four-inch heels making her legs look great, or the cut of the dress setting off her finer attributes or disguising her less fine.  His brain doesn’t think in words like sheath, pumps, up-do, wrap, or clutch. So, if you’re in his POV, don’t even use those terms. Always keep in mind the guy you’re writing about is not your best girlfriend—don’t expect him to speak or act like her, or notice the things she would.

So here are a few simple rules for writing in a male POV.

#1: DESCRIPTION

Use as few descriptive words as possible, especially when dealing with flowers, colors, fragrances, dress styles, or spices in that dish your heroine spent all afternoon preparing (unless he’s a horticulturist, painter, designer, or chef).  You may know a dress is mauve, or lilac, or amethyst, or the color of the first early crocuses in spring. But to him it’s purple. Period.

#2: FEELINGS

Remove 99% of words dealing with emotion. Feelings in men mostly relate to the physical: pain, hunger, thirst, weariness, horniness. They rarely talk about being “upset” about something, or feeling blue, or being lonely or sad.  That’s not to say they don’t feel those things, but they won’t want to talk about it endlessly like a woman might.

#3: DIALOGUE

In dialogues between men and women, men will use fewer words than women, and will often give monosyllabic answers.  Maybe they’re afraid of saying the wrong thing and getting into trouble. Or that giving out too much information will only generate more questions and then they’ll be stuck in an endless conversation in which they have no interest whatsoever. At least that’s the way it works at my house.

(External Link: http://katlatham.com/2012/01/one-womans-tips-for-writing-in-the-male-point-of-view-guest-post-by-kaki-warner/)

So there you go with my How to WRITE IN MALE POV.  Remember to keep it basic and simple. Men are creatures of action and reaction. Talking is secondary. Don’t over-ponder, or over-analyze, and for heaven’s sake, don’t think like a girl. If I offended any guys, I'm sorry.

Next time: How to WRITE A GOOD SUMMARY

~ Absolutely_Positive ♥