Then I wanted the character to be feminine as opposed to effeminate. Because it's easy to be camp or queen. Anyone can do that. What's difficult is to play feminine.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
It's interesting to play a female character who's not ever using feminine wiles to get things done.
With 'Holes' I was troubled that there weren't very many female characters. I tried to put them in where I could. But the setting didn't lend itself to girls.
Character is made up of a variety of different things. One of those elements is gender.
You don't have to play masculine to be a strong woman.
I thought to be feminine was to give in to straight culture, or the beauty standard, but in my heart I had a flair for fashion and style. They were passions I kept secret because I didn't understand I could love clothes and hair and makeup and still like girls.
I just always want to play people. I don't want it to be necessarily that you relate to the character as female or male, but that you relate to them as a person. That's the driving force.
I can't imagine writing a book without some strong female characters, unless that was a demand of the setting.
We all have a cross-gender character: Every woman has a man that they can play, and every man has a woman that they can play.
I don't believe that a female character needs to surrender her femininity in order to be an action hero.
I've always had difficulties with female characters.