Why You SUCK at Writing: Male Characters

[@iaorty9406]

Most manhwas MC's are boring. They literally don't have personality.

[@jamesjoe1690]

Sung jin woos entire character is the OP chill nice guy, underdawg and literally nothing else. That's why most videos about him praise his power level and not his actual character 🤣

[@nxthing.]

99.99%

[@TheAemith]

Yi zaha is peak writing bro. How can a guy talk so much shit with a straight face? I could never

[@TheAemith]

Yi zaha: 😐

[@Xavier-oq4ty]

​@@jamesjoe1690 fr

[@rottenegg5823]

“In a world where we seek to prop up the oppressed and forgotten it is important we do not oppress and forget in exchange” THOSE ARE SOME REAL WORDS RIGHT THERE. We need to break the cycle!

[@karlcorey3411]

I can think of multiple real world examples of this!

[@alekslic3385]

​@@karlcorey3411 The opressed don't seek freedom and equality, but they want to take the place of their opressors for themselves.

[@BenLWolf]

You cannot. The justice impulse tells us that we can only make things right by giving power to the oppressed. This is the LAST thing you should do as they will immediately turn that power on their oppressors. it SOUNDS great. Revenge!.. but then the just swap chairs and sometime later the former oppressors are the oppressed then rise up and topple their NEW oppressors.

[@jjhh320]

It has basically become the MO of those who prop up oppressed vs oppressors. History has shown the pattern too, and too many fiction writers can only write using it.

[@Mesowav]

I feel like you could make a fiction series of your own from this

[@LilyCaracciolo]

As a woman writing two male main characters on my current story I needed this key takeaways: -Motivations -Desires -Inner and outer self

[@niarahancock4739]

Damn lucky I got like 7😥

[@rryzensmh]

ill keep this in mind while making my character.

[@coffeeluci]

you basically got the core exactly right, lol

[@dredgendorchadas6770]

Something you may also want to keep in mind, while not true for all, there is a big sense of loneliness, even if it isn't always true. This may make for a great character ark (weather it's them realizing they aren't alone or making connections to get out of it). Just thought this might be helpful.

[@neetfreek9921]

Basically what you do for any character regardless of gender.

[@Piercethepeach]

DENJI MENTIONED WOOHOO!!!! WHAT THE HELL IS A BADLY WRITTEN CHARACTER!!!!

[@MasterMike_]

Fr, the goat

[@V1Ultrakilllmao]

Denji is my favorite character in fiction

[@RandomGirl785]

Denji is one of my favorite characters too

[@mishmashed3842]

YEAAAAAAAAAH

[@Phonsy_edits]

Denji the goat

[@OrangeJuiceInAOrangeCup]

Female writer here. I just wanted to say YOU’RE A LIFE SAVERRRR. I’ve been struggling so much with writing any male characters that I find myself constantly writing bland and stereotypical dudes. It bugs me so much because I know how it feels to read somthing and have the unpleasant experience to witness the stereotypes in action. My most hated trope is the damsel in distress, people portraying a woman as this fragile flower just there for aesthetic purposes only. So when I catch myself writing men in a similar way it makes me feel like shit. And since I’m NOT a man, I didn’t know what I was doing wrong. Thank you so much for this video 😭🙏🏾

[@patoastral2118]

Stay away from steriotypes or if you try to use one, understand whats the key point that makes that steriotype atractive

[@BenLWolf]

Step one: Understand the biological purpose of your character. For males this is to breed, protect, and provide. Step two, create character back ground. Go as nutty as you want, but understand that the more complicated the back story, the harder the next step is. Step three: multiply biological purpose by life events. Usually you want to focus on their LACKS. If they cannot breed, increase breeding urge. If they cannot protect, increase protection urge. Keep going from there. All done. You have a male character.

[@patoastral2118]

@@BenLWolf wich is weird since females also want to protect, mostly their close loved ones, related to the nurture aspect, wich males also have, provide?… Well females also do that, so maybe is something i dont understand

[@BenLWolf]

@@patoastral2118 For a female character it's irrelevant. Their focus is entirely present based with the past as an INFLUENCE. For males it's entirely past based with the present for influence.

[@kohinattosru8587]

@@BenLWolf You know that psychology can be completly not attached to biology? And the pyramid of needs exists and all? And there ar needs and desires that looks completly absurd from the biological point? Not to undermine what you said, but for more important character in deeper story it may look... don't know how to put it... senseless? vegetative? Like some kind of biotic robot

[@0Shanna]

"Everything that you say can be used against you." Is so recognizable in experience and something wise that I was told as a kid.

[@arwenaimeeperez9131]

As a woman who is very much all about writing male characters as closely as real men as possible and tackling issues men face, this video makes me really happy. Women often do not extend empathy towards men because they don't actively understand that men and women in broad strokes are different, and tend to see men as "broken women" when in reality they just behave differently, with a completely different set of pros and cons that "fixing them" could never lead to anything good nor will it actually "fix" anything because there is nothing to fix. And as an romance writer, it sometimes irks me that so many of the male leads are just women but with dicks. I genuinely love feminine men, but they don't feel like feminine men, but women in men's bodies. There is a difference and you can immediately tell when reading. If that was their intention, then whatever, but it often isn't and it does make the romance tank for me because the chemistry also tends to get affected, among other issues in the writing.

[@ScritRighter]

Romance Male Lead's Inner monologue: "Ugh, Stacy didn't even notice me today. I mean here I am TRYING to look cool in front of her? I mean, how could she not notice me? Maybe I should show up in a muscle shirt and flex a bit. What if I shift my balls around a bit more? That might work." Typical male inner monologue: "Stacy's acting weird. She must hate me. I'm just gonna go to the gym and forget about it. My balls itch."

[@sugarzblossom8168]

I would say that romance is a type of fantasy and that's what a lot of women want in their love life or at least enjoy in a fictional love intrest

[@VENG-k1d]

​@@ScritRighterWho let bro cook, cause he's doing a great job

[@Snormite]

I agree so much, I dislike yaoi and BL precisely because it's so clear that it was written by women who barely talk to men... There's always a guy who acts like a woman in a man's body (the uke, who often looks quite feminine as well) and a man who's almost like a caricature of masculinity. In my case, I don't consider myself a traditionally masculine man nor a feminine one, i'm just myself, so I can see things from both sides and it's so obvious when a man is just sensitive, chill and kind, and when he's a girl pretending to be a man in a work of fiction.

[@senbiche]

I don't face no issues, I AM the issues 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@doodleplayer4014]

So it's the same as for female characters. Write a person, but take into account the pitfalls characters of that gender fall into, and be aware of the impacts their gender can have on their behaviour and outlook on life.

[@goblingore_]

I've been working on a piece of fiction for a long time and this wasn't really something I took into account at first. Then I explored just how interesting my characters could be if I linked their struggles to parts of their character. Like how the protagonist always worries about being viewed differently for being trans or how the female lead has very tenuous relationships with women because girls often bullied her

[@a_naotenhonome780]

12:31 i think this actually works on both ways as a woman myself i prefer always writing characters whose actions speak louder to words, because it makes the reader more intrigued and let them interpret things, the only exception is when a character is more of someone who wears their heart on a sleeve, but even then i like to make some moments where actions matter more

[@a_naotenhonome780]

And i think simple motivations can work for both genders, for example just before this video my female character motivation was getting a video game console and a nice home(on context they are rare on her world due to being a post apocalyptic setting),just because she wants to experience the joy of having something that brings both safety and something to avoid boredom

[@a_naotenhonome780]

3:50 honestly i blame the obsession with power scaling to this, people are more obsessed with feats that certain characters can do on combat, than what they do on the narrative, of course there's nothing wrong in power scaling for fun but some people completely disregard other purposes and strengths, that x character bring to thr table

[@jamesjoe1690]

@a_naotenhonome780 and this bleeds into other stories as well. I'm watching this show on KZbin called Mytstic Myths. As much as the show tries to hide it with weak story arcs, the characters are pretty much defined by their abilities.

[@a_naotenhonome780]

@jamesjoe1690 it sucks because a lot of interesting characters, get thrown aside because they are not strong enough to the fans or even the ones that are the strong ones also suffers since people tend to overlook their personality, and story feats to focus solely on their powes

[@crocoboi7936]

@@a_naotenhonome780yeah it’s sad. A lot of shounen anime fans discredit characters just because they are “weak”

[@a_naotenhonome780]

@crocoboi7936 yeah even if the character in question plays a important role on the story in other means, that isn't just fighting, people will say that this character has no relevance because they aren't that powerful

[@Alienn-ó_ò]

​@@crocoboi7936 agreed!! people don't like characters who don't have flashy powers

[@avinatine]

I personally mostly write characters based on motivations, fears, how they cope and deal with situations and then just randomly attach genders to them, so this added a new perspective and actually helped, thank you!

[@dr_george_ordell]

I also do this too! I also weigh in how they were reared as children as well as how being part of a certain demographic may influence their attitude to the world. Writing a non white male character can be sometimes different to writing a white male character due to subtle social nuances, or how an autistic man, and non autitisc man may receive and respond differently to their environment around them due to how people may treat them. I do the same with female characters too, its a very good system that takes into account psychology and sociology, two subjects that is very helpful when writing characters in general.

[@mello4399]

Don't u want to add some masculine or feminine experiences with that otherwise I think u might end up with a female charater who is dressed like a man

[@dr_george_ordell]

@dominicle9831 What country/kind of culture are you working with? How people may react to your oc may affect how he is perceived and often that also influences his own view of himself. Alongside his childhood, too, what was his personality before the traumatic event, and how was it moulded as he grew up? How much does his childhood rebound into manifesting after his traumatic event?

[@dominicle9831]

@dr_george_ordell I’m not making his country be a part of his problem. It’s part of a Multiverse where things work differently in different dimensions. In his world, nobody cares if you're mutated, alien, were-animal, or a talking animal. Everybody wanted the smoke, even the elderlies.

[@jurnikovah7453]

When it comes to writing male characters I believe most people write from the perspective of the fact that most cultures were male dominated and lead, so anything "uniquely male" to the average writer is just chauvinistic and prideful or wise and intelligent. This is why some writers would write a male character who is old as wise and humble whilst younger ones could be portrayed as cowardly and clumsy or prideful and egotistical. Men are usually so much more than base human flaws, they're combination of beliefs and perspectives and ideals, experiences mostly influence by things outside of their gender. When such isn't recognized you fail at writing compelling or realistic male characters, and end up producing uninspired sewage waste at worse or barely passable male characters at best.

[@TheWorstLawnmower]

Wait, how does a cowardly and clumdy character fit with the "uniquely male" theme ? Do you mean as a basic switch, as in, "Oh, I'd better make a character that is the complete opposite of what men are represented like." ?

[@jurnikovah7453]

@@TheWorstLawnmower Yes

[@shoob6298]

I'm attempting to write a script for a webcomic I want to make. My two main characters are women (I am a woman) and I have been trying to write a supporting male character, but didn't know where to start. Thanks for making this video, I always see tips on how to write female characters and not male. I think people, both men and women, forget that a male character is not a "default" character, and have unique struggles that accomodate their gender identity as well.

[@xfighters3913]

Hey I'm a writer myself (male) and I'm writing a shonen manga right now, I'm hoping to have well written female characters in my story so perhaps we can bounce ideas off of eachother and help eachother write characters of the opposite gender? let me know if you wanna reach out.

[@shoob6298]

@ sounds like a fair proposition, I’m down. How would you prefer to be contacted?

[@mofubunsart]

This convo thread has peaked my interest as I’m also writing a fantasy webcomic (I’m a gal)

[@shivadarling18]

Gender identity isn't real.

[@shoob6298]

@@mofubunsart Nice! I'm curious, would you mind sharing your logline?

[@YamaMaharaja]

As a man, i love this. I often see many women write male characters in horrible ways and usually just as sex or romance candy, so i will definitely be sharing this with them.

[@Takejiro24]

Maybe they didn't? I get the feeling that they write their characters based off how other characters are written which perpetuates how "samey" many of they feel.

[@star-miubin]

​@@Takejiro24I think you hit the nail on the head right there.

[@Crackerhonkeykilla]

it's just the female gaze I never take it seriously

[@giantpinkcat]

I was not born a man so I needed this video. In general, the only type of men I know how to write are: 1. Goody two shoes that are angel babies and pure goodness and have never done anything wrong in their lives. 2. Diddy.

[@Tom-do4vz]

Hello internet person, thank you for leaving a comment. I challenge you to write a male character who is so guilt stricken he can't correctly function, but he works in air traffic control

[@aouyiu]

I was and I need it, we all do. You really never stop learning or changing as a writer.

[@UncleJrueForTue]

Well, since this video made it to you, I'm sure you'll have alot of new material for the future. Best of luck.

[@nessmarie6044]

good. now write a man who embodies all the traits of the goody two shoes angel baby archetype while making him act like diddy. i dare you

[@UncleJrueForTue]

@nessmarie6044 Those already exist. They're called nice guys or wokefishers. Edit: Don't make passive, backhanded demands of writers in the yt comments.

[@Innocent1s]

Thank you Scrit Writer, thanks to your videos, I opened a document, set up the format I wanted and started writing the title. I'm already done with the title so I think that's all for today. Series is back on indefinite hiatus.

[@ScritRighter]

BOOOOO! 👎

[@7alazon7]

LETS GOOO 🔥🔥

[@upg5147]

Baby steps...

[@a_naotenhonome780]

This was made for me since im a woman i have a hard time writing male characters to the point where my stories just had 1 to 3 men as relevant characterd, while it had like 25 relavant female characters lmao

[@Snormite]

I always find that confusing since both men and women are humans, so merely by trying to see things through the position they find themselves in life, you can already write them... I'm a man but I never had trouble writing female characters, it is always a matter of just giving them motivations, backstories and unique traits regardless of gender.

[@a_naotenhonome780]

@Snormite on my case its not exactly that i have difficulty, im just scared of my characters coming off as badly written in the perspective of a man who may read my story, i just try to write them as same as i would do any character but i change a few things to suit to a masculine personality better

[@bigmanontheinternet3824]

@@a_naotenhonome780 I don't blame you for having that fear, its perfectly reasonable. But you shouldn't worry too much about it. As long as your character is well-written, men will never not like him because he 'doesn't act the way men do.' That's not really a thing. I've read/watched plenty of stories with male characters written by women and never ONCE have I ever thought this, EVER. Only, 'wow, this character doesn't act like a human being'. It's hard to describe. I feel like men write bad female characters because they don't write women like people. If a woman ever messes up writing a man it might be because she tries to change an already fine character to add more traditionally 'masculine' traits, in fear the character is unrealistic to men. And those are usually traits like 'logic over emotion'. Or being goal-driven. Or something like that. Those traits don't apply to all men. And people who aren't men might have those traits, too. You know what I mean?

[@bigmanontheinternet3824]

Its why I sort of dislike this video. He makes claims that men look up to strong male characters because they inspire them to go to the gym? That men prove themselves through action? Okay. But these are stereotypes about men. If you get in your own head with this advice you'll just write stereotypes.

[@mmangalisomasinga432]

​@@bigmanontheinternet3824 He never said hit the gym, just be inspired to better. Which can come in many shapes. And expressing through action doesn’t just mean fighting. Hugging is an action, making a meal is an action, fixing something is an action, giving others time to be alone is an action. None of which is inaccurate or negative stereotype that should be avoided.

[@ceciliaslepmet4840]

6:18 "a good male character is someone who has desire" I don't see how this is specific to men characters. A good female or no character is also someone who has desires

[@bartimusprime5652]

True, but there is added nuance. Women tend to be valued on what they currently are. (Demeanor, attractiveness, sociability, entertainment, likeability, loveability popularity). Generalised women specific desires tend to be around gaining these statuses of being. Men tend to be valued on achievements and feats, both past (assets, postion of influence, power, authority, athletic or career achievements) and unrealised feats (the ability to protect, provide, comfort, hit hard). Generalised male specific desires tend to revolve around achieving certain milestones. A woman more often than not is valued for what she does PASSIVELY (look good, be loving). Men are valued for what they do ACTIVELY (get money, get a promotion, become a champion)

[@patoastral2118]

​@@bartimusprime5652hmmmmm the wouldnt it be interesting to just, detach yourself of these goals and perspectives of society, writting a character that is a blend of these two concepts

[@bartimusprime5652]

@@patoastral2118 well yeah absolutely it would. Problem comes when youre story is trying to discuss themes of real world society. You could showcase that these are just perceptions and no realities through said character, but its often clearer to engage with these societal issues to discuss/critique them

[@patoastral2118]

@@bartimusprime5652 hmmm true, is easier to critique something using an example of the opossite

[@LivVirtual]

@@bartimusprime5652 okay, but what you've listed are all traits that society/culture desires from men and women; NOT what men and women desire as individuals. society may value power in men and lovability in women, but the personal value placed on either of those attributes will vary from individual to individual regardless of gender. margaret thatcher, for example, desired power. her culture/society may have dictated that it was demeanor and attractiveness that should be valued by her sex, but what she herself seemed to value more was authority and influence and achievements in her career.

[@patoastral2118]

16:20 Thats a HUMAN trait, most woman act like they have a reason, but in reality we are in the same boat of being driven by bad thought reasons or not really motivated at all

[@MALICEM12]

I think that women like to think they have reason but are just operating on instinct. Whereas many men will merely say "I don't know"

[@LawyerLevin]

Reverse sexism doesnt erase sexism, and writing men and women into stereotypes hurts both genders, im glad to see more creators pushing for better storytelling and less propaganda:)

[@spub1031]

What the hell is reverse sexism? Sounds like it's sexism, but wanting a different word to change the impact.

[@joethesmith2175]

Reverse sexism doesn’t exist; that would imply prejudice only goes one way. it’s just sexism against men.

[@GlitchBoy-ws5in]

"Reverse Sexism" sounds like "Reverse Punch" bruh, it sounds ridiculous

[@queenchaosyet]

At first when watching this video I was rather apprehensive, what could I be doing differently when writing men from women and why wouldn’t I write them the same? Then I realized im a massive hypocrite and that gender affects men equally as it does woman; with their own set of “rules” that society has given them and internalized. Seeing the world from an entirely different perspective is like writing 101 and I’d be no different from a man who refuses to write woman if I couldn’t recognize that. The line “woman would rather be alone in the woods with a bare than a man, and its mirror: men would rather be emotionally vulnerable with a tree than a woman” stood out to me so much and at that point I realized I might know less than I thought I did. This video had me hooked! Your examples and lessons struck a chord with me and I want to use what I learned to write people that feel real, to learn these rules and how they affect their respective genders and then break them apart into tiny pieces to make art so colourful it hurts. Now all I have to do is actually start writing… Im getting to it!

[@ScritRighter]

Massive W

[@chukyuniqul]

Wow, genuinely congratulations for being open to expanding your perspective. These kindsa "click together" moments are things that tend to follow you even afterwards, so even just having had this experience I promise you you'll be a better writer than before it, even just passively.

[@litpotat5601]

That tangent about how guys view and deal with problems compared to how girls do was actually eye opening. I knew they just want somebody to listen, but I never understood why or why that disconnect was even there to begin with. I feel do much wiser now

[@The_Nexium]

This is a video on how to write a dude. NOT TO RELATE TO MY MENTAL PROBLEMS

[@ScritRighter]

HAHAHAHA YOU FOOL! IT WAS BOTH!

[@theman6422]

Ah, but thats the fun of writing! That fun feeling when you’re writing something down for the first time and then you’re like “oh sweet lord, I need actual real therapy”

[@Zephyro_]

​@@theman6422 DUDE, I literally stopped writing because every time I did it, it became a therapy session with myself Lmao

[@notproductiveproductions3504]

“Just lift, bro”

[@janehoonsan1340]

As one of the like 3 female viewers of yours, you do not understand how useful this video was. Not only from the perspective of writing and characters, but about the experience of life as a male. I know that I will write a male character to be a protagonist later in the story. So while I don't really know if I'm good or bad at writing male characters yet, now that I understand men a bit more, I will make sure to avoid making mistakes like those. Actually, really thank you, I generally just love your videos and this one really opened my eyes. Thank you for seeing humans as they are and not as they are told to be

[@necrosteel5013]

Generally what i understand from male character. They fight for their core principles ,it's rare for female characters to be motivated by something like that. 11:40 women, especially mothers and teachers do so at absurdly often rates, the reason for it is that there is no critique for being a bad or incompetent in their guidance. The only reason it's not ever present is because men aren't spoken to as much. 17:27 the problem is that, that reflects on literally everyone, not just men because the reality is that we aren't born with a detailed purpose that we can articulate with sufficient clarity. 20:14 this is a perfect example of a male character that defines the male ideal, a being of single minded determination. They sacrifice everything for their purpose to the point that everything can be used to serve that purpose... thought at times they will still express silly things as a harmless remnant of who they were before they cast aside everything they could.

[@dianamarcu8939]

im a woman and i watch you!! youre awesome man, this vid is very helpful :D

[@ScritRighter]

The mythical creature

[@quagsiremcgee1647]

9:04 I remember watching westerns with my dad and to this day I still recall that one cowboy that strolled up and solved a problem and just walked away.

[@Proxy606]

1:49 To anyone wondering why “stupid” wasn’t listed, it’s because it’s an inherently factual male fact(kinda, hear me out fellow dudes) We, are all stupid. Because being a monkey, frankly, is fun Of course, we aren’t monkey’s ALL the time But generally, having your males be goofy himbos can be an accurate portrayal of males Just… make them stupid on purpose… we aren’t babies with no concept of intelligence. We ACT stupid, we aren’t stupid (An example would be having a guy do something really REALLY dumb, for the sake of it. Our stupid moments are INTENTIONAL. NOBODY, will drink water with chopsticks because they’re dumb. They’ll do it with intent. NOBODY, will use a mouse backwards because they’re dumb. They’ll do it with intent. The general rule of thumb, is intent with their stupidity) TL;DR Males are dumb because we want to be dumb, not because we are actually dumb. If you read through the whole thing and don’t understand the examples, go watch meme compilations(strike me down Zeus, you don’t have the ba-)

[@joaomigueltorresbueno4457]

As a Professional regular male especimen i can confirm i do counter productive crazy shit all the time for the fun of it and charachters that do the same are soooo releatable and likeable to me

[@bombgoon2768]

This is definitely also because I swear testosterone makes you lose IQ. I was genuinely acting dumber as I grew up, because I felt less smart. It might be puberty doesn’t necessarily make you dumber, but enjoy being dumber, hence men dumb thing.

[@patoastral2118]

?????? Isnt that the casw with women too?

[@anapple6912]

@@patoastral2118 I don't think it is, women care more about how they are seen and act in society in comparison men do silly stupid stuff for shits and giggles or maybe to impress their friends, never seen a woman do that. erm not that i go outside at all to see that... women are more emotional than men, they seem more safe and not a threat to children and what not. i have never seen someone say that someone else is motherless

[@patoastral2118]

@@anapple6912 i dont know, i seriously see my girlfriend and other girls my age do stupid things just for laughs many times, it depends of the type of emotion and how ypu express it, if you say that men do more stupid stuff and then say that we are logical and less emotional, then theres a weird match in there, and oh believe me, ive seen many people call someone motherless, especially the mentally disturbed

[@passionproject568]

Im a content creator and because I mostly write romance I really needed this video. Recently I wrote a chapter where my main male character was dumped by his girl. He understood why she dumped him but because of all the stress he went through he really needed her support. And then when she left he started to cry. I felt like its a human emotion but I dont want my readers to think oh, he's weak. Most women want men to be emotional but once they are women tend to think it as weakness. Am I wrong?

[@ScritRighter]

I guess it pretty much depends on a few things. Most dudes don't really cry over stuff like that. It's usually laying in bed, not shaving, constantly thinking of what you could've done different, and regretting. Some dudes will drink, others will go to the gym more often or play video games. Usually to take their mind off of it. Not saying men don't cry. Mostly that it's not the first or most common option men pick. For me personally, if I know I fucked up in a relationship, i'm more inclined to start working on myself to feel better. The only time I'd cry over a lost relationship is if it's a tragic loss where I could not have done anything. Like getting cheated on or my partner dying.

[@passionproject568]

@ScritRighter Hey, thanks for replying. I'm definitely going to take it to heart. There are a lot of good ideas to put in writing for future scenarios. And based on what you said, then yeah, his tears are justified. Some contexts if you care to read, he's a specialized soldier and his job is demanding. A Black Opt veteran at that. So he's never home, but that's why he really needed some love in his life cus it's tough. He really loves this girl. So the first thing he does coming back from a one week mission is to go and see her. But she's not herself right. She said, "Come on, I need to talk to you." So they go and have this walk. He just wants a hug. Baby girl just gave it to him straight. "You're not around, and I know I said what I said. That I want to be with you no matter what, but... I can't wait around for you wondering when you'll be back. So it's over." He, of course, gonna ask her to stay. He can't help the situation he's in and he can't deny orders. That's just his job. So he starts scrambling. But then she just goes ahead, "My love for you have been growing cold for a while now... there's someone else." And imagine this new guy got everything. A nice job as a Sentinel, guaranteed schedule, and worst he knows this guy. Right then he knew it's over. So girl said good bye then walked away. He's just standing there, tired, dirty, hungry, and smelly. She was the one person who made the end of the mission just a lot sweeter. So after that dude just started crying. Not ugly crying but just... I can't hold back these tears.

[@anonym65520]

​​@@ScritRighteri actually would say that the crying part is actually good in this szenario because in this case it subverts expectations

[@patoastral2118]

24:00 i mean, if you think about it, women do the same, in our society when women are little girls, they tend to look up to and be inspired by princess, being able to weild magic, have their own space in the world, in shoujo the theme of magical girls is so popular for a reason, maybe its just that well, society tends to put focus on your gender, and when you are little you need to look up to things that you as a child see as "for boys" "for girls" and these discriptions tend to atach until we are old,and im sorry if i put lots of comments, i just loved your videos and wanted to put different perspectives

[@Sphag]

This video helped me in not writing, but understanding a little more about myself as a guy, thank you.

[@snoopiñata]

I don’t know why but since I was a child and as I started creating my own ‘stories’ and characters (I draw mostly) I made them almost always centered around males. My favorite plushies were always boys, my favorite cartoon characters were men, my first animes were shonen; I feel like I was able to look at this perspective from other points of view (as the girl that I am) and become able to feel empathy for the ‘male’ “emotions”. I was always taught to look at men as what they are: human beings, so I often feel like encapsulating some emotions,fears and motivations as masculine or feminine might take away the main message or lessons from a story. Great video 👍

[@PhylusMo5]

I'm glad you understand Denji's writing because I feel like most people are unable to. They basically just deem him a teen horndog who chases after nothing but breasts. They don't understand that Denji is one of the most realistic and grounded characters, shaped by deprivation and trauma. His motivations are realistic, making him one of the best-written main characters ever.

[@theholycow6378]

I’ve wanted to write a story or novel for a while now and your videos give me new perspectives that really help me to understand how characters and worlds should be established and portrayed. Thank you Scrit!!! 😁🥔 (Also a webnovel that I’ve finished reading recently called Omniscient Reader has really good male characters. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for something to read, but it is kinda long 😅)

[@SirStarToonzy69]

I usually make an idea for a character and for the gender and design I just choose what I feel best fits the personality and feel I'm trying to give off or what best fits the purpose.

[@InfinitySevens]

I usually just end up getting ideas for characters pretty gender neutrally. At the same time, sometimes I wind up coming up with a design for a character FIRST and then not quite nail their characterization afterwards.

[@anapple6912]

yes

[@alstroemeria5211]

I'm a woman, and I'm pretty good at figuring out my own motivations (and knowing when I need to talk to someone else about something to make it make sense in my head, which is basically all the time), but trying to understand how and why my brothers/other guys I have met- do things the way they do? Let alone trying to write male characters? Just.. never really clicked. I have been stuck in a rut of trying to figure out why the guy I was trying to write was so hard to get right, and this has answered pretty much all my questions. Thank you so, so much.

[@notoriousyolkhound4600]

aha, you have won and I fell for the obvious clickbait of sukuna being on the left side on the thumbnail. I have to watch now

[@LadyLark712]

My favourite tv show. Especially when it comes to non-romantic relationships is Elementary, because it gives us a modern version of Sherlock & Watson with a twist. Both are exceptionally good examples of what Scrit has been talking. When he talks about the difference between women and men. Also because of them being companions without being romantically involved. It allows you to see how a woman would react to certain situations compared to how a man would. Both are intelligent in their own way. Both call each other out on their flaws without being abusive and both have their own inner conflicts and support each through those problems as true friends more. I honestly wish I could see more Anime do this. Especially Action anime because I honestly can’t think of a single female character in anime that has lots of fighting involved. That doesn’t lay hands on the male character and then proceed to treat them like garbage. And no offence but sometimes I sit here and ask myself if part of the social problems between gender right now is because tv shows do things too often and therefore teach things that you shouldn’t be learning. For example hitting a man is unacceptable. I totally understood that because you don’t hit someone. EVER. See this where things get interesting, because even with that understanding. It still slipped through the cracks of my morality that sometimes it was acceptable and when I realized that I had such thoughts… it was like hitting a WALL of realization. Like… how the 🤬 did that get though. It took me a bit to realize that a lot of my favourite shows. Especially the anime ones had female characters hitting men or treating them like garbage to the point where I had become immune to that behaviour without realizing it. I don’t even blame the writers. It’s one of those unintended consequences of something being seen as the norm. Basically it’s normal for women to hit men. Even though it’s mostly supposed to be seen as nothing more than a joke. Trying to figure out right & wrong gets harder as we get older. I hope to never slip into such opinions ever again and I hope all of you keep on your toes too.🧐

[@meteorcat0730]

This was an informative video! Glad you made it~

[@SirStarToonzy69]

why did u add the '~' 😭

[@meteorcat0730]

@@SirStarToonzy69 Cuz I'm just like that?

[@boohawk659]

They're just built different I guess.

[@Passione_Offical_Channel]

They be built freaky like that

[@SirStarToonzy69]

@@meteorcat0730 based 🗿

[@irenemurphy1110]

THE SUKUNA RAGEBAIT SITUATION IS CRAZY🤯

[@RHKang-hl3ps]

Be it social differences or biological, men and women have a lot of differences. While I definitely take a person and action first approach to writing I still want to take different perspectives into account. It helps I have a complicated relationship with my gender. It helps me see both male and female issues from a unique perspective that others miss.

[@patoastral2118]

Theres a key difference, its in how you were raised or your social experiences, my mom and dad never told me something like "men should be this way" they likely just treated me as if i already knew that at my age but i didnt, then while growing i just saw more similarities that differences beetween them, and the way people acted always seemed so sifferent from each other, in my head out of not much social interaction at my youth i just, cant really see a lot of the differences in social aspects like others do, you should take that into account while writting a character, because social interaction changes everything

[@GraceIsMe88]

Mom the bees are back!

[@MM-be8wo]

It's a reference to the movie "Bee Movie"

[@mr.foxasmg]

Damn bee stole my wife

[@anapple6912]

birds and the bees or something?

[@NaughtWalter]

I'm a man myself, and the call to action at the ending kind of struck me the wrong way. You ask women to talk more with men, and ask them questions about their experience, but when men answer honestly, to their best ability, it just becomes a callback to the point you make at 16:19 that "men are often unaware of themselves, what they want, and who they truly want to be in life" if we don't answer in a way that is palatable to the desired audience. An important, almost meta-component of the male experience is having your thoughts, opinions, and emotions being treated as invalid and unrelatable to others because they are experienced exclusively through the filter of male privilege.

[@baronvonkek8467]

0:21 That's a rather bold assumption that I have seen disproven many times lol

[@art_cat_lady]

Thank you so much for this video, I am a woman that loves drawing/writing about men. I want to portray men's problems and emotions as realistically as i can. This fixation about writing male characters came after years of being manipulated by men, because even tho those men hurt me, after deep thinking I could see the humanity in their actions and their desperation, their sadness. Men's mental health is a very important topic to me personally. I am sad by all the hatered against men in today's world.

[@ScritRighter]

To be fair, some of it IS deserved. Some men need to learn how to just nut up and deal with their problems instead of blaming everyone else except themselves. Some guys are so stuck in their own heads and their own problems they just make it everyone else's problem. But of course, the same can be said for women too.

[@art_cat_lady]

@ScritRighter To men who have actually done something wrong it is different. I don't believe in this group thinking that because some people in a group did something wrong, all of them are to blame. People are individuals, what can one do to affect the actions or choices of someone completely unrelated whose only connection is being born in the same sex? That's what leads to other hateful ideas too like racism, discrimination to religions etc. I believe it's misguided to hate all men because of the actions of some men. But I can understand how it happens.

[@MALICEM12]

That's a very respectable approach, thanks for being so considerate

[@porky1118]

I don't really make a conscious difference in writing male and female characters. I think besides their physical differences (strength, genitals) I don't make any distinction.

[@sugarzblossom8168]

People love that in theory but still complain that female characters act like male characters and vice versa or when a female character isn't feminine enough and a male character isn't masculine enough.

[@InfinitySevens]

Fair, I feel like that's sort of how I feel with my OCs as well since I'm usually not trying to make a point about gender. This extends to my queer and/or trans characters as well. I think I just see character traits or actions as largely gender neutral since different people can act the same way, and vice versa.

[@porky1118]

​@@sugarzblossom8168 I mean most of my characters still fulfill some of the gender stereotypes. But I also like to mix things up. Not every male/female has to fulfill every stereotype. I really like "androgynous" characters (femboys/tomboys). I also often have women as the main characters of a story. I doubt it would make a huge difference if I used a male. Maybe when it comes to romance, female characters still prefer protectors, while males just want somebody who looks cute. And maybe females are more cautious when walking around in some shady street.

[@DarthBiomech]

@@sugarzblossom8168 So, basically do what they've been doing but also sprinkle some salt on top of it in form of femininity or masculinity?

[@sugarzblossom8168]

@@DarthBiomech I personally would just keep doing what they are doing. Whether characters "act" like their gender or not to me isn't a bad or good thing. Plus the people who give such advice contradict themselves so might as well make the characters you want to make that are well written and complex or not if that's what you have decided on.

[@DawnFire05]

Brilliant video. I was raised as a woman and so I can struggle to understand the experience of boys and men. I’m currently writing a story about two men, one particularly where I portray these struggles of being raised men in a society that refuses to acknowledge them as human beings. It deals with the mental health problems men face, and how they’re unique to the male experience. I’m very thankful to have a bf who’s very thoughtful about things, he’s provided me such deep insight into the experience of men. I just have these moments where I’m like “oh, god, my men are written too much like a woman” since that’s just the experience I’m familiar with. I take his insight, apply it to my story, it makes it so much better. The conflict is these struggles of men in society. We’ve gotten into really interesting discussions about how the same problem is approached from the male and the female perspective, it’s opened my eyes a lot. Very glad to hear your perspective on things. I feel rather confident with my male characters, but there’s always so much more I can improve on.

[@Jacket50Blessings]

good luck writing that story! :D

[@patoastral2118]

14:10… i think that aspect of gojos character being distant is not really related to being male, more so of he being the strongest, gojo is alone because for the others he isnt a person, he is a weapon, a tool, a monster, an idol, he adopted that aspect, and i believe if he was female it will be pretty similar since women in power through history acted similarly

[@I_love_bread_and_Hungry_Jacks]

I don't think I've ever seen another giant example of a 2010 to 2020 anime like SAO (including the alternative spin off), with the whole "amazingly high quality animation & budget", "decently okay & basic general story plot, idea & theme" but "dog water levels of writing for the episodes as time went on & character execution with their personality, relationships or role" I honestly don't know if the SAO games have a better writing or not since they take an alternate path on the story [such as the 1st game: with the whole original SAO survivors forced to fight all the way to floor 100 the final level of the game Yui returns & has a technically younger sister, Strea, but she chose the avatar model of a hot mid early 20s woman to purposely flirt with Kirito & tease him while messing with Asuna (even though she's technically their adopted AI counselling daughter, just like Yui where they both have admin perms) Kayaba is alive because he faked his death in his final duel against Kirito on floor 75 by instantly teleporting (with his admin command prompt obviously) as Kirito stabbed him to look like he got hit Leafa having access to transfer herself into SAO (obviously permanently trapped with Kirito & gang because she didn't think that through, even though her 2nd generation VR visor can't actually fry her brain unlike the 1st generation helmet, the Nervegear that has everyone trapped in SAO) because ALO was a game that already existed in a year or 2 during the SAO incident (unlike the anime having it created after the SAO survivors waking up) Sinon introduced early into SAO instead of SAO 2/ GGO story arc, because there was an unfortunate glitch that sent her into Sword Art when she planned to play Gun Gale (she has a Nervegear instead of the 2nd gen & 100 percent safe VR visor in the game's story iirc) And obviously there are a lot more side characters (that either brand new & exclusively exists in the game's version of the story or have an alternate outcome to the anime's version of them) gets introduce such as: in the 1st game with Philia, an orange marker player being stuck by herself on a higher floor (somewhere above level 75) while high level mobs exist & her being a former laughing coughing member In the 3rd or 4th game (being setted in ALO) we got Rain, who is looking for her long lost & estranged Russian little sister that happens to be a scientist working on VR technology & kid genius irl, & a popular idol in the VR scene We got Yuuki who survived her critical condition illness (along with her guild of friends with a similar illness), unlike in the anime, she does slowly makes some progress in walking, talking & eating normally again (though her progress is probably the slowest out of the other 4 members) In the 5th or 6th game (setted in another SAO based game with the same abbreviations) we got a pair of identical AI twin sisters (one of them having a beauty mark under her eye & slowing deviating while developing more natural real emotions that aren't a part of her programming, the other being more cold & ruthless that she too deviates with genuine rage & hatred for humans) Sachi (who existed in the prior games iirc) somehow survived SAO, whether she still has her body irl or was given a 2nd chance at life while being a half amnesiac I do not know for certain And so forth after that with GGO, Underworld, Accel World cross over, & the other characters from the SAO movies]

[@ScritRighter]

Thanks for the money 😶‍🌫

[@patoastral2118]

I tend to see that most of the time, people over fixates in men and women differences and create steryotipes instead of characters, you need to understand that they are their own people, because if they are all similar its just boring, we have similarities but theres lot of fifferent views and people

[@notproductiveproductions3504]

There’s something so worrying about the fact that Hollywood needs this video arguably more than the other one yet Disney doubles down on what not to do. It reminds me of another KZbinr’s video on how men aren’t written like actual men anymore. The difference is his video went into acting and directing

[@palerider2132]

What also sucks is that most people aren't good at writing people. And they alway default to the main stereotypes we see (horny, stupid man)(stoic, but heart of gold), etc. Same with women, but I'll stay on topic. We never get truly unique characters, at keast its rare. They(even if written well) will fall into a no-brainer stereotype. Theres more than 4 types of men out there(and women).

[@Rhodes09]

It also doesn't help that most people when they see said tropes, they will only focus on those tropes . Like i like one piece and the main three luffy, zoro and sanji fall under those tropes but they actually have characters development

[@WeebGuru6]

Agreed 10/10 video couldn’t say it any better especially the solo leveling series I suggest checking out god of high school it’s how u do an overpowered mc right

[@goddessbraxia]

Isekai is one of the most criminal in writing. The idea is expected to carry the whole story, but no single idea is strong enough to hold up a series. It always falls on the shoulders of compling characters and the use of that idea to tell a story. It's just so easy to hook people onto an isekai idea because of the wish fulfillment aspect of said ideas. but thats not all it is.

[@EliasKoiner-xj5eb]

Im a gay boy and I make it a point to show my male/female character's weaknesses/insecurities and if using a done to death anime trope, I make an effort to put my own unique spin on it. For example the isekai trope: i have the people the mc knew be emotionally affected by the mc being transported to another world, and the mc is emotionally affected by being separated from the people he/she cares about.

[@EliasKoiner-xj5eb]

This might come from me being pretty emotionally sensitive, but i feel like its disingenuous to boil male character writing down to just ideals.

[@mauricioaguilera3194]

Being male doesn't mean you can write good male characters ... That is also true for women.

[@patoastral2118]

11:00… i dont know dude in my highschool it was mostly the men that iniatiated rumors or attacked others verbally, knowing that well fighting is not an option so words are more viable

[@patoastral2118]

10:13 i also wish that, im a guy and i dont know if i have a problem or illnes but, sometimes i just need to stop and talk to my friends or loved ones, if i dont it feels, empty

[@LiSkyFox]

My other friends also have this Dw about it he’s just talking about generalizations otherwise not much to talk about

[@Yatukih_001]

Your most important element of a male character should be his name. I am writing a detective cat. He is male. Describe the story - line first. Outline it. Describe the main characters. Limit them to 12. Describe each main character´s central passions and interests. Put yourself into their shoes. Your next decision is to decide what makes them stand out. The name should come up quickly in your mind, and should be easily spellable. Write a bunch of male characters and female characters, then contrast them with each other. Contrast them with characters from films or TV shows you have seen, poetry and books you have read. Do like Stephen King: ask yourself what if X is scary, and move from that point. The guys who wrote the Bible asked themselves the question what if angels were scary. You follow the same path, the same route and you decide if religion needs to be involved or not. Now you have an infinite supply of ideas for male characters. To be really efficient at writing male characters, you need psychiatry.

[@MoonyMckayNetwork]

I am honestly gobsmacked at the amount of people in the comments that are like "wow i had no idea, i need to write my characters as characters instead of cardboard cutouts? Thanks!" I am not trying to be mean, but what?

[@Crystal-Is-Ok-Again]

Kind of dumb tbh lol

[@MALICEM12]

I'm not surprised, women don't understand men

[@Crystal-Is-Ok-Again]

@@MALICEM12 Well I understand some things about men. Maybe not anatomy wise but emotionally, kinda yeah idk it just depends

[@duckymate9555]

This reminds me of Cid from The Eminence in Shadow. Guy is simply a satirical character who just wants to play out his fantasy, but what fascinates me are the moments when he saves a prostitute from her torturous life. There was little to no exaggerated monologue, he just did a favor for her and walked away. It raises the question of whether he cares or not.

[@warudos]

You made a typo in this video. it's not writing character. It's writing people. A lot of people can't seem to understand that writing characters like their people is the way to get a person resonated with them.

[@jamespilgrim3774]

He really nailed it with the ending. Being a man is truly the battle between absolute competition and kindness; should everything burn for my own happiness, or should I give from my strength to build others up around me? It's the true Man' world, and why competition and combat are baked into our DNA

[@WeebGuru6]

I just think of the role that character is gonna be who they are their gender is usually last

[@star-miubin]

Same here in all honesty.

[@mercce6750]

DANDADAN MENTIONED!!1! WHAT THE HELL ARE TESTICLES?!!!

[@mariaantonia-op8qc]

I honestly feel really lucky as a female writer when it comes to this, not only do I have plenty of guy friends I know since highschool and that I met in university, all of which I appreciate the heck of, but when I started in this area and had plenty of trouble writing male characters (and characters in general) I went to some of them for help and they opened up to me, helped me understand their perspective better on why they liked/disliked my character ideas. It's incredible how much just talking to other people and getting to hear perspectives from others different to you expands your views on things and helps you write better.

[@StarGummy-n2t]

This is actually helpful in understanding men in general. The "Men would rather tell their problems to a tree than a woman" hit especially hard. So to the men here: How can a woman make you feel comfortable enough and show that she won't betray your trust? I would never turn somebody's insecurities against them but now I get why so many men are afraid to share regardless.

[@sp.n7401]

It's not really about trust, but more like men don't really feel the need to share their problems unless they feel an obvious practical benefit to doing it. It's also because they're often around other men, and their first instinct when hearing your problems is to try to solve them immediately, and handing them too much can be emotionally draining and overwhelming to them, so they don't come up often. But, if you do get a chance to listen to men's problems you should take it slow and not pressure them too much. They're probably thinking they would be overwhelming you, too.

[@StarGummy-n2t]

@sp.n7401 alright I do get it but I can't lie, it does bother me somewhat. Not only was I brought up as a woman but I'm also neurodivergent so the only way it makes sense to communicate for me is with directness. I want to know what you're feeling, thinking and what exactly you want, vagueness is extremely difficult for me. I do hate when people in general say "Everything is fine" when the opposite is written all over their face. I wish they'd just say something like "I'm not in the headspace to share" or even "You're not the right person to tell." Like I get why people don't do that, I just wish they would. This all might sound harsh but in actuality I always try to give people the space they need. I don't pressure anyone to share things they don't want to. It's all just wishful thinking on how I'd like things to go.

[@endme9928]

It’s different for some people since it matters what type of things you go through. For me I don’t tell others my problems because my family has used them against me so I avoid it

[@williamhardee8863]

For me personally I’d love to have a woman in my life who I could be vulnerable enough to be completely honest with and really be my true self, but growing up I only ever had a handful of girls that I could consider friends, and I’ve never had anymore of an intimate relationship with a woman, so I honestly just feel like I don’t have enough practice communicating with women; I make it a bigger deal than it is. In general I’d say all my friends were “school friends”, I had plenty of friends, but I never did anything with them or talked to them after school. I’d just go home and keep to myself, so now that I’m an adult, I feel like I’m really behind when it comes to being able to socialize in any other setting, which is an insecurity of mine that causes me to avoid social gatherings and socializing in general. Not out of a desire to avoid those things(quite the opposite actually), I’m just too scared to put myself out there for lack of better words. When it comes to women, I can’t help but have this childish high school mindset that if I so much as talk to a girl she’s gonna be thinking, “ew, who’s this loser,”. The worst part is I feel like a bad person for being so insecure, because I know how irrational so much of it is, and how much insecurity puts people off.

[@kairemeriniit]

Another issue: when men like women there are reasons - which especially in romance seem to be ignored, which makes them pretty bland for other men.

[@Litten-sb7eg]

Unless their gender is a core part of their character and story , gender is usually the last thing I decide on, i even find myself just switching my characters gender on occasion lol

[@DaxterL]

Make a character: How were they treated as a kid by parents? Coddles, spoiled? Neglected, abused? Extrapolate on that. How were they treated by their environment? Harshly out jealousy? Loved for their charity? Extrapolate on that. What was the characters reaction to all of that? This is where heros differ when they are compared? How healthy is their coping. Men: typically expected to be strong, rewarded for toughness/grit by society. Allowed and encouraged to do as they want. Scorned for showing ANY form of weakness, either by parents and/or environment. Women: Typically coddled and underestimated, as if they were puppies made out of cotton in a raining world, by society. Limited by everyone's expectations in a false way to "protect" them "Stay out of this, this is a mans job" Take your character, extrapolate on how they would react to such circumstances. Switch up treatments for other characters to make a variety of characters and genders. A woman treated harshly by parents, and coddled by society/environment will send mixed signals to the character and they'll feel lost (or literaly any other way you think someone would behave and cope in such a scenario.) Extrapolate on all these things, don't forget to add character's desires, wants and personality traits as modifiers to behavior. Rare circumstances of meeting outliers to shake up their world view. Boom you have some basis for a character. EDIT: For DLC, try making a character behaving completely out of expected norms. Dressing up differently, behaving differently, having rare issues that not many people in immediate vicinity have, creating for a great load of dismiss and boiling hatred of the more confused people who's entire world view is shaken up by an individual not conforming to their model of how society "should" be. Put in your votes now to guess what group of people this character will belong to.

[@Kurai977]

I plan to give your book a read to hopefully learn to write my own story someday! I don't know if it is possible for you but I think it would also be fun if you reviewed viewer's short stories and give pointers on where to improve, just an idea I thought would be fun :p

[@ScritRighter]

I have that as a channel member's reward for the 10$+ tiers.

[@BlackReshiram]

i wish men were real smfh EDIT: DANDADAN MY BELOVED

[@carlsacel7222]

Green aura with flies

[@KeyOfTheTwilight]

Thank you for this wonderful video. As a woman who strive to understand humans in general and wanting to understand both genders, this is super helpful in my efforts to create cool and believable characters.

[@pundogaming3587]

WAIT HIS WRITTING IN THIS VIDEO IS FIRE???

[@Gh0sstt0wn]

Hell yeah, this video was made for me :)))

[@kukuandkookie]

Got this video randomly recommended to me and I find the topic itself and the different perspectives possible on it kind of interesting. I’m honestly not entirely sure where to start with my thoughts, because they’re quite scattered-but if I were to start with the obvious, there are indeed differences between how men and women see and interact with the world. I can see it when I’m dealing with the male members of my family-specifically my brother, because the way he vents to me is generally in-line with how men are said to see the world in reality. What I mean by that is that his insecurities, his emotional responses, and his assumptions (of say, women) do reveal that specific…male mentality. I don’t always personally agree with some of his takes, and that’s probably because I’m a woman, but at the same time, I do care deeply about my brothers, and for him, I often end up being the one who gives him advice or comfort. But that’s part of what I find interesting, because there _is_ also a degree of separation between reality and fiction. Even though men in romance stories may not always reflect reality, they do reflect women’s fantasies. Which is also why we see women who say they’re “not attracted to men, but are attracted to men written by women.” This demonstrates the awareness some people have that men aren’t always written to be how men are in reality. Yet at the same time, men are often also the default choice for a character in fiction. If you were to imagine a detective, a chef, a CEO, a boxer, a janitor, a doctor, a lawyer, etc, chances are the first thing you’ll imagine is a man in that profession. I’ve purposefully used non-gendered jobs (eg I didn’t mention businessmen or policemen) nor jobs that are stereotypically female-led (eg nurse, teacher, secretary), and all the jobs I’ve chosen are quite different from each other (eg a chef is a far cry from a janitor is a far cry from a lawyer), but it’s easy to picture a man in the role. And I’m admittedly someone who, when creating a character, does choose men by default. I’m not usually thinking about gender when I write my characters; I just happen to enjoy male characters, so I tend to think of men when designing a new character, whether it’s for a story or just an OC to play with. That does mean I likely write my male characters with a woman’s touch, but they’re also characters before they are their gender. What I mean by that isn’t to say I’m such a good writer I think of character depth before I think of gender. What I mean is that _because_ default characters are seen as men, male characters often enjoy a more variety of depth and possibility than some female characters might. So while women may suck at writing men because they don’t always understand a man’s perspective, you may still be able to find both good (interesting, deep, well-developed) and bad (flat, bland, boring, stereotypical) male characters even in stories aimed at women. Which is interesting to compare to perhaps what people complain about poorly written female characters, because there feels like there’s less diversity there: you either get just badass and flat (which you’ll see in western media like Captain Marvel, Rey Skywalker, the new live-action Mulan) or so feminine/into men that they were deemed useless by fans so you’ll see an author overcompensate by trying to make them physically stronger (I’ve interestingly seen this crop up more in Japanese media via characters like Sakura or Amy Rose or Ochaco Uraraka). In a way, male characters can enjoy that degree of diversity, which is why you may get both random mooks and a more compelling male character on the team and maybe comedic relief etc, while people who write women struggle to find a balance between writing an actually strong character and a stereotype (whether it’s too badass or too much of a damsel). Like for example, _Love and Deepspace_ is a game wholeheartedly devoted to female players, and it offers four (actually five) different male protagonists who evidently all differ in personality from each other. They may not be particularly _realistic_ as men in some of their mannerisms, thought patterns, emotions, etc, but they’re still considered rich characters in their own ways with different layers of depth that make them unique to one another. And intriguingly enough, they may not translate well into female characters. The specific kind of confident yet domineering personality that Sylus (Qin Che) demonstrates wouldn’t really fit if he was a woman, unless it was adjusted slightly, even though he may not also fully reflect a man in reality. Perhaps the most obvious place this comes into play is actually boys’ love. And I know that may lead to some people squinting their eyes in confusion because boys’ love isn’t usually associated with depth so much as it is associated with horny gay sex for horny female readers, but the fact boys’ love is mostly written by women yet most of the character cast is men leads to some interesting results. You see archetypes that may not work as well if translated into women, but when you do also find more well-written characters, such as those in danmei (popular examples include _Tunhai; Poyun; Mo Du; Tian Guan Ci Fu;_ etc), even when they don’t always realistically resemble men in real life, they still get to enjoy a level of depth that makes them compelling. And the characters of something like _Tunhai_ may not translate as well into female characters, although their backstory and career can technically be translated into a female character. The best example I can think of for this is the 188男团, because characters like Yu Fengcheng, Shao Qun, Jian Suiying, Li Yu, Yuan Yang, Gu Qingpei, and more take it even further: not only do they feel like compelling male characters, they also feel like _believable_ male characters that do reflect the reality of how men can be, in all their diverse personalities too. Shui Qian Cheng has a unique way of seemingly kind of getting some men’s mindsets, and while not every danmei writer is like her, they do at least often write men that, while not a one-to-one reflection of real life men, have strong character growth and also wouldn’t work as well if they were directly switched into women with their previous personality traits and attitudes. So what I mean by that is that they’re not necessarily the same as men _in real life,_ but they do _feel_ like men in a way they couldn’t be if they were a female character, and they enjoy depth and character development as well. This may ironically contrast with male self-insert characters that are flat, boring, and/or have no personality despite also being written by men, as seen in some isekai anime or some manhwa. Now, I’m not saying women are better at writing men than men are. I’m just clarifying that I find it interesting how things may not always reflect our reality, but because we often see men as a default character, we can still see compelling male characters even when they don’t feel entirely like real men. Even your examples of poorly written male characters in both the thumbnail and video itself come mostly from shounen, written by male writers, which demonstrates this same phenomenon again. And also again, I’m not saying female writers are better at character-writing than men. Some of the worst examples of female characters being bland because she’s just perfect and badass are actually written by women! It’s just that for male characters specifically, you’ll see a wider range of possibility and personality etc, and thus a higher probability that a male character may feel well-written and uniquely male even if they don’t always feel realistically male. I find it kind of fascinating, to be honest!

[@Katheive]

As a woman, Scrit does in fact know exactly what women want.

[@zettovii1367]

Modern Media (especially Disney) seriously needs to learn from this. Like seriously, while's it's cool we get more female protagonists than ever, it always irked me how a lot of films, and even some anime lifted their female chars up while putting down their males as the butts of jokes and/or cartoonishly evil antagonists. Like it would be great to have more stories with prominent women, without the men being presented as inferior in some way, much how it is also greatto see more media where the women arent just objectified or dismissed entirely.

[@rubenbigbro9005]

2:19 what is the sandwiches sappose to mean please explain

[@Nothankyou-v1e]

it talks about the need for food

[@rubenbigbro9005]

@ oh ok

[@W1KTORious]

Light novel writers need to watch this video last week

[@FirstLast-hd4oe]

Proceeds to show the best written male characters of all time

[@InterdimensionalZeitGeist]

okay, I have a suggestion, one of the best male characters in my opinion, (when written well), is superman. he fits all the criteria outlined in this video, and I think maybe there would be some more to explore on that front in another video? about how 'chivalry' is seen as outdated so masculinity also isin't depicted that way? I dunno just a stray thought rattling around in my noggin.

[@bonker2946]

13:40 the exaggerated swagger of a black teen 😂

[@AWFreturn]

I saw it and was like “wait what” I slowed it down just to see Miles Morales walking across my screen

[@patoastral2118]

21:00 in reality this also aplies to women in a sense that even in mythology, mythological gods or creatures of various genders tend to be the embodiment of an idea or concept, but i like pretty pretty much how you said it at the end, it is less about masculinity and feminity, is more about their core concept

[@seamountain5]

I appreciate the insight, although I did more or less know a fair amount of what you said I will definitely rewatch this video in the future if I get stuck. Having several brothers definitely helps-one of the 3 gals I guess lol

[@AxonDucreux]

I was about to mention Dandadan, but oh well, you already did😂

[@MadDogRyan]

I just strive to write characters that are Motivated like Vergil

[@jr-my4042]

10:50 Damn.. that's deep. And yet true. Well said my good sir.

[@Splat654]

I didn't know i needed this, so thank you! I have lots of plots with my OC and i am finally getting to start fully writing and storyboarding all my stories. And all my main characters in each story are males, and i am a female myself. I was recently thinking about that, although i like how i created them, its like, they lack some depth, which i don't really know how to fill. So this vid popped out for me just in the right time

[@ravenclarke4103]

As a woman who wants to get better at writing this a great video to think about so thank you!

[@RenanL.S.]

I often feel that many female writers see man as "oooga booga I cannot control my anger, need to punch somebody every day".

[@K9YY]

Or the opposite side of the ultimate goody goody that will never hurt anyone and is cringely shy, soft and naive. See both of those in manwhas so often.

[@thekakavashachronicles]

Guys, write a female character that just happens to be strong.

[@MALICEM12]

I think we've all gotten tired of that

[@K9YY]

I think its better to have a reason for strength or characteristics instead of the "Oh this is a woman character and just happens to be conveniently stronger than everyone else, we wont talk about it much"

[@TinAlien7]

I’m gonna be honest, I feel like I can’t really write either gender because I don’t really understand either

[@Zytotoxin]

So basically dont write characters around their gender

[@upg5147]

Unless the story is literally about gender or has heavy themes about it. Duh 😅.

[@JamPierreRow]

@@upg5147 like togata from fire punch or ranma 1/2

[@upg5147]

@@JamPierreRow Exactly. To me the example in the video of Dandadan is not a good one because I think both characters could easily be gender bent and not much needs to change

[@patoastral2118]

​@@upg5147obviously, it also can be very interesting to see how different people reflect and act on their issue with their sex and its difficulties

[@upg5147]

@@patoastral2118 For sure.

[@destiny_ultimatedork675]

Non male viewer here thank you for your videos!

[@destiny_ultimatedork675]

Personally find it funny most guy characters that suck are still written by guys like😭 what were you aiming for 😭

[@BonazaiGirl]

While I personally find male characters fairly easy to write (mainly because the vast majority of media depicts male characters as protagonists than female characters, and therefore, tend to explore the nuances of “masculinity” and “male struggles” than female ones), it’s still always always interesting to learn more about these things that I haven’t really noticed as much until pointed out.

[@nestcap]

WEN MY MAN SAID DOOM GUY THE DOOM OST STARTED PLAYING IN MY HEAD FR FR "rip and tear, until its done" AHH MOMENT

[@maguiAM13]

Sorry the lenght, love the video... I think in the theme of How Men are emotional abused from some women and How women are phsical abused by some men... Maybe there more on it. Cause it is not that," sure some men and women could use the other type of abuse." .. But that we as people were always abusers if we do not check ourself in How we act or feel. And sometimes we do not recognize that we use both ways of abuse cause we are not "as effective" to use them as with the other. What I learn, for reading and some experience is that human have a very "twist" relationship with violence, violence sometimes become neccessry tool in life, but then we, make a line between How women and men will and are allow to express that violence that as human we have, (for a lot of reasons) men weaponize the body, women the emotion but not cause is all "natural" by be women or men but cause we, teach people to let express violence and anger on those term just if they are a certain gender. And then you get the sterotype of bruthish Men and maquiavelical women bur without the reason of why, and we end it using this cartoon of reason to real life. Aka the bear vs men, women vs tree... Though, I do like to mention that sometimes our problem are mislead by ourself. Maybe we should learn no take care of body and emotion for being a person an not a men or women.

[@Rubyhoshino445]

Thank you I'm currently making a male character, so far He's coming along well, but I want to add more depth to him This helps a lot

[@CoopDeVille311]

This is my first time hearing about the Woman vs. Tree thing... but it is so very vindicating.