I write like a girl?

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During my little "TG-PMS" time, someone said to me my writing comes across as very female. I'm wondering, in what way? What makes a woman writer different from a male one?

Comments

Writing and gender analysis

persephone's picture

Dorothy

There are a number of algorithms that have been developed to spot male and female authors. A number of sites have been featured here before. Google 'genderanalyzer' and 'gender genie'. However if you want to understand why men and women communicate differently I would commend a book that Nancy Cole introduced me to called 'You just don't understand' by Deborah Tannen. I certainly found myself having 'ah ha!' moments.

I hope this helps.

Persephone

Persephone

Non sum qualis eram

according to "gender genie"

my autobiographical pieces are female for the most part - but its close. Like I'm about 51 % female, 49 % male.

interesting stuff, though.

DogSig.png

Gender Genie

Claims my poem If I Could But Hie To Kolob was written by a male, Open Your Heart by a female, and Cop etc a male.

The percentages are 54% female 46% male on OYH, 50%/50% on Kolob, it squeaked it into the male category by only a handful of points, and 52% male, 48% female on Cop etc.

This actually fits VERY well, since I don't actually write in my own voice most of the time for fiction, but choose a character's voice to use. If you take just the portion of chapter 3 where I'm writing from inside of Janet's head, it jumps up to 61% female! While Drew's head only scores 52% female!

Kolob IS written in my voice, and scores almost perfect androgyny... interesting...

My blogs come across collectively as 51% female... But since coming out to myself, they've turned to 53% female... interesting...

Cop etc. is written in first person past tense, with Officer O'Meara narrating what is essentially a biography. O'Meara is a male, who is sufficiently feminine that people tease him mercilessly for it.

*giggles*

So, for me, this is really telling me how masculine or feminine my character voices are! Well, for my stories anyways. For my verse and blogs, where I'm the one speaking... It seems to be more situational and androgynous.

Very very interesting indeed. Thanks for bringing this up!

(And if the scoring on Drew's voice while he's still TRYING to be MALE isn't a HUGE hint about the future of that story...)

Abigail Drew.

Weak MALE, possibly European

Haylee V's picture

I've submitted 7 samples, and every single one of them comes back the EXACT same (what are the odds?)

53.46% MALE

Verdict: Weak MALE

Weak emphasis could indicate European.

*Kisses Always*
Haylee V

adjatives my pretty

BarbieLee's picture

Men and women do write different in more ways than just Blood and Gore action stories or True Romance novels. And yes there are crossover writers where the author shifts gears or is he or she that gender? There are several writers on BC who totally write in the female mode. One writer in particular comes to mind. If she killed off her heroine in a drunken brawl, I would still feel like she died in a pillow fight.

What separates the female or male writers even more is the love scenes. Women do it softly, gently, steamy and one knows they been seduced. Men can't seem to quite get their love affairs beyond fondling and doing the deed. Sometimes I feel like I was raped even when the author writes the woman into a willing lust scene. Men and women are emotionally sensuously different in what they feel and desire. Especially when making love. Writers put that into their stories.
as for me? 51% sweetheart 49% bitch, don't push it!
Have fun with life, it's too short to take seriously
I pray everyone has left all their problems in the years behind us and find only happiness and prosperity in the years ahead.
always
Barb

Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl

GenderAnalyzer

Daphne Xu's picture

This was a more-like-this blog. I don't think Gender Genie exists any more, but I've tried several of my stories (and one section of my novel) on GenderAnalyzer. They're 90+ percent sure the stories were written by a woman.

-- Daphne Xu