The Male Point of View

When I decided to do  a post about trying to write from the male point of view, I wanted some pictures of seriously male guys. So I Googled 'macho men.' (Macho -- Spanish slang for he-man or virile.)

The first websites that came up were gay websites. And while there are undoubtedly macho gay guys -- that's not what I'm here to talk about.

So I ended up with the wrestler  Randy Savage (and if that's not a macho name, I don't know what is); Dirty Harry, movie tough cop; a Marlboro Man; and Rambo -- the one man army brought to us by S. Stallone (aka The Italian Stallion) for my male types.

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Okay, where was I? All that testosterone has me wandering from my subject -- a question that arises now and again on Internet writers' forums -- how does a writer write from the point of view of the opposite sex and do it well and believably?

Since I struggle with this now and then,  I pay attention to the suggestions that I see offered.

Below are some that I think actually work fairly well.  I'd love to hear opinions -- especially from those of the male persuasion.

DISCLAIMER: I know that these are generalizations. And I know that all generalizations are false -- including this one.

Have the character focus on one thing at a time -- men don't generally multi-task or multi-think in the way that women do.

I've observed this to be true in many cases and have come to the conclusion that it derives from the early division of labor between the sexes. As hunters, men had to focus and stay focused on the quarry while women were tending babies and gathering food and wood and water, keeping an eye on lots of things at once.

Avoid emotional words and 'baggage.'

I only half agree with this one -- most good fictional males have baggage; they just don't talk about it till it's wrung out of them under extreme stress. The 'strong, silent ' types, in other words.

Don't apologize, fret, or worry; just do. 

The antithesis to the Woody Allen sort of character -- or Hamlet, for that matter. 

Being Rambo means never having to say you're sorry.