Inspired Romance
by Gail Gaymer Martin

Characterizing Gender Differences

Romance is obviously about a man and a woman—the hero and heroine—who are the focus of the story. Although romance always has a happy ending and real life doesn't, you want to make your characters be real and come to life as they reach that happy ending. One way to do that is to make them true to their gender. By that I mean, men and women display differences in their actions, emotions, and conversation.

While women are sometimes tomboys, most women grow up to understand the feminine role of a woman. Women tend to be shorter and less muscular then men, so they cannot pick up heavy loads or do anything comparable to men in terms of strength. Men have been raised to be rugged and dominant. They tend to veer away from anything too feminine, and while women love to talk about colors of fabrics and furniture, most men would rather be left out of the plans. Men usually don't know cotton from rayon and have no knowledge of colors other than the primary shades. To a man, red is red while a woman calls it crimson or magenta or strawberry.

A man's fun is bowling, golfing, playing tennis, or sitting on the sofa watching sports, while women prefer to interact and do things, like shop or visit with friends. Men are often more one-tracked than women so reading the newspaper is a man's focus and he doesn't want to talk while reading. Because of raising children, running a household and often holding a job, women are multi-tasked. They can cook a meal, help a child with his homework, and talk on the phone.

As you write your novels, think about the roles men and women play. Use these differences to create conflict, which is the engine of a novel. Conflict is what keeps the readers intrigued, wondering how the characters' problems will be solved.

Notice how I've used the male/female differences in my novel, In His Dreams, a Love Inspired August 2007 release. Marsha is falling in love with her deceased husband's brother. Their past relationship has caused her concern, but she's allowed herself to depend on Jeff while in her summer home on Beaver Island. When Jeff announces a friend is coming to visit, Marsha makes a suggestion:

"We'll have to plan something special when he's here." We'll. She cringed being so blatant.

"Al's never been to Beaver Island so it should be fun. He's bringing his clubs so we'll probably golf."

"Golf?" Disappointment poked her. "You can leave the girls here."

"We'll probably take them in the cart. They should enjoy that."

"They might. I've never golfed. I suppose it's fun."

"You should take lessons. I know there are lots of women's leagues. Nice company for you."

Nice company in a women's league. What about nice company with Jeff? Loneliness made its unpleasant way into her thoughts. If Jeff had a friend on the island, she needed to keep herself busy doing something. Barb had seemed to loosen up. Maybe she and Barb could... Desperation seemed very inappropriate, but that's what she was feeling, and she couldn't let that happen.

In this excerpt we see a man doing a man's thing and missing Marsha's point. She wants to be included and the feeling of being left out is overwhelming to her. Notice how this adds a new conflict to their relationship.

In a man's eyes, romance consists of buying a pizza and watching a war movie. A woman prefers a nice restaurant with candlelight. Men buy women gifts like a coffeemaker or a bread-maker while most women would prefer jewelry, flowers, or a surprise romantic weekend away from home.

While boys are taught that men don't cry, women can't imagine not crying. When emotions overwhelm a man, they tend to become silent, walk away, make a joke or change the subject. When a woman cries, men are often taken aback and confused.

"Why are you crying?" Bill asked.

"If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you."

This is a typical response. Most men don't understand women's emotional needs and don't want to, but women want to discuss the problem or the emotion. They expect the man to understand why they are upset and want sympathy, and if they don't get it they're upset. Men only shake their heads and reiterate they don't understand women.
Be sure to give the male and female differences in your mind when you write dialogue.

Men and women tend to speak differently and about different things. Men tend to talk about sports, politics and business. Women talk about feelings, relationships, bargains and their kids. Dialogue should reflect the way people really talk, but needs to be controlled so that it's realistic yet purposeful. As you write, avoid stereotyping characters. Some men don't follow the typical male persona, so create interesting characters by making them diverse yet still within the context of male/female. In Christian romance, your hero will eventually show a gentler side than they do in secular romance.

Men don't use as many words as women. They don't go into detail or talk about feelings. Woman love details. They want the man to look in their eyes and show interest. Study the following example and note the techniques used.

"How was your day?" Sue asked.

"Typical," Bill said, gazing at the newspaper.

"You were busy as usual."

"Hmm?"

"You were busy."

Bill looked up. "When?"

"Today at work. Can we have a conversation without your reading the newspaper?"

"Newspaper? Sure." He peeled off a section. "Sorry."

"No, I didn't want to read—"

"Here."

She grasped the paper and dropped it on the table. "Thanks. It'll make great conversation."

"Anything to make you happy, honey."

Notice the man talks in shorter phrases. It is often in short sentences. Dialogue is usually broken up by interruptions of another character or by action and introspection. In this sample, he's focused on one thing, reading the newspaper while she's focused on him. Dialogue is often delivered in half-sentences and is often interrupted. Responses sometimes only repeat what the other character has said. Questions are avoided by talking around them or responding with another question. This keeps the dialogue sounding real while creating conflict and interest. It also gives the page white space which is reader friendly.

To create interesting dialogue, listen to the world around you. As you watch TV or movies, notice the difference between a man and woman's word choice and ways of expressing themselves. When writing Christian romance, remember that men and woman are different in many ways. To make your hero and heroine real provide them with appropriate traits, behaviors, and dialogue to enhance conflict and to add to the reader's reality.