Kevin wrote:
>How hard do you have to be to be hard-boiled? How
tough? How colloquial?
>Or am I subjecting these women writers to to a
stricter criteria than
>male authors?
>Maybe it's me, but sometimes I feel that women
authors often have to
>have to pass a harsher litmus test on this list (and
elsewhere) than
>many male writers.
Kevin, you raise an excellent point. I think women do tend to
be judged differently than men. Women writers and
protags.
I wish I had a dime for every time a critiquer has told me
things like "I think you need to give your protag (female)
more feelings" or "Why doesn't she have a boyfriend?" or
"She's in her 30s--why isn't she married?" Not to mention
that I tend to prefer imperfect resolutions to my story,
where people aren't necessarily 100% happy at the end, the
bad guy is identified but may get away with it, even the nice
guys have a dark side and justice is done despite the system,
rather than because of it. I still have people suggesting
little upbeat things I can add to make my protag more
"likeable" and the ending a bit more Hollywood.
OTOH, look at Phillip Marlowe. Isn't he considered a "knight
errant" figure? A rescuer, who keeps going on a case, even
when everyone wants him off it, because he has a code. Sounds
pretty high-minded and altruistic to me. Hardly like a
caveman, anyhow. But nobody considers him less hardboiled
because of his nobility.
Debbi
-- Debbi Mack IDENTITY CRISIS A Sam McRae Mystery http://www.debbimack.com
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