Special Guest Post: "Neglected Character Types In Women's Fiction" by Jessica Brooks

Please give a hearty welcome to women's fic and YA author, Jessica Brooks!

Jessica Brooks lives in sunny California with her husband, Lovemuffin, and their three daughters (plus three dogs, one snake, two fish, a cat, and a rabbit). She uses her love (aka addiction) of coffee to fuel her love (aka addiction) for all things writerly, and shares most of her addictive thoughts on her blog, My Thoughts Exactly. She is also on twitter and facebook.

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When Lydia asked if I'd like to guest post about a women's fiction topic, I was a bit wary at first. Sure I read women's fiction -- I even write it. But figuring out one specific thing to highlight? Ack! Luckily, one of my favorite things about women's fiction is the characters and their interaction with each other, so that's what I'm going to talk about today: Characters I'd like to see more of in women's fiction, and why.

1) An MC who knows how to say no.

Secondary character:  "Could you do (insert whatever here) for me today?"
MC:  "Yeah right. You're crazy in the head."

MCs don't have to be doormats. They can have conflict, decisions to make and internal issues that don't involve figuring out how to say no (or not being able to). What do you find more exiting, a character sitting around twiddling her thumbs about having to make yet another pie for the neighborhood picnic, or a character who just went off on her best friend for expecting her to pay for gas on a five minute trip? (Even better, make me think she's crazy-selfish, then fifty pages later, throw out some interesting reason as to why paying for gas was such a big deal.)

2) An MC who is on the heavy side, knows it, and works it to her full advantage.

Bigger women can have self-confidence too, ya know.

Say the MC is a little on the large side. Now say the reader finds this out in some simple, almost-easy-to-miss-if-they're-skimming-through-the-story, way. The reader now knows she isn't all skin and bones, so you can go straight to giving her a high dose of self-confidence. Show men dropping like flies as she passes by, jobs being thrown at her because she's good at what she does. Explain how she struts her stuff through a restaurant, knowing she's lookin' good. My point is, women and weight issues go hand in hand. That topic is old news. But a woman who's a little heavier, who enjoys eating her entire dinner while on a first date, who flaunts those bosoms because she can and knows what she wants and gets it -- that's the kind of character I want to learn more about.

3) MCs who are selfish. Who aren't very good at explaining how they feel. Who, by the end of the book, become caring, or good at something they were terrible at, in the end.

I loves me a transformation.

An MC doesn't have to be a flat-out jerk in the beginning of the book, or come across as someone who has their lips practically sewn shut and can't speak for themselves, to have a transformation. But why can't it be something a little like that, at least? A character who can't stand her father, for instance, and is overly hateful toward him -- but the further you read, the more you understand the reasons she acts that way. Then throw something out there, a situation that makes everything switch, a full three-sixty. Show me she's starting to care. It could be little hints at first, or a full-out personality switcheroo. Now when I close that book, I'm going to feel satisfied. I watched her grow. I went through the epiphany (whether it was hers, mine, or ours) with her. I'm proud of her growth. I call that a WIN.

4) Villains.

Villains are great. Give me mean, petty women, then show me how the MC kicks their butts. (This could be done literally, figuratively, or both.)

It's happened to all of us -- that one character who makes us cringe when they enter a scene. "Oh crud. What terrible thing is she/he going to say now?" or "Noooooo she's going to tell Billy's brother's ex-wife that Jennie is the one who hid the adoption papers! Run, Jennie! Run the other way!" Let's face it. All women have their witchy-side, but not all of them show it. Nothing makes me root for a character more than seeing them finally stand up for themselves and deal with that annoying villain (preferably totally and completely embarrassing said villain in the process).

And there you have it. Four character types I'd like to see more in women's fiction. What kind of characters would you like to see more?

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These are some really great insights, Jessica. Thanks so much for joining us today!
~Lydia