I have been lax on my blog this year, but I’ve never gone a
whole month without posting…and it’s May 31st! A true procrastinator
like me just can’t resist the challenge of a deadline.
I was considering the other day why I always gravitate towards boy characters. After all, they say write what
you know, and I don’t have a Y chromosome. I don't even have boy kids. I have girlie-girls. I
mean, seriously, my dryer lint looks like glittery hot pink Peeps.
I was, however, a bit of a tomboy
growing up. Perhaps it was my duty in life as the second girl child born in the
family to somehow fill the void of the hoped for boy.
So I helped my dad build things. I got muddy, and my knees
were always skinned. I could belch the alphabet. I formed excellent attack
formations playing He-man. My favorite summertime activity was lining up all my
cars at the top of the little hill on my driveway and conducting races. (Though in
a nerdiness wholly my own, I also charted the results and
statistically analyzed future race winners.)
But what really made me a tomboy?
I think it was the way I spit-shined my hair. My
hair was in a ponytail a lot, which probably caused the little fly-aways that surrounded
my head like I was producing my own static electricity.
This was quite unsightly. I knew girls should look tidy, but the thought of having to take a break from setting the world
record of times rolled down a hill in row to brush my hair was ludicrous. So, I
would spit on my hands and wipe them across my head. Voila! Nice smooth hair.
Last weekend I was working with a friend putting in a
butterfly garden at the elementary school. It was hard work and after a couple
hours I looked just like my 5-year-old self wearing a halo of crazy hair. But I’m
mature now, and I wouldn’t think of licking my hair. So I just poured some water
on my hair. Voila! Nice smooth hair.
Do you have a character gender preference? I’m curious if
other writers have subconscious biases too.
