Awhile ago, Tiffany asked this question, which I find so intriguing I think
I'll answer it.
>Anyone want to share how weird it is to try to think as someone of the
>opposite gender? :)
It _is_ weird. It started out that way, anyway...for example-- in "Jidai
Monogatari", my main character was not always Hiro-- in previous drafts, it
used to be Yuki. I think that writing and thinking so much as a character of
the opposite gender actually helped me in the long run-- it helped me become
more balanced as an individual. In a way, I've always been unlike other guys
(I dislike watching sports on TV, I'm generally more open and sensitive, I'm
not afraid to cry openly), but this sort of helped me define that. Writing
as Yuki opened me up to a new range of emotions and perception-- in a way,
when I wrote as her, it turned things upside down.
And something else (sort of related)-- much as it looks like a skirt (but
isn't), I'm not afraid to wear a hakama, or Japanese clothing, in public
anymore. Like Tom Cruise's character said in "The Last Samurai"-- "I know
why you're mad-- they make you wear a dress!" lol! I'm beyond caring whether
it looks like a skirt-- in my mind, this is one way that I pay tribute to
the culture and era that I'm studying. Of course I don't wear them all the
time, but I regularly put them on. As with writing from the POV of the
opposite gender, wearing clothing of a different culture opens your eyes and
helps you look at things from a different angle-- like tying your hakama
strings tight so that you don't trip all over yourself as you climb stairs!
lol
Anyway, that's all for now.
--M.
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