Writing Romance: Powerful Girl Bosses or Meek Damsels? Which do you prefer and/or write? (but keep it sfw)

Leyelle 2024-03-19 23:32:47 UTC #29

Enter Kimberly to increase my dichotomous female leads who can't fit into either category

Leyelle 2024-04-07 02:29:47 UTC #30

Damsel in the Red Dress is becoming an interesting ebb and flow of the female leads strong moments and weak moments, because to me that feels most realistic, especially during a mental health recovery. We have strong days and we have days where we can't even make ourselves WANT to try to love herself. It might be a frustrating experience for readers, but it is for the character too, progression is not always linear.

simonitropunk 2024-04-07 02:37:01 UTC #31

In my case, especially, writing Lyza... she's quite the badass and can bring tough villains down but she still is human. She can be joyful, goofy, girly-girl, emotional, sensitive and so on... she has plenty of flaws and yet, she keep learning. I think she can be a "girl boss" without being one... if that makes sense.

Leyelle 2024-04-07 02:46:47 UTC #32

I think girl boss can mean anything the character defines it as. I have some very different kinds of girl-bosses through out my series. Some are classic chic, business women. Others are tough moms, grandmothers, big sisters, little sisters (combinations of the four) and more. There are so many different kinds of girl bosses imao.

Leyelle 2024-05-06 00:22:40 UTC #33

Looks like I'll be introducing another unusual sort of girl boss later this year. Everybody be looking out for "Rut," another character who just self-inserted herself into the story, but I already love her design so much. She redefines what can be considered "charisma."

in the meantime, more of Alicia showing more of her facets that make me love her character so much:

Leyelle 2024-05-22 14:48:21 UTC #34

I think Leia seriously toes the line. By all outward appearances, even to people in her story, she appears very tough, and like she's able to function well under pressure, keeping things together despite the chaos and scary things she's trying to deal with. In reality, she feels pretty helpless and is just doing her best to do what she feels she can do in context. That's not much, but her methods of "keeping the insanity under control" are just so gruff and aggressive that it makes her appear strong, when she's really not a lot more powerful than my more "Damsel" seeming female leads. I think what sets her apart is that she doesn't allow herself the time to sit in simmer in her feelings of hopelessness, or her feelings at all. She gives herself very little time to think about herself, as much as possible and acts very quickly on impulse rather than thinking her actions through before she can doubt them. But these impulses aren't ridiculous or stupid, but the most logical options she can come up with at the time. She has to think on her feet, this might make her seem super-heroish or like any other kind of "cool" female lead, but in context, she's thinking up ways to lie to her mother about to keep her from finding out about his eating disorders. She's finding ways to keep him out of the house or out of their parents sight to keep him safe from anyone's judgement. These are normal kid struggles, but she's dealing with all these things like she's much older than she is.

I guess in the end it's her emotional maturity that slurs together with her panic, which represents aggressive behavior that makes her seem like a boss, when she's really pretty helpless. The only thing making her stronger than Alicia is that she isn't letting life knock her flat on her back, but this is because she has someone she loves more than herself that she's trying to protect.

I find it interesting how many of these cliches that would be put in say, a fantasy story, or any story where there was a more physical danger managed to cross over to this YA slice of life where all the dangers she's trying to protect him from are emotional.

this is available for free for anyone to read on my Patreon public posts

Leyelle 2024-06-04 14:13:16 UTC #35

Essence would by no means come across as meek, but interestingly enough, she's trying to be. I doubt she would fit into the "girl boss" cliche, because she's an extremely atypical woman trying to conform to make herself more acceptable to people around her, and less abrasive. This might be considered meek of her, but since she doesn't succeed. nobody can tell very well that she's trying to do that. She makes everyone around her accurately uncomfortable. Neither girl boss vibes or meek damsel vibes come from her, just weirdly sharp and without much in the way of charisma poor woman.

She somehow does manage to have some level of charisma, without even trying though and that's because of her poise. she carries herself very erect with a lot of poise, and because of her height and complexions it makes her look regal and majestic, even if not a bit imposing as well. She looks like a beautiful shadow.

When it comes to romance, she is well aware of her decisions, and isn't intimidated into any of her decisions, unless you count the worry that if she doesn't try to be "agreeable," she'll reach a point where no one will ever want to interact with her anymore.

Vayvaction 2024-06-04 16:38:16 UTC #36

I don't mind any of them depending on the actual story plot. My fl is in the middle I guess? Her kingdom been killed by her best friend and she has been SA and abused as a slave. On the outside she might seem like a girl boss but on the inside she actually yearns to go back to the past and simply run around playing and picking flowers.

I don't like any cause the girl bosses I've seen doesn't have any personality but to be 'strong' and not like girly stuff and sometimes the girls are TOO meek to the point they also don't have personality

Leyelle 2024-06-04 16:43:01 UTC #37

It's definitely all about balance. Characters should still have personalities beyond which direction they lean in, but being meek, or being a girl boss doesn't mean a character can't have a personality. If they don't that's just the writers fault, not the fault of the role.

Vayvaction 2024-06-04 16:48:59 UTC #38

I feel like it just need to be written well

Leyelle 2024-06-04 16:49:38 UTC #39

definitely, that's the case with all roles a character can play

Leyelle 2024-06-26 14:41:07 UTC #40

There are quite a lot of female characters of relevance in "A Dozen Morning Glories" (actually in "Damsel in the Red Dress" too) which I feel like allows me a wide spectrum of different kinds of women and different degrees of Damsel, girl boss, and everything in between I get to balance between them all.

Essence ("A Dozen Morning Glories") at first glance would probably seem closer to girl boss, but despite her stoic, hardworking attitude, her life actually has her feeling trapped, which is a more damsel-esque layer to her.

Alicia ("Damsel in the Red Dress") seems like a damsel at first glance, but the more you learn about her life, the more you realize that despite her quite, anxious nature, she has done quite a lot of really thought things when she felt it was called for to protect the people she deemed it her job to keep safe. She's not big or strong, so her methods of doing this are less overtly 'bossish' but they took a lot of toughness and bravery nonetheless.

I think what is most important in the end when writing any female character is to remember that they are people, not tropes, no matter which direction they lean in, and can always be complex, whether they are strong or weak, in control or subservient. We just have to build on them and let them be more than what people can see at a cursory glance.

Melissa seems like a silly, bubbly little cherub, but the more you learn about her, the more you learn that she is both hardworking, strong-willed (cough cough stubborn) and very smart. She doesn't choose to be sweet and happy because she's stupid but because she prefers to live that way.

Mrs. Moon is very strong, strong-willed and hard working, and a (literal) boss, but she's also very feminine. She loves dressing in girly ways. She loves babying her son. It could be easy to type-cast her as a snobby rich woman, but even as rich as she is, and as proud of it as she is, she still refuses to let herself or her son believe that money makes them better than anyone else, and that's the reason she refused to send him to a private school and made him go to "ordinary" activities and schools his entire life. He honestly has very few rich friends.

Dorine's bossy and harsh attitude is tempered with a mournful almost childish layer that makes her seem more sympathetic rather than just harsh.

Leia (from "Rigamarole") appears to be very tomboyish, but Barbies and Disney Channel are just as natural to her as Indiana Jones and Sci-fi comics.

Every character can have layers, no matter who they are. It's all about digging further into our characters and discovering those layers.

Leyelle 2024-07-20 15:12:47 UTC #41

Will be introducing another character who rides the line of the girl boss cliche pretty soon in "Damsel in the Red Dress" but it's kind of as a cover for...well spoilers. But I love Rudy to bits, and I can't wait to introduce her to everybody.

rainwang 2024-07-21 13:48:04 UTC #42

I prefer writing meek damsels because I like putting complexities in "simple" characters and I like exploring how those characters can be. I also like writing powerful girl bosses but sometimes, it feels like there is a template for them one has to follow.

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Twelve years ago, Azure Skylar, the Knight of the Cross of the unparalleled syndicate, the Chapel, was favored by the Pope himself to work on a mission that would determine the fate of their entire group against their growing rival, the Empire.

Twelve years ago, Azure met Caramella Red Aberdeign and found a friend in her. For once, he knew rest, quiet, peace, and comfort. Little did he know that Caramella Red was also the infamous Sweet Crimson, the ace assassin of their growing rival, the Empire.

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Leyelle 2024-07-21 14:01:52 UTC #43

there isn't really though. there are lots of different ways someone could be a girl boss, just like people can be meek in different ways

Leyelle 2024-08-14 14:29:39 UTC #44

Mora is kind of a combination. She has an emotional nature but that doesn't make her lose her head, and she's still able to stay calm enough under pressure to do what she needs to to save herself. That said, she gets attached to people easily and hates losing them. She just wants to get to be a normal kid.

Leyelle 2024-09-02 15:59:28 UTC #45

In most ways, Therese George comes across as the American ideal housewife. Hardworking, pretty, soft-spoken, and noncombative. But that's really only because she generally has no need to be. even her dainty ladylike hobbies such as picking flowers can have a very serious edge to them when you realize that some of the most prolific flowers she encourages to grow around their property are Fangsbane.

Leyelle 2024-09-21 12:38:01 UTC #46

Judith is a girl boss. She is no nonsense, clever and tough as nails.

but.

She's also just a 20 year old woman. Despite everyone calling her "The Wizard" Mora has seen her a way no one else has. Simply worn out and fragile. She's trying her best to keep a child from being murdered, and that would drain anyone, no matter how good you are at your job.

llobucervallince 2024-09-21 13:04:05 UTC #47

Leyelle 2024-10-09 15:54:34 UTC #48

Honey is kind of the definition of girl boss. She seems very hardcore and loud. But she mixes femininity with the habits that would otherwise make her seem harsh or hard. One of the things that most makes her stand out, and gives her depth rather than leaving her to appear cold and heartless is the mother-role she plays for her little sister. She practically babies her, and this is such a sharp turn from Honey's otherwise rather gruff nature that it forces people to realize there is more too her than her rough exterior.