The Ultimate Guide to Harry Potter Fanfiction

Strong Female Characters: What to Avoid, and How to Make Them Shine

You've all heard about strong female characters. The ones that "break out" of some sort of shell that literature had been holding them in. They're strong and brave and smart and a host of other things, and personally, I love reading books with strong female characters.

However, there are a lot of people who don't seem to know what exactly a "strong female character" is. Just because a girl can fight and lift weights doesn't make her strong. No, she could cry about a dead ladybug she finds on the sidewalk and still have potential as a strong female character. A character's strength isn't measured by how physically or emotionally strong they are, but how well-written they are. How fleshed-out they are. How complex of a character they are. How realistic they are. A strong female character isn't strong because she can beat up all her male friends. She's strong because she seems like an actual person, even if that person is the most girly of girls.

Anyway, I found this super good article about some cliches to avoid, from ourwriteside.com. I think it's pretty helpful to highlight some ways that "strong" female characters can flop. It's important to know what not to do before you can learn to really make your character soar, so let's get into it!

It seems like everybody these days is trying to write "strong" female characters. In and of itself, this is a great thing. Women are strong and should be perceived that way, but now writing a strong female character has become its own stereotype. So how do we write truly strong female characters, the ones we look up to and love? Let's take a look at some clichés to avoid.

• She hates all things girly. Dresses? Yuck. Forget fashion, doing your nails, and make up. This girl is the anti-girl and a cliché. Liking "girly" things is not a weakness and not the antithesis of a strong character. She can like skirts and still be strong. One good example of this dynamic is Vin from the Mistborn series. She lives off the street for most of her life and feels strange when she first wears dresses as she passes for nobility, but she also finds that a part of her loves the dresses and dances. And she's still a super strong character.
• She's inexplicably good at "guy" things. Changing the oil in her truck? Check. Hand to hand fighting? She'll take you down. But it's a mistake to equate strong with "masculine." It also doesn't always make sense for your female character to be a pro at these things. Don't give her a random skill just to seem strong. One good example of having skills that make sense is Tris from Divergent. All the skills she has she gains from her training in Dauntless, so each skill makes sense as she masters it. She's not just given skills at random, she earns them.
• She's a trophy. If you replaced your female character with a sexy lamp, would the plot change? If not, you need to rethink your character. She should never be a prize to be won or a trophy for another character. Give her a goal to work towards and have her act and affect the plot. Give her agency within the story. One good example of this is Hermione from the Harry Potter series. Hermione affects the plot in major ways and is a main character. She's never there just to be a love interest to either of the main characters.
• She has zero personality aside from a troubled past. She's closed off and a bit of a jerk when she's not kicking ass. She's also cliché and unlikeable. Make sure to give her a personality and keep in mind that showing emotions is its own kind of strength. She's human, not a robot. One good example of this is Annabeth from the Percy Jackson series. She's had a troubled past but she doesn't let it change her into an unsocial and closed off person. She has a personality and a good one at that.

Remember that your character is a human first. A complex, flawed human that should be a fully fleshed out character. Who are your favorite strong female characters? What about them do you love so much? Share below and happy writing.

Helpful? I though so. These are definitely some things to avoid when writing your strong female characters.

So, where does all this confusion come from over strong female characters? Obviously, there is some. Until a few weeks ago, I, too, thought that a strong female character had to be physically strong. But you can't let the word "strong" confuse you. It's there to mark a difference between well written characters and poorly written characters. A girl could be physically strong and still be a weak character if that's her only defining trait. A strong female character is one who makes her own choices, even if they're bad ones. She has agency in the story, meaning she doesn't just let it happen to her, but she gets up and does something about it. She has emotions and personality, just like any character. Like the article said, your character is human first. If you write your characters like humans, you're on the right path.