Some of you seem to think that the reason why most of the main characters for my novel are female is that I’m a female author.

Well, you’re not wrong to think that way. After all, it’s a lot easier to write about a character in gender you’re familiar with. And the last thing you want is for you to fall into the gender stereotype.

So, I get why some authors prefer to have their main character to be of the same gender as theirs.

But there are also some authors who write a story with a female lead because that seems to be the expectation in the genre itself. The romance genre comes to mind when it comes to having a story with a female lead. And let’s not forget that most authors in this genre are female as well.

Of course, there are also male authors who write in the romance genre too. But most of them are writing using a female pen name. Only a few of them are writing in the romance genre using a male author’s name.

You can say that I was fortunate enough to write in a genre where the main character can be a male or female.

But it’s still not surprising at all that some people still have this perception that any stories with a female lead tend to be written by a female author.

How I decide the gender of the main character

The gender of the main character will depend only on one thing. And that is the kind of story that I write.

If I feel that the story is best being told from the female perspective, then the story will have a female main character.

If the story is best being told from the male perspective? Well, you can guess that the story will have a male main character then.

So, yes, the gender of the main character will depend on the kind of story that I write. And it has nothing to do with me being a female author.

I’m sure that many of you don’t care that much about the gender of the main character as long as the story is interesting, right?

What will be the gender of the main character for my future novel

Before I reveal the gender of the main character for my future novel, let me clarify here that the Trigger Locked series is far from over. Heck, I don’t even know how many books I’m planning to have in that series.

Will the series be as long as Sorcerous Stabber Orphen and Ascendance of a Bookworm?

Maybe. But for now, let’s entertain the idea that I’m in the process of launching a new series.

So, what will be the gender of the lead character in my future novel? Are we going to have a female lead in the new series too?

Well, it’s too bad that this time we will have a male lead character instead. The reason for that is because I feel that the story is much better being told from the male perspective.

In case you’re wondering, yes, I already have a rough idea of what kind of story my next series will be. I even nail down the sub-genre for this new series too.

At least you can rest assured that the novel will still fall into the thriller and suspense genre. I can’t see myself writing in a different genre at this moment.

Isn’t it hard to switch writing from a female perspective to a male perspective?

To be honest, I didn’t find it hard at all. But I may find it hard if I’m writing in a genre where the male and the female character is behaving differently even in the same situation, though.

But for the thriller and suspense genre, the character’s behavior seems to be the same regardless of the gender. That is based on my own observation as a reader of this genre.

Let’s take a look at one of the scenes from the first book in the Trigger Locked series where Touka rushes to Shiori’s apartment when Shiori didn’t answer her call. She felt that something bad must have happened to her. And it didn’t make her feel any better when she found out about Shiori’s past is similar to the other idol, Momoko Sugita.

What if Touka’s twin brother, Yuuto, is the one who is experiencing this situation instead? Is he going to do the same thing as Touka?

I will say yes because that seems like a natural thing to do regardless of gender.

Of course, each gender will still react differently in the same situation even in the thriller and suspense genre. But for the most part, the reaction tends to be the same in both genders.

It’s because of this reason I have no problem with writing from either perspective.

Which perspective do I prefer as a reader?

To be honest, I don’t have any preference when it comes to the gender of the main character. After all, that’s not how I decide whether this series will be a yay or nay for me.

What got me to give the series a try has a lot to do with the story. I couldn’t care less about the gender of the lead character as long as the story interesting.

Whether I’m an author or a reader, the gender of the lead character is the least of my concern. It’s the story that matters to me the most.

And I’m sure that I’m not the only one who emphasizes the story more than anything else.

P.S Since I already mentioned the first book from the Trigger Locked series in this blog post, are you curious about what kind of story is the first book from the series? Well, you can find out more about the book right here:

Learn more about Trigger Locked series Book 1