Writers out there - what about genders?

[Lyta_Underhill]

Not that I've ever finished anything fanfiction-wise that I'm writing, but, for some reason, I rarely make up main original characters in fanfiction; in my original fiction, I have written females mostly, but the story called for it. Most of my attempts at fanfiction are written in omniscient voice and have only a few peripheral female characters. The main focus is an exploration of existing characters. So far the focus has been on Frodo and on Pippin (in two different stories), my two favorite LOTR characters. As to whether they are like me, well, only in some ways! In a super-long original Bildungsroman-type fiction, however, the main character was me. But I'd never put her in a fanfiction, especially not in Middle Earth!

i don't WANT to waste what little time I have on this earth writing about people I DON'T like!

I would think this would be a rewarding and enlightening exercise, to force yourself to really think about what drives someone you absolutely despise and then write him or her faithfully according to what you figure out. If you did it well, you might even find you feel rather sorry for that character, and it would rise above the person upon whom you based it.

Cheers!
Lyta