Female Character Quotes

Peter sat as powerless as an overwhelmed female character in a Victorian drama. ~ Edgar Cantero

Honor," I said with a snort. "Honor has no place in survival. ~ Veronica Roth

When a female writer walks a female character into the center of her literary enquiry (or a forest) and this character starts to project shadow and light all over the place, she will have to find a language that is in part to do with unknotting the ways in which she has been put together by the Societal System in the first place. She will have to be canny in how she sets about doing this because she will have many delusions of her own. In fact it would be best if she was uncanny. ~ Deborah Levy

I think every woman character, every female character, has her own arc. ~ Katheryn Winnick

Any movie you see, if Tom Cruise is in an action movie or whatever it is, The Avengers, there's going to be a kick-ass female character. Usually one. And there's a term for this, but I don't know what it is. But someone's coined a term where there's one female character who's incredibly tough and strong and just as good as the guys at whatever it is they're doing, and usually wearing black, skin-tight clothes, and [she] has no personality whatsoever, and is not funny. ~ Geena Davis

hereditary and transmitted through the paternal line. Therefore, a person whose father is not a priest cannot be a priest either. * Though without being as insulting as Shammai was. * An infrequently quoted Talmudic passage teaches that Timna, a female character in the book of Genesis, came from a royal non-Israelite household. At an early age, she became interested in the Israelite faith and sought to convert. But when she approached the patriarchs - at one time or another, all three of ~ Joseph Telushkin

A female character can: Like babies, Be devoted to her lover, Cry, Be gentle, Be scared, Be uncertain, Take advice, and still be a YA heroine ~ Celine Kiernan

That's different," Levi smiled at her warmly. "Ypu don't rock that Little Red Riding Hood vibe. You're scary."
Reagan grinned like the Big Bad Wolf. ~ Rainbow Rowell

We play and tease, but―darn it―he has not dragged me into the rain and kissed me senseless yet. And that's how it's supposed to happen. I know; I read romance novels. ~ Shari L. Tapscott

She giggled. Giggled. Her cheeks pinked, and goddamn, if this plane didn't get to the gate and un-board them, he was going to pull the emergency hatch. ~ Cristin Harber

I did not find that writing a diary with a lead male character differed in any essential way from writing one with a female character. They all had the same challenges in terms of attempting to establish an identity, coping with loneliness, friendships, relationships. ~ Kathryn Lasky

When I'm looking for a strong female character, or a strong character at all, I'm looking for a character that has a purpose in that story, that has an interior life of some sort. They don't have to be physically strong; they don't have to be morally strong or ethically strong, because men and women come in a huge variety of all of those things. Emotionally, ethically - I'm less concerned with that. I just don't want them to be props. That's the only thing that offends me. ~ Kelly Sue DeConnick

I tend to like strong female characters. It just interests me dramatically.
A strong male character isn't interesting because it has been done and it's so cliched. A weak male character is interesting: somebody else hasn't done it a hundred times. A strong female character is still interesting to me because it hasn't been done all that much, finding the balance of femininity and strength.
[From a 1986 Fangoria interview] ~ James Cameron

I don't fully understand my wife's emotions - and I'm supposed to write an excellent female character and unravel the secret of women? ~ Evan Goldberg

In 2015 a sixth-grade girl named Madeline Messer analyzed the fifty most popular 'endless runner game' apps and found that 98 percent came with built-in boy characters, compared with only 46 percent that offered girl characters. The real kicker, however, was that in 90 percent of the games, the male characters were free, whereas 85 percent of the games charged extra for the ability to select a female character. This is a simple but telling example of the ways children learn to think that masculine = normal; male = standard; boys = human; and girls = have to pay. ~ Soraya Chemaly

The fundamental defect of the female character is a lack of a sense of justice. This originates first and foremost in their want of rationality and capacity for reflexion but it is strengthened by the fact that, as the weaker sex, they are driven to rely not on force but on cunning: hence their instinctive subtlety and their ineradicable tendency to tell lies: for, as nature has equipped the lion with claws and teeth, the elephant with tusks, the wild boar with fangs, the bull with horns and the cuttlefish with ink, so it has equipped woman with the power of dissimulation as her means of attack and defence, and has transformed into this gift all the strength it has bestowed on man in the form of physical strength and the power of reasoning. Dissimulation is thus inborn in her and consequently to be found in the stupid woman almost as often as in the clever one. To make use of it at every opportunity is as natural to her as it is for an animal to employ its means of defence whenever it is attacked, and when she does so she feels that to some extent she is only exercising her rights. A completely truthful woman who does not practice dissimulation is perhaps an impossibility, which is why women see through the dissimulation of others so easily it is inadvisable to attempt it with them. – But this fundamental defect which I have said they possess, together with all that is associated with it, gives rise to falsity, unfaithfulness, treachery, ingratitude, etc. Women are guilty of ~ Arthur Schopenhauer

we as authors have been writing about people we aren't for forever. We find a way to empathise, we find a way in. Female characters are no different. All they are are characters. They are people too. Instead of asking yourself, "How do I write this female soldier?" ask yourself, "How do I write this soldier? Where is she from, how was she raised, does she have a sense of humour? Is she big and tall, is she short and petite? How does her size affect her ability to fight? What is her favourite weapon, her least favourite? Why? Is she more logical than emotional? The other way around? Was she an only child and spoiled, was she the eldest of six siblings and a surrogate mother? How does that upbringing affect how she interacts with her team? etc etc and so forth." Notice how the first question gets you some kind of broad, generalised answer, likely resulting in a stereotype, and how the second version asks lots and lots of smaller questions with the goal of creating someone well rounded.

One would hope, really, that we as authors ask such detailed questions of all our characters, regardless of gender.


So let me, at long last, actually answer the original question:

"How do I write a female character?"

Write her the way you would write any other character. Give her dimension, give her strength but please also don't forget to give her weaknesses (for a totally strong nothing can beat her kind of girl is not a person, she's again a ty ~ Adrienne Kress

Buddy, you have no idea what I am capable of. Now, put the rifle down on the ground. Step back and walk away. Then leave this place and do not ever come back. If you do that, I will let you live. ~ James J. Caterino

There's nothing worse than having a very strong female character and then suddenly having it go away. ~ Khandi Alexander

It's interesting to play a female character who's not ever using feminine wiles to get things done. ~ Allison Tolman

I can't live in a world where there are only, like, four kinds of women. Or where every woman is obsessed with cake. The very least I ask is that we have one female character in the world who likes savory things! I don't have any role models who like cheese! ~ Caitlin Moran

I wouldn't know how to write a weak female character. I read so much epic fantasy growing up, where you have these sword-wielding, in-your-face warrior maidens. ~ Richelle Mead

It's a fact, the majority of films in Hollywood are from the male perspective. And the female characters, very rarely do they get to speak to another female character in a movie, and when they do it's usually about a guy, not anything else. So they're very male-centric, Hollywood films, in general. So I think it's incredible that Ned Benson, when I said I'd love to know where she goes, says okay, I'm going to write another film from the female perspective. ~ Jessica Chastain

The "difficult" female character can-and will-do the shocking, the unexpected and, as a consequence, will give your story an immediate jolt of energy. She is the character who doesn't fit the mold. ~ Jane Heller

I think one of the things that is easy to have happened in a superhero story is that the female character, whether she be a heroine or not, can often be the wart on the man. ~ Evangeline Lilly

Your booty call embargo will remain intact. ~ Cristin Harber

When you encounter sophistication in the creation of a female character, you thank the writers and you claim it. ~ Vera Farmiga

It's difficult to make a movie about a complicated, non-traditional female character. We see a lot more movies with male characters who are at that point in their lives, but not that many about females. ~ Megan Griffiths

I think 'Sightseers' was a bit of an epiphany, a massive learning curve, and it gave me loads of confidence to go out there, and also to create a female character which is completely unexpected and defies convention. ~ Alice Lowe

If screenwriters have to kill off a female character, they love to give her cancer. We've seen so many great actresses go down to the Big C: Ali MacGraw, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Debra Winger, Susan Sarandon. ~ Geraldine Brooks

I read the script for 'Guncrazy' in 1985 and loved it because it was one of the few scripts I'd come across that revolved around a strong female character. ~ Tamra Davis

Emma Willard told the legislature that the education of women "has been too exclusively directed to fit them for displaying to advantage the charms of youth and beauty" The problem, she said, was that "the taste of men, whatever it might happen to be, has made into a standard for the formation of the female character." Reason and religion teach us, she said, that "we too are primary existences ... not the satellites of men. ~ Howard Zinn

I have a real passion for playing a role that's a strong female character, that's just not typical, with a lot of heart, not an easy sell of a movie, not real commercial. It doesn't have to be a big movie, but I'm just looking for something that I really, truly, 100 percent believe in and am behind. ~ Missy Peregrym

I've tried the female thing. I was in a movie called Dinner for Schmucks a couple of years ago with Steve Carell and I created a female character for that movie. And after a few months of trying her out on the road it just didn't work. I mean, I can think like a terrorist, I can think like a white trash guy, I can even try and think like an African American, but I can't figure out how a woman. ~ Jeff Dunham

I'd like to do something where there's a strong female character and some action. I've done a few stunts in the past. ~ Vicky McClure

I don't believe that a female character needs to surrender her femininity in order to be an action hero. ~ Colin Trevorrow

When you've played Buffy - who's such a strong female role model - it's really hard for another female character to compare to her. ~ Sarah Michelle Gellar

A woman can be demure, lady-like and the most prim and proper character, and still have a toughness and resiliency as apparent as a superhero-type female character or a warrior or soldier type. It's all about the story, the character, and the course of events in that piece of work and how that character is presented. ~ Katherine McNamara

I want to do a little bit of everything. I want to play a good, strong female character. ~ Shannon Elizabeth

I think that Hollywood misconstrues actresses saying, 'Oh I wanna play a strong female character,' like we all want to play, like, superheroes or something. ~ Bel Powley

On Writing About Nora Hawks
I write about a female character to try, in vain, to understand two things: the purpose of life, and women. ~ Dennis R. Miller

Be completely fearless. [ ... ]Write without constraints, or worrying about who you represent, or whether you should represent anyone, or who your audience is, or what you can or can't do with a female character, or a black character, or someone of restricted growth, or someone who's hugely fat. You must write total confidence that the fiction is its own justification. ~ Zadie Smith

Just look at the history of cinema. The most reproduced male character is probably the hero and the most reproduced female character is probably the sex object. I think those stereotypes have been reproduced over and over again. It also changes our expectations when it comes to a situation like this in real life. ~ Ruben Ostlund

If it were not somewhat fanciful to suppose that every human excellence is presented, as it were, in one kind of being, we might believe that the whole treasure of morality and order is enshrined in the female character. ~ Wilhelm Von Humboldt

I guess there's a vulnerability in seeing a female character trying to get out of something really drastic. ~ Elisha Cuthbert

It seems like it has kind of taken off where people are saying 'oh it's a female character' and it just kind of grew. But my intent in saying that was humour. You know, you have to show Link when you create a trailer for a Zelda announcement. ~ Eiji Aonuma

People sort of accuse Tolkien of not being good with female characters, and I think that Eowyn actually proves that to be wrong to some degree. Eowyn is actually a strong female character, and she's a surprisingly modern character, considering who Tolkien actually was sort of a stuffy English professor in the 1930s and '40s. ~ Peter Jackson

It was a great joy for me to develop a strong female character in the spirit of an Icelandic woman. Icelandic women tend to be very strong and very independent, and I think that came in very handy. ~ Anita Briem

Today is the anniversary of my husband's death," Maria announced. It was a dramatic statement, but the occasion seemed to demand it. "And I am going to leave. ~ Sara Sheridan

The writer Lee Smith, who once had a New York copy editor query in the margin of her manuscript "Double-wide what?" tells a perfectly marvelous, spot-on story about Eudora Welty when she came to Hollins College, where Smith was a student. Welty read a short story in which one female character presents another with a marble cake. In the back of the audience Smith noted a group of leather-elbowed, goatee-sporting PhD candidates, all of whom were getting pretty excited. One started waving his hand as soon as she stopped reading and said, "Miz Welty, how did you come up with that powerful symbol of the marble cake, with the feminine and masculine, the yin and the yang, the Freudian and the Jungian all mixed together like that?" Smith reported that Welty looked at him from the lectern without saying anything for a while. Finally she replied mildly, "Well, you see, it's a recipe that's been in my family for some time. ~ Sally Mann

Prophecy of Balance (Year of the Cat)

"There must be balance," Source repeated,
"For mankind to flourish on the Earth-Throne he's seated."

His life is a gift from the gods, they created,
And the power to wield choice, but the outcome is weighted.

Seeing the harm and chaos humans manifest,
Wore heavily upon the goodness within their immortal breast.

But the gods disagreed, and two groups they split,
Each one possessing their own talent and wit.

One side fights for freedom of Man's soul,
But the other wants slavery, and Man to control.

So Source cried, "Enough! Now Observers will be sent,
To assist with human minds you've cleverly bent!"

For balance, the pendulum won't sway too far to one side,
And Universal Laws each god must abide.

The gods agreed, but did not stop with their plan,
To influence mankind as much as they can. ~ Kendi Thompson

If you look at most women's writing, women writers will describe women differently from the way male writers describe women. The details that go into a woman writer's description of a female character are, perhaps, a little more judgmental. They're looking for certain things, because they know what women do to look a certain way. ~ Lorrie Moore

What makes a strong female character is a character who has weaknesses, who has flaws, who is maybe not immediately likable, but eventually relatable. ~ Tavi Gevinson

When men write women, they tend to write women the way they want women to be, or the way they resent women for being. They don't really - they seldom nail it. It takes a woman to write a really good female character. I like that. ~ Simon Pegg

The funniest things just come from honesty. We have a tendency to see female characters as representative of something larger than what they are, when male characters are just characters. ~ Elizabeth Meriwether

Here is the whole set! a character dead at every word. ~ Richard Brinsley Sheridan

There is nothing more visible than what is secret, and nothing more manifest than what is minute. ~ Confucius

Divorced, not loving their abandoned children as much as they loathe their former wives, directing a combination of need and hostility toward the women who drift in and out of their new lives, they are, as [one character] puts it, involved in a variety of pharmaceutical experiments. ~ Richard Schickel

I'd love to get into one of Tyler Perry's movies - play a little role, have a little character. I don't care. But more than two lines! More than two words! ~ Sharon Jones

There is less pressure as a character actor. It generally means that you will be acting for all of your life, which is my intention. It is not my intention to just be a rich and famous person, that would be pretty boring. ~ Tim Roth

If all I wanted was a quick lay, you and I both know I could get that without any effort. I want something more than that from you."
"Welcome to disappointment. It's character building."
… "I'm not experienced, but I know when a girl is into me, and you're into me. You want to play it casual, then that's how we play it... for now. But fair warning, I'm bringing everything I've got to tear down your resistance. My specialty is reading plays and then overcoming the barriers. ~ Jen Frederick

A king is a man strong of character and conviction who leads by example and truly cares for the suffering of his people,not a brute who rules simply because he is the strongest. ~ R.A. Salvatore

God's Word is not presented in Scripture in the form of a theological system, but it admits of being stated in that form, and, indeed, requires to be so stated before we can properly grasp it - grasp it, that is, as a whole. Every text has its immediate context in the passage from which it comes, its broader context in the book to which it belongs, and its ultimate context in the Bible as a whole; and it needs to be rightly related to each of these contexts if its character, scope and significance is to be adequately understood. ~ J.I. Packer

The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom, not trade; character, not technicalities. ~ Winston Churchill

The antidote to this abuse of formal Government, is, the influence of private character, the growth of the Individual. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

My own writing has perhaps more of an American flavor than a British one, but that's because the stories I've so far written have needed it. 'Empire State,' 'Seven Wonders' and 'The Age Atomic' are all very place-centric, where the setting itself is almost a character. But there is a universality to story that isn't just limited to science fiction. ~ Adam Christopher

Do you really want me to tell the girl you're not allowing her to get her art piece because you think I want in her knickers?" he asks like he's confused.

"Violet! Vance is having daddy issues and is trying to talk him out of giving you the stained glass!" Anna yells very loudly.

Vance's eyes widen. "I'm going to fucking kill you for fifty-three years, you stupid son of a b - " He stops, calming himself, because his grandmomma was a damn fine woman who'd punch him in the nuts for calling her that word…if she knew what it meant.

She always hated dogs. Especially female dogs. ~ Kristy Cunning

I try to put myself into whatever character I play. ~ Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Women who have suffered, no matter how afraid, hold out their hands in aid to help others. To create a loyalty like no other--as strong as an oak, as enduring as a mountain, and as brutal as Time - look no further than a female who has risen from the ashes. ~ K.F. Breene

I'm a video game fan, and I always thought it would be cool to be able to control a character. ~ Shia Labeouf

What a director really does is set the emotional temperature and the mood and the level, amount, or lack of, distance between the action and the character, and the character and the audience. ~ James Gray

I really love this character I played called Becky Freeley in a T.V. show called 'Miss Guided'. We only shot seven episodes, and nobody watched it, and it was on for, like, a second, but I really liked that character. ~ Judy Greer

If we don't invest now in building character into children we will surely invest more tomorrow in trying to repair adults. ~ Michael Josephson

The secret is to become someone else, something else. All sex grows dull. You renew it by reinventing yourself, and as a new character, you have new urges. I adore being a rabbit. ~ Chloe Thurlow

Her character will be fixed, and she will, at sixteen, be the most determined flirt that ever made herself and her family ridiculous. ~ Jane Austen

Human beings are glorious and preposterous characters. ~ Tommy Lee Jones

There is always that thought that you might get stuck with a character. But there's always the notion that every character is always evolving. ~ Lena Headey

My wife always hates when I go, 'I just don't love female action movies.' I don't know why. I'll watch them, but I don't run to go and see them. ~ Channing Tatum

When you introduce a character and show him for the first time, don't show him fully lit. Don't show him one hundred percent to the audience. Show maybe fifty percent or sixty percent so the audience can fill in the dark spots. ~ Peter Stormare

What you do off the job is determining factor in how far you will go on the job. ~ Zig Ziglar

Oh, I just love being a character actress. You have a lot of fun, and not only that, you save tons on cosmetic surgery because you never have to have liposuction. ~ Marcia Gay Harden

I love to act and put on a show, but you're playing a character all the time. For music, it's really just me being myself. ~ Tinashe

When you build characters from the outside in, they become, oftentimes they become like 'Saturday Night Live' characters or they become like caricatures of the character. ~ Ashton Kutcher

Strong female leads are important. ~ Chris Hemsworth

Now you're just being selfish," Dominic said to Jaime, shaking his head. "You have that body for the rest of your life. I only want it for one night."
Not in the mood to hear his packmate making moves - no matter how playful - on the female he intended to claim, Dante growled. "Dominic, no. Not to Jaime."
"But - "
"No."
Dominic sighed in resignation. "Okay, fine."
Noticing that Trey seemed to find the whole thing extremely amusing, Dante raised a brow at him. "It's funny now that he's not saying this shit to Taryn?"
Trey smiled. "Of course."
"I've always got some stored up for my gorgeous Alpha female," said Dominic with an impish grin.
Instantly Trey's smile fell from his face. "Dom, don't do it."
Dominic held his hands up, pleading innocence. "I was just going to ask her if she went to Boy Scouts ... because she has my heart all tied in knots."
Taryn groaned and chuckled at the same time. ~ Suzanne Wright

If you spend long enough realizing a character in your book, congratulations, you've made a friend for life. ~ Michael R. French