Who's a better writer, men or women?

[Maud Fitch]

Recently the ‘female' romance author Jessica Blair was unmasked as 89-year-old grandfather Bill Spence.

In the past, female writers such as Charlotte Bronte had to adopt male pen names in order to get their books published. But the tables were turned for former war hero Bill Spence after he wrote a series of romance novels.

The grandfather from Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, was told his books would need to be printed under a feminine moniker if he wanted them to sell - and so his pseudonym Jessica Blair was born.

Bill, 89, has so far written 22 romance novels under the female pen name since his first was published in 1993 and
his latest work is “In The Silence Of The Snow”.

Taken from Daily Mail UK website: Romance author Jessica Blair is grandfather Bill Spence

[Jessalyn]

I believe that they are both equally good. As you can see we have Nicholas Sparks and Stephen King and then we have J.K. Rowling and Suzanne Collins. Some other great writers are James Patterson and Mary Higgins Clark. What do you think?

[Gannon]

I believe that they are both equally good. As you can see we have Nicholas Sparks and Stephen King and then we have J.K. Rowling and Suzanne Collins. Some other great writers are James Patterson and Mary Higgins Clark. What do you think?

Got to agree with you Jessalyn, it's ridiculous to think that one sex is better at writing than the other. There are so many variations, styles, genres, etc. Imho it's impossible to even compare them.

[MarathonCF]

I think it depends what you are looking for. Personally, I don't like generally like it when a man writes from the perspective of a woman or vice versa. Generally I have more female writers on my bookshelves but there are some exceptions; Harlan Coben, John Kellerment, Dickens.

[FNAWrite]

A poster asserts "To think anything or anyone is better is a judgment with no basis in reality."

Egalitarian clap-trap.

Tell you what, I'll make two sandwiches, one a traditional turkey club, the other dried dog feces on moldy bread dressed with rancid butter (all of these things are indeed edible). Since the poster feels value judgments are not valid nor based in reality I'll choose what I think is the better sandwich and leave the dog feces combo for them. The only thing not based in reality would be if he or she denied I had the better sandwich.

[lady_charlie]

We have been on a mystery kick and I am totally taken with The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency. The smart insightful lady who thinks carefully about people and relationships and makes good decisions and figures out mysteries by just thinking how people tick, well, I thought she was amazing. She is so real, so thoughtful, and yet so strong and still very feminine.
Her friendships and relationships are based on her gentle ideas about how to get along in the world, and she has a good sense of humor as well.

Yep - written by a man.

[FNAWrite]

I enjoy the No. 1 ladies Detecticve Agency very much. I have listened to several as audio books.

That you note these books are written by a man illustrates my small take on this big question - with contemporary authors, the last 20 years or so, I find that men write female characters better than women write male characters.

Growing up reading Agathat Christie, Dorothy Sayers and others, I never noticed any particualr difference. These days I find female authors often write male characters at polar ends, either imbued with an almost feminine sensitivity or a neanderthal chauvinism.

[Jupie]

Now here's a tough question. With comedians it's easy because I have yet to find a funny woman (joke..)

I don't think it makes a huge amount of difference, personally. There are plenty of good authors out there both male and female. When it comes to the classics the best seem to be men but that's just me. In recent years I've fallen in love with books like The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, etc, so maybe women are becoming the new champions of recent literature!

[Phoenix98]

Who's a better writter, men or women? What?

Mandamus, habeas corpus, certiorari, execution, election: I don't think it makes much difference. I'm not even sure there is any way to determine, since most are written by committees and simply signed by the executing authority.

[nseiters]

When I'm sampling a book on Amazon I never look at the author's name (unless I specifically searched for it), because I really don't care. I admit that my top favorite authors are women (or are they?), but it's more about what they're writing about than their gender. I've read hundreds of excellent books written by both men and women. And I have to disagree that the writing styles are different between gender lines, I think the writing style is unique to the individual and not gender.

[Fran]

@nseiters
Well said ... couldn't agree more

[Xorplon]

This is a very black and white question and is rather sexist.

Men and Women each have different approaches to writing. Neither is better or worse than the other.

Those who are less educated and have poor literacy skills are horrible writers but they could be amazing story tellers.


-C.W.S

[michaeljoseph]

I had never really thought about it before,but considering it now, all my favourite authors are male. Perhaps it's just the genre's I read?

[Fran]

I just finished a book by Canadian writer Esi Edugyan. I never deliberately check out an author's bio until after I've read the book, but obviously very often the author's gender is fairly obvious from their name or I've seen or heard them interviewed, but as far as possible to come to a new author without preconceptions about the author. In this instance I would have expected I was reading the work of a male author but Esi Edugyan is definitely female. Once again proof that it is the quality of writing & the skill of the author that matter not the gender of the author.

[Carrie R]

Once again proof that it is the quality of writing & the skill of the author that matter not the gender of the author.

Agreed!