Who's a better writer, men or women?

[JeniIvey]

I'm not a romantic novel reader. I have tried and tried. They always leave you angry haha. Or feeling dirty. From my experience I think depending on the content of the book both women and men can be equally as good. However after reading 50 shades of grey (terrible literary "art" by the way) men have a way of having more substance and deeper thought, less ridiculous drama, and more realistic novels. It is very rare I like a book by a woman who writes due to fads. You don't really see men doing that as often if at all.

[socks]

I think there is hardly a difference between male and female writers - maybe their take on topics is different sometimes, but regarding that many female writers in the earlier centuries have disguised their femininity with a male nickname without being found out, the difference people might see is more due to their preconception of what female writing seems to be.

[Samantak]

Men are better at telling stories while women are better at describing feelings, situations, people and the environment. Stories written by men will cause you to sit at the edge of your seat while stories written by women will cause you to breathe slowly and/or feel emotional trauma/inner calm.

[kumarlabels]

women

[MarathonCF]

This so subjective. I have read some books by women which were gripping; not so many by men that discussed deeper emotions but that is surely the very nature of the sexes. Men are from Mars remember!

[Joel_Auerbach]

I dont think it is a matter of what sex the author is, it only comes down to the familiarity of the subject they are writing about.

[suzy1124]

Welcome J.A.

I agree!...

What about " who's a better SPELLER ?.....( check out the above SUBJECT line )

[Griffinisback]

I believe it depends on if he/she is writing base on factual or fiction. Women write very good fictional books like the female author who wrote the first manuscript to "Frankenstein." The beginning of that as to how the monster appeared from out of the mountains of a snowstorm was totally awesome! But it lacked details as to how the monster was created. Man who write be be it base on factual or faction offer the readers believable detail of the story that grasp the imagination as to evidence of facts. Like Gene Roddenberry even through his creative material was fictional he offered the readers evidence of factual matters at hand that were made possible today. Like the cell phone!

[earthsprite]

Excuse my acerbic tone, but:

This question shouldn't even be on the table, it's about as useless as "Who's funnier? Men or women?" in stand-up comedy. It's great for a trolling feminists and misogynists alike, however, so bravo, OP.

If you honestly think testosterone and estrogen levels are affecting human brain power to the point of writing ability, you may be very disappointed. Studies have shown in other areas like math that when you remove the cultural stresses (such as even putting down a female name!) on a test, men and women perform the same.

You'll see over and over again in this thread people saying "men write facts, women write feelings!" based on preconceptions of what they think the male and female writer minds are concerned with. It's all anecdotal. Consider, perhaps, broadening your horizons and reading male authors with female, 1st person narratives, or female authors with male, 1st person narratives. Does the tone change? Or is it always consistent with the gender of the author? Get back to me on that.

[TD Matzenik]

With so many great writers from either gender, their achievements render the question incomprehensible.

[Carrie R]

You'll see over and over again in this thread people saying "men write facts, women write feelings!" based on preconceptions of what they think the male and female writer minds are concerned with. It's all anecdotal.

This is very true. I recently read a book by a male author, and the whole premise is a man's emotional struggle with his unhappy marriage. There was little action or fact--all feeling. In my opinion, the answer to this thread is 'neither'--they are equally good. The skill and talent come from the individual, not the individual's gender.

[Loveabull]

I dont think it is a matter of what sex the author is, it only comes down to the familiarity of the subject they are writing about.

I think that's an excellent point. What's amusing online is that on some sites that are more "Boys Club"...I write as a man...I found a rather interesting article one day about a male author who does the same thing and has been published in his female persona...I think it's writing style. As a man you write more directly and to the point, you make statements and support your statements. Even when joking it still comes out more direct.

Writing as a woman you do get more into feelings even unintentionally. Men will discuss feelings too but it often comes out sounding different regardless.

[TD Matzenik]

A closely related subject is just how well an author of fiction can convince the reader with a character from the opposite gender. It is an interesting exercise where cliches and stereotypes are common, especially in Airport Fiction.

[mubaracus]

It honestly depends on your preference in reading and what you like to get out of a good book. In my own opinion I think women are definitely more brilliant in creating a strong emotional response in their books (Uncle Toms Cabin, Twilight, etc.). In fact I think in general that is generally what appears to me to be their main focus. I know when I was reading "the help" it definitely made me a feel a certain way. However I feel like when men right books they tend to be more focused on enforcing strong underlying means behind their texts. Kind of a like a read between the lines kind of thing. Like the the deep meaning behind many of Mark Twain's books hidden behind irony and satire is a really good example.

[Loveabull]

I believe that sometimes it's the market as well. Particularly in magazines there are writing and topic guidelines. We subscribe to popular magazines catering to both genders...including other The quality of writing in GQ or Esquire is more elevated than say Glamour. There aren't too many magazines targeted at women, save for Vogue perhaps, that get more in depth than two or three pages including photos. Then again the print magazine industry is in decline anyway.