Tips for Writing Female Characters the Right Way

Female characters in books, movies, and other stories are so often reduced to stereotypes—flat, predictable, or written solely in service to a male protagonist. Whether you're writing books, screenplays, or TTRPG campaigns, writing female characters well means moving past tropes and embracing complexity.

Because female characters, like real women, are not a monolith.

Common Pitfalls (And Why They Don’t Work)

Let’s start with what not to do. Many well-meaning writers fall into the trap of overused archetypes like:

• The Strong Female Character™ – Physically tough, emotionally closed off, and stripped of all femininity to be taken seriously.

• The Damsel in Distress – Exists only to be rescued, providing motivation for the male hero.

• The Manic Pixie Dream Girl – Quirky and shallow, her sole purpose is to "fix" a troubled man.

• The Token Woman – The only female character in a cast of men, often underdeveloped and underused.

These tropes flatten women into symbols instead of people. And while a character can be tough, vulnerable, quirky, or romantic, none of these traits should define her completely.

So What Makes a Well-Written Female Character?

The biggest thing to remember is that “female” is not a personality. That’s a physical trait. Like the color of the character’s hair. It’s a bit more than that, of course, because being female, like someone’s race or ethnicity, can affect the way they experience the world and what others expect from them. But that still doesn’t make it a personality.

1. She Has Agency

Good characters make choices. They shape the story rather than just reacting to it. A well-written female character should have goals, motivations, and the power to affect the plot—just like any protagonist.

Agency doesn’t mean she has to be physically strong or emotionally impenetrable. It means she isn’t just there to support someone else’s arc—she has one of her own.

2. She’s a Whole Person, Not a Symbol

Think about her flaws, fears, contradictions, and backstory. What drives her? What does she want most? What are her coping mechanisms? A well-rounded character will always resonate more than a flawless role model or a symbolic representation of "womanhood."

3. She Exists Outside the Male Gaze

If your character’s description begins and ends with how attractive she is, start over. Ask yourself how she sees herself, not just how others see her. Does her appearance matter to her? If so, why? How does it affect the way she moves through the world?

Writing from a place of honesty rather than fantasy leads to characters that feel real—not idealized or sexualized caricatures.

4. She Has Relationships That Reflect Real Life

Women have rich, complex relationships with other women. They have friendships, rivalries, mentors, allies, and enemies. If your female characters only talk about men (hello, Bechdel Test), it’s time to dig deeper.

Also: female characters can—and should—have meaningful relationships with male characters that aren’t purely romantic.

5. She Isn’t a Stand-In for All Women

One of the biggest traps in writing female characters is the idea that a single woman can or should “represent” all women. She can’t. She shouldn’t. Let her be herself, not a spokesperson for her gender.

The more women you include, the easier it is to reflect the diversity of real-world experience—across age, race, body type, sexuality, class, culture, and personality.

What Not To Do When Writing a Female Character

What not to do is just as important as what to do when it comes to writing good female characters. There’s a lot of advice out there for writers, but not all of it is good, unfortunately.

❌ “Just write a male character and then change the name.”

This advice assumes that gender and lived experience are irrelevant to character development. They’re not.

A woman doesn’t think, speak, or move through the world in exactly the same way a man does, because her experiences—social, cultural, emotional—are often different. Those differences aren’t limitations; they’re opportunities for richer storytelling. Simply gender-swapping a character ignores systemic differences in how women are treated in society, work, relationships, and conflict—all of which shape how a character might behave or react.

❌ “Make her tough so she’s not weak.”

This often results in the dreaded Strong Female Character™—someone who punches things and never cries but has no emotional arc, complexity, or softness. Strength comes in many forms. Stoicism isn’t the only way to show power.

A great example is Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones. She’s not a warrior like Brienne of Tarth or an assassin like her sister, Arya, but she becomes a very strong character once she realizes the power she has and how to wield it, and she does it all without ever lifting a blade.

❌ “Avoid romance to make her ‘serious.’”

Some writers overcorrect and think that giving a female character a love interest automatically undermines her value. But romance isn’t the issue—lack of depth is. A well-written romantic subplot can enhance a character, not define or diminish her. The problem comes when she’s only a love interest and has no agency or character arc of her own, and just exists for a male main character’s motivation.

Writing Women Well Takes Thought

There’s no shortcut to writing great characters—especially not female ones. Relying on stereotypes or so-called “writing hacks” almost always leads to characters who feel flat or forgettable. Speaking as a woman, I know my experience isn’t universal, but that doesn’t mean I can’t spot when a character wasn’t given much thought. Too often, female characters lack real agency, meaningful arcs, or even a purpose beyond supporting someone else’s story.

And the thing is—books, shows, and movies are so much better when they get it right. When female characters (and all characters, really) are written with depth and care, the whole story becomes richer, more resonant, and far more memorable.