Interview with Sharon Green part 2

DL: That is very interesting. So, how do you come up with characters? Which are easier for you to write male or female characters?

SG: To take the second part of your question first, females are easier for me to write than males because *I'm* female. I've had enough close male friends in my life to have learned that men and women may look at the same thing, but they're not *seeing* the same thing. I don't understand the male point of view more than distantly and from the outside, so I have to fake it as best I can. My male fans sometimes tell me if I'm doing a good enough job, and I've been told that I'm getting closer...:] Now, how do I come up with characters... Sometimes I have the character first, and then think about a situation that will give her/them the most trouble. Sometimes I have a situation, and think about what kind of person would have the most difficulty with that situation. But then, sometimes the two come together at the same time, and all I have to do is write it down.

DL: What authors influenced your writing?

SG: The very first s.f. book I ever read was at the age of 12, and the book was Wild Talent by Wilson Tucker. The book grabbed me so hard that the fact I couldn't understand what was going on didn't matter. After that I started to read juveniles, went through them fast, then continued with more adult fare. (Ahem) After having been exposed to most of the writers of the day, my favorite was - and still is - Robert Heinlein.

Even back then I noticed that Heinlein didn't just tell a good story - with a writing style that to this day I can't copy - but he also included excellent advice for living. For instance, I picked up what I consider my most important rule of life: honor is an individual thing. It doesn't matter what anyone else in the world does, you're responsible only for yourself. If you lie and cheat and steal, what you're doing is announcing to the world that you can't get what you have *without* lying, cheating, and stealing. Even if no one else in the world is honest, that doesn't matter. Only what you do matters, so whether or not you behave honorably is entirely up to you.

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