I have to admit, I wasn’t a girly girl. I used to play with my brother’s toys, climb trees, and dreamed about being a warrior princess. But as adults, tradition and society often influence our roles in life, what we should and shouldn’t do based on our gender. Modern life is blurring the gender differences but we can’t say they’re still not there.

Sometimes when writing a story, the characters develop themselves and go off on a tangent you didn’t expect. There’s not a whole lot of scope for character development in a 500 word story but I’ve noticed a pattern developing with my two main characters, and I’m not entirely sure whether it’s right in this PC world we live in.

Silver is the boy in my books. He’s clumsy, exceptionally greedy, and doesn’t always think before he does something. On the other hand he’s brave and will do anything to help someone in trouble.

Pearl is the girl in my books. She’s the voice of reason, she’s sensible, and puts others first. On the other hand she is moody, frightened, and struggles under pressure.

I believe these characteristics have come from the men and women in my life, and my beliefs about their character. But my question is: is it ok for a boy to be a boy, and for a girl to be a girl? Or should Silver be making daisy chains while Pearl play fights with her friends?

I’d love to hear your thoughts, especially if you are a writer yourself struggling with the same principle!

As always, thanks for reading.