The most unexpected response I’ve received from readers regards my horror shorts. Subconsciously I was making my protagonist’s gender ambiguous, but in my head she was clearly female. Most of my beta readers, men and women assumed my protagonist was male.

The result from their feedback was equally unexpected. I started writing in a male voice for these shorts. It felt natural for a reason still unknown. Why did this paradigm shift take place inside my head?

What’s considered male and female? What does it mean to be feminine? Masculine? These mean different things to different people. Right?

I devised a test. I used masculine terms for women and feminine terms for men in day to day interactions, then gaged their responses.

“Marty, stop being such a diva.”

“Cheryl, you’re being a dick.”

Who’s self aware enough to have a sense of humor? Who has a deep seated misogynist bent? Who questions if I’m acting on some thinly veiled feminist agenda? The results were interesting.

Don’t think I’m such a prat to believe I’m the first to come up with this game. I’m not delusional. This isn’t new. My own responses were just as surprising. I’ve gained new insight to my beliefs and how they subconsciously affect my writing.

Have your readers responded to your writing in a way you didn’t expect? I always return comments unless I’m sucked into a parallel universe and/or busy dodging a Sasquatch, but that’s another story…