Writing Women

Novelist Christopher Rice writes that poorly rendered female characters proliferate in crime novels because their authors are lazy. He outlines four clichés that come up again and again. “When a writer wants to write a thriller from a woman’s point of view, he needs to do more than slot [a caricature] into the starring role,” writes Rice. “Sometimes that means the tough guys need to dig a little deeper and accept some truths about the opposite sex they have trouble swallowing.”