A reader of this blog recommends Writing Romance by Vanessa Grant. She says, “Whether you’re writing romance or not, Vanessa has a lot of useful info for writers.”
The closest I came to a romance was telling my prison class that many men write romances under female names. The very next week Mike, a boxer with massive shoulders, submitted the opening chapter of “Breach of the Heart.” The guys really liked it. One man asked, “How did you do it, Mike? How did you see so well into the woman’s mind?”
Only Mike could get away with his answer in a prison setting. “I just looked into the female part of myself.”
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Writers Write Daily 
I read this post with interest as this is an issue I’ve been considering for some time being presently in a female dominated writing program. Not the romance writing but Mike’s comment about getting in touch with his female voice.
I think that anyone who suggests that men can’t write from a women’s point of view and vice versa is full of a lot of hooey.
As writers, I think we have to develop all the tools we can whether that be writing in a male voice, female voice, child, adult and even the family pet. Too often there are built in biases from readers and critiques that a man can’t write this or a woman can’t write that. Come to think of it, are there any ‘Tom Clancy’ female writers? Or is espionage/war thrillers a male only genre? I’m sure there are but our biased society hasn’t brought them to the forefront yet or to my tiny sphere of reference. Writers need to write characters, and write them well, whether the character be male or female and the writer be their gender opposite.
You are soooo right. In my experience this subject causes controversy. Some writers think that only they can write about a subject — men, women, first nations, inmates, white people, black people — on and on. Yes, some subjects are difficult and take a lot of research, but it can be done.
Good for you, David
Romance is for both genders, in my opinion…we all could use a little more! As far as men writing women characters and vice versa…how many times do we write a story and a character other than the one we intended to be the hero/heroine takes over? Like as not, it’s usually one of the opposite sex.
Cheers, Ed!
That’s very interesting, Vanessa, about a character other than the one we intended, takes over the story.