The Craft of Writing: Why Strong Female Characters Matter (And Why Most Writers Still Get Them Wrong)

Writers are often told to read within the genre they want to write. It’s good advice. You begin to see how stories are built, how dialogue flows, how characters are introduced and developed. Over time, patterns emerge. Some of those patterns are useful. Others begin to feel tired. And some persist long after they should have been left behind.

One of the most persistent is the illusion of a strong female lead.

The issue is not whether a story includes a female protagonist. The issue is whether that character is truly allowed to drive the story. Too often, female characters are placed at the center of the narrative but remain reactive rather than active. They are placed in danger, placed in conflict, and positioned as important, but when the moment of decision arrives, someone else steps in. Someone else makes the choice. Someone else determines the outcome.

The character may be central to the story, but she is not in control of it.

This problem appears across genres. It is not limited to a single type of story or a specific audience. Even stories that are meant to present powerful female characters sometimes undermine them in execution. In Shadow and Bone, Alina Starkov is introduced as a character of immense importance and power, yet when she is placed under pressure, she often hesitates or defers to others. The story tells us she matters, but her actions do not always support that claim.

Compare that to Dread Nation, where Jane McKeene and Katherine Deveraux are not simply present in the story, but actively shape it. Their decisions carry weight. Their actions determine direction. Or consider Ghostbusters: Afterlife, where Phoebe is not defined by her circumstances, but by how she responds to them. She acts, she adapts, and she plays a decisive role in the resolution of the story.

The difference is not strength. It is agency.

One of the most common misunderstandings in writing is the idea that a “strong female character” must be flawless. Strength is not perfection. A character who never struggles, never hesitates, and never fails is not strong. That character is untested. Real strength comes from the ability to make decisions, to face consequences, and to continue forward despite uncertainty or fear. A character who is constantly rescued is not weak because of gender. They are weak because the story refuses to let them act.

The most effective approach is also the most straightforward. Write the character as a character first. Give her goals, fears, contradictions, strengths, and weaknesses. Allow her to make mistakes. Allow her to misjudge situations. Allow her to carry flaws that complicate the story. And most importantly, allow her to be the one who determines what happens next. Gender can shape perspective and experience, but it should not limit agency.

In A Princess in Crimson, Zarah Hitchcock is not defined by perfection. She is driven, flawed, and capable of making the wrong decision. But she acts. She pursues the truth behind her mother’s death and faces the consequences of her choices. Whether she succeeds or fails, the outcome belongs to her. The story does not rescue her. It responds to her.

That is what makes a character compelling.

A strong character is not measured by how impressive they appear on the surface, but by what they do when it matters. Do they act? Do they choose? Do they change the direction of the story? If the answer is no, the problem is not the character. The problem is the writing.

Stories connect when characters feel real. And characters feel real when they are allowed to struggle, to choose, to fail, and ultimately to shape their own path.

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Fade In Is Just The Beginning.
— John Morgan Risner
Screen Writer Ink