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Your Opinion Here!
May. 14th, 2009 08:35 pmIn this series I'm struggling with, one of the characters (Irie) is female but cross-dresses and manages to get away with the masquerade sufficiently that most of the others see her as male. (About a 14-year-old male, but male nevertheless.)
I've had a reader observe that the pronouns I'm using in dialogue and exposition do not match. Here's the situation: the POV character (Canum) knows Irie's gender. He does not want to give away the secret (which, btw, is not kept secret from the reader). When he speaks of Irie, then, he's either very careful not to use a pronoun or he uses the masculine pronoun. However, when he's thinking about or observing Irie, he uses the feminine pronoun.
How would you handle the pronoun issue and why?
There's probably a "right" answer, but as with so much in writing I'm looking for what will work the best, not what's necessarily "right." Feel free to chase this one out on a limb. *g*
I've had a reader observe that the pronouns I'm using in dialogue and exposition do not match. Here's the situation: the POV character (Canum) knows Irie's gender. He does not want to give away the secret (which, btw, is not kept secret from the reader). When he speaks of Irie, then, he's either very careful not to use a pronoun or he uses the masculine pronoun. However, when he's thinking about or observing Irie, he uses the feminine pronoun.
How would you handle the pronoun issue and why?
There's probably a "right" answer, but as with so much in writing I'm looking for what will work the best, not what's necessarily "right." Feel free to chase this one out on a limb. *g*
