This is the first time a story I’ve written has actually featured girls who are independent and feisty, and I’m really enjoying it. I used to think that stories like that were usually just feminist crap – “men are weak, women are strong” blah blah blah, but I’m glad I’ve managed to get in two really feisty female characters who still love men, and they never kind of assume they’re better than men – it’s definitely not a feminist thing – it’s just that these characters ended up, without me really intending to, being feisty and fierce. I’m trying my hardest not to let them stray into Mary-Sue category, but I’ll clean that up in the editing (one character certainly isn’t a Sue, the other… I’m not so sure).
The first one is engaged and loves her fiance, but she gets angry at him when he tells her that she needs to learn to stand up for herself. When she’s imprisoned, she toughens up and starts fights to alleviate the boredom and to basically try and become “top dog” so she can escape, and she is a pretty kick-ass character. I wasn’t so keen of her at first – I didn’t really like writing about her much, which isn’t good considering she’s the main female character, but now, I can’t wait to write the next bit because she really is a good character.
The second one is quite young, and she had a bit of a rough past, but she’s feisty as hell and she’s not afraid to speak her mind, and I really love writing about her because she’s an interesting character. It’s like, as I’m writing about her, she kind of develops in my head without me intending for her to, which is the sign of a good character. She’s also really angry at times, and quite quick to shout at people, so she’s not perfect. That’s what I like about both these characters – they’re flawed, but they also have moments of awesomeness.
I mean, my male characters are really cool too – some of them are strong, some of them are weak, some of them are pretty unremarkable, just the same as the other women in my story. I just wanted to draw focus to these two, the two main female characters who have become really awesome to write BECAUSE they’re such kick-ass awesome characters!
the life of a moomin 
“I used to think that stories like that were usually just feminist crap” — I used to feel that way, too! And in all honesty, I’m still generally suspicious of those sorts of characterizations for female characters, ’cause there’s that underlying worry that the author is trying too hard and the character will end up mean and afraid to love, etc.
There is something pretty awesome, though, about accidentally creating a female character with punch, but who isn’t abnormally annoying. 🙂 Most of my MCs are male, because I have a crazy hard time making my girls interesting to me (and if I’m not interested, why should I expect my readers to be?), but once in a blue moon, I’ll write a girl that I actually like. I’ve even managed one that I love — sort of a fairytale superhero who’s got this hilarious mix of assets and flaws. Powerful, noble, worldly-wise, yet a little bit proud and kind of oblivious. I’ve only written three short stories with her so far, but I’m looking forward to much more, because I have a blast with her every time.
Hooray for epic characters, male and female both!