"He is sensible and so incredible/ ... He says everything I need to hear/ And it's like I couldn't ask for anything better"

Want to know the two traits that Pride and Prejudice's Mr. Darcy, Sense and Sensibility's Edward Ferrars, Twilight's Edward Cullen, Something Borrowed's Dexter, and The Truth About Forever's Wes all have in common? 1) They are all perfect and 2) They were written by women. And the first reason is very much because of the second. You know why? Because women writers, as much as we try to "think" like boys, still ultimately write their male characters like the females (just with less pink and jewelry) and that's why they are seemingly perfect. They say and do the right thing and they make you cry happy tears at the lovely, loose- ends- all- tied- up- in- a- pretty- package conclusion. And it's because women are writing what they would want to hear, what they would want to happen as opposed to what would be more likely to happen in real life. I'm not saying happy endings aren't possible, I'm just saying the words and actions used to get there probably aren't as good as they are in literature.

The main guy in Square One is too good to be true in my opinion. And that's because he's not true, he's not real. I made him up, gave him some endearing characteristics and as much I tried to think like a guy for his dialogue and actions, I'm not a boy so I can't write that. Plus if I did try to write a boy, it would just be filled with grunts and mumbles and "I dunnos". And that's not a very good story (especially by someone like me where I really use dialogue and conversations as the main source of information).

But that's why we ladies love Darcy and Edward: They were written by Austen and Meyer and they had them say and do things that probably wouldn't happen in real life. It's just something I've realized as I reflect on the development and actions of my characters. And I'm not saying that a man can't write a good love story (e.g. Nicholas Sparks), it's just these "perfect romantic male leads in literature" have all been created and written by women.