Who make the better writers, men or women?

Question

Who make the better creative writers, men or women? And I suggest drawing a distinction between (a) technical reports (b) poetry (c) fiction prose (d) factual prose. And have you had any success in any of these field? Do you have an ambition to become a bestselling author?

Perhaps my headline was a little overblown because it's obviously been misinterpreted by some as a gender attack! What I wanted was what I've got - some marvellous answers. Thank you everyone.
[Laela] That's really good. I really started to get into that story. But be careful or Yahoo will try to claim the copyright!

Answer 1

Can't we just accept both? I mean, think about it...we have authors, both males and females who are brilliant in their genre and what they write. You have amazing poets like Keats, Shelley, Woodsworth, Plath, Dickenson...men and women. You have great authors of fiction such as Enid Blyton, J. K. Rowling, Agatha Christine and men like John Grisham, Morris Gleitzman, Sidney Sheldon...

It's hard to compare something like this on the basis of gender...rather, I like to think of it as skills and talents that these authors and poets as individuals possess and involve us in their world.

Answer 2

Is Anne Rice the only female novelist you've read? If so, no wonder you think men are better. Despite that, this is a sexist question and I would hope people would be intelligent enough not to ask such questions. It's impossible to say who's better. There are some great male writers and there are some pathetic male writers. There are some great female writers and there are pathetic female writers. It could just be that your favorites happened to have been written by males. Salinger and Poe are incredible, I'll give you that. Try broadening your spectrum of female authors. Hopefully in the end you'll realize that the only important thing is if you took anything important away from the book, i.e. information, emotion, a bit of philosophy... and that whether the author was a male or female isn't something to judge a book by.

Answer 3

Well, I think it is inevitable that writers will bring their own life experiences to the table when they are writing...whether it be poetry, fiction, or nonfiction (obviously...). And, since men and women have wildly different life experiences, they bring different perspectives to the table. I think both are very important. I do not know who I think actually makes better writers. Two of my favorite authors are Ayn Rand and Kurt Vonnegut, female and male, respectively.

Also, I don't really consider technical reports to be "writing"...I mean yes you do write something but there is little room for creativity, as I understand it. It does not matter who has more success in this field because this field isn't "real" writing, though it is very significant for the field in which the report is published.

I have not really had success in any of those areas, only because I haven't tried. But, most of my professors acknowledge that I am a great writer. I plan on getting my MFA in writing after my undergrad, and we'll see what happens then.

Answer 4

It's a matter of personal preference. One is not better than the other...I've read thousands of books, reports, poems, whatever, and don't have a preference based on gender. My three favourite books happen to be written by women, the fourth is by a man. I'm a fan of Stephen King, but I also like Margaret Atwood, Carol Shields, Barbara Gowdy...so many more. They all have different voices, styles and perspectives on the world. I don't generally break down anything creative by gender. As for my own ambitions, yes I have been published, and yes, I do want to write professionally.

Answer 5

I'm a writer. I love writing both fiction and poetry. Not so much technical reports, but who really DOES like those? ;)

My favorite authors include JD Salinger, Sylvia Plath, Mona Simpson, Arundhati Roy, Don Delillo, and Tom Perrotta. I have no affinity for either male or female writers. I like GOOD writers, period. I make no distinction between different genres of writing in terms of gender preference, because I think humans in general are marvelous at creating works of art.

Answer 6

I dunno, in my school we have a lot of talented people, both male and female, in the writing arts. I would say it would seam more talent as men, but it really is equal (as lots of women use male pen-names, especially when writing intensified sci-fi). Although personally I can't write reports that well, I'm okay at poetry (well, I say okay, and my friends say an excellent). Fictional prose/fictional stories I love to write (though I end up not liking what I write, though my friends and on-line readers think its amazing). And I suck and factual prose. But when it comes to whose the better author, it all comes down to talent, not gender.

And for the record, yes I am an aspiring author and poet. (but more author then poet)

Answer 7

I've enjoyed success with a, c, and d. A few people have thought my poetry was good, but I deem it rubbish.

I've known brilliant writers of both sexes and I've found the average woman to be a better writer than the average man. But mine is a small sample of the wider world.

Answer 8

I think both men and woman can be excellent writers.

I like writing and reading non-fiction (guess I'm the "serious" type)...but also enjoy writing poetry on occasion. I've had a few poems published but not in anything widely-read. I couldn't write a fictional story to save my life.

Answer 9

I don't see how gender has any affect on how good of a writer someone is. I also didn't know it was a contest. If I ever become a bestselling author one day, that would be spectacular.

Answer 10

I don't think this is something that can assigned "male or female." There are many talented and brilliant writers from both sexes. It's an individual thing.

And yes, actually I do have that ambition!