“What is a Wanderess? Bound by no boundaries, contained by no countries, tamed by no time, she is the force of nature’s course.”
― Roman Payne, The Wanderess

“The day came when she discovered sex, sensuality, and literature; she said, 'I submit! Let my life be henceforth ruled by poetry. Let me reign as the queen of my dreams until I become nothing less than the heroine of God.”
― Roman Payne

“When a Wanderess has been caged,
or perched with her wings clipped,
She lives like a Stoic,
She lives most heroic,
smiling with ruby, moistened lips
once her cup of Death is welcome sipped.”
― Roman Payne

“How dare a person tell a woman, how to dress, how to talk, how to behave! Any being who does that, is no human.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Bengal Tigress: A Treatise on Gender Equality

“we as authors have been writing about people we aren't for forever. We find a way to empathise, we find a way in. Female characters are no different. All they are are characters. They are people too. Instead of asking yourself, "How do I write this female soldier?" ask yourself, "How do I write this soldier? Where is she from, how was she raised, does she have a sense of humour? Is she big and tall, is she short and petite? How does her size affect her ability to fight? What is her favourite weapon, her least favourite? Why? Is she more logical than emotional? The other way around? Was she an only child and spoiled, was she the eldest of six siblings and a surrogate mother? How does that upbringing affect how she interacts with her team? etc etc and so forth." Notice how the first question gets you some kind of broad, generalised answer, likely resulting in a stereotype, and how the second version asks lots and lots of smaller questions with the goal of creating someone well rounded.

One would hope, really, that we as authors ask such detailed questions of all our characters, regardless of gender.


So let me, at long last, actually answer the original question:

"How do I write a female character?"

Write her the way you would write any other character. Give her dimension, give her strength but please also don't forget to give her weaknesses (for a totally strong nothing can beat her kind of girl is not a person, she's again a type - the polar opposite yet exactly the same as the damsel in distress).

Create a person.”
― Adrienne Kress

“She seemed like someone who thrived in conditions others thought she should wilt under.”
― Hannah F. Whitten, For the Throne

“This idea is so basic that when I first thought of it, I felt very brilliant, and then I wondered if I was an idiot.”
― Sally Rooney, Beautiful World, Where Are You

“Another of my pet peeves is that the female characters used to be all sort of cutesy, like having flour on their nose after they baked cookies and not knowing it. And now they're all a mess, like waking up really hungover and getting fired. I want to create characters who aren't flawless but also aren't ridiculous or incompetent at life.”
― Curtis Sittenfeld, Romantic Comedy

“When men get angry onscreen, they're angry at the system. When women are angry onscreen, they're angry at someone. Women are not allowed to be angry at the system, because that would be a tacit acceptance that we're all participants in the oppressive patriarchal structure that create this pressing, everyday anger. Women onscreen are only allowed to be angry at one person, one wrongdoing. Something they can fix. Something that doesn't antagonize audiences too much.”
― Anna Bogutskaya, Unlikeable Female Characters: The Women Pop Culture Wants You to Hate

“Those girls are all so brave, where adult heroines are all so bitter, and I so strongly dislike what has become clear since childhood: the facts of visibility and exclusion in these stories, and the way bravery and bitterness get so concentrated in literature, for women, because there’s not enough space for them in the real world.”
― Jia Tolentino, Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion

“My body comes to life in the presence of my former lover.” ~ Kat Roberts”
― Charmaine Louise Shelton, Decode My Desires: Harris & Kat Part II

“Sex is nature’s gift for both the sexes. If you mistake that you’ve more to give than receive in it, then the woman in you would lose as wife for you won’t be able to experience the joy of being a female. So don’t ever demean lovemaking as an instrument of sexual blackmail. It pays to know that sex is not about male satiation alone but it is as much a womanly fulfillment”
― B.S. Murthy, Benign Flame: Saga of Love

“Hold onto the things that you have forgotten. Let go of the things that you remember.”
― Hanako Footman, Mongrel

“Forgive me so we can put my madness behind us.” ~ Haley Steele”
― Charmaine Louise Shelton, Grant My Desires: Lachlan & Haley Part III

“You love to blindfold me. Don’t you, Mr. Jackson?” ~ Haley Steele”
― Charmaine Louise Shelton, Grant My Desires: Lachlan & Haley Part III

“My red hair, pretty face, and curvy body get ‘em every time.” ~ Kat Roberts”
― Charmaine Louise Shelton, Intrigue My Desires: Harris & Kat Part I

“Revenge is sweet. But love is ambrosia.” ~ Kat Roberts”
― Charmaine Louise Shelton, Intrigue My Desires: Harris & Kat Part I

“Make no mistake, I want Harris Steele. Now and forever.” ~ Kat Roberts”
― Charmaine Louise Shelton, Decode My Desires: Harris & Kat Part II

“Carnally connected as one, we avow nothing can stop us.” ~ Kat Roberts”
― Charmaine Louise Shelton, Honor My Desires: Harris & Kat Part III

“The male perception that women are ambiguous by nature is not unfounded for they tend to dissemble. But then, why shouldn’t they, anyway? Won’t the male dominated society seek to straightjacket them as role models to self-serve man’s interests, and judge them on the scale of conformity? Since the male tenets are at variance with the feminine instincts, won’t women come to pretend? So, unable to comprehend women, won’t the confounded men end up according the benefit of doubt to them, at every turn that is. It’s thus, men come to hoist themselves on their own petard, and deservedly at that, so it seems.”
― B.S. Murthy, Benign Flame: Saga of Love

“It’s as though it is in the nature of woman to value herself by the worth of her man more than her own self-worth”
― B.S. Murthy, Benign Flame: Saga of Love

“Every day is an opportunity to be kinder, gentler, more loving, and more tolerant.

Small kindnesses make big ripples in the pond of life.”
― M. G. Faust, Blood Under the Oaks

“I suppose by now the boys are off smoking cigars and looking for balls,” Dorothy said with one corner of her lip turned up.

"They could use some,” Clare lobbed back.”
― pamela hamilton, Lady Be Good: The Life and Times of Dorothy Hale

“Tears from an unsung place spilled onto her face.”
― Nicole T. Smith, We Have Shadows Too

“A small bubble of self-esteem percolated up from my depths.”
― Jo Ann Beard, The Fourth State of Matter

“I walked out and felt two intense glares on my back, they were so not my type because there was no shyness, no gentleness in their stances. Instead, they were full of raw power and had an aura of sexual energy, which I had never felt so palpable before in my life.”
― Amanda Littrell, Denying The Crave

“People always complain if the female character isn’t outgoing, outspoken, and feisty. She has to be strong, courageous, funny, and just…out there. If the character isn’t, then the book gets blasted...Well, I’ve thought about this a lot, and it makes me think people believe there’s something wrong with being quiet, introverted, and shy. Like, those are personality flaws, and people in real life who have them aren’t good enough to have characters based on them. Or people like me aren’t good enough.”
― J.M. Brister, The Town Liar

“It's tempting to base a woman's evil on the abuse of a man or the death of a child, because they are, unfortunately, relatable and understandable motivations. However, insisting that women can only be evil once violence has been done to them robs them of agency and puts them on an unrealistic, restrictive pedestal as literary and critical figures.”
― Cassandra Jones, Let Her Be Evil

“She looked at the broken pieces of glass that were reflecting the light like tiny prisms. “It’s hard to be brave when you don’t even know what you’re fighting against,” she confessed sincerely.”
― Layla Soreyne, Arya and the Guardians of Azhira

“With Robert gone, I’ve decided to leave the fighting world and try to start afresh. If only a fresh start would present itself. The only thing fresh is the tankard of gin in front of me”.”
― Gillie Basson, Undefeated: A Novel