Shifting Gears: Writing from a Woman’s Point of View

I’m a guy. I write mostly about men. Men at war. Shooting guns. Riding horses. Doing brave deeds. Becoming heroes. From the male perspective, of course.

So, how does an author shift gears and write from a female perspective—and what would prompt him to do so? For me, the answer to this question can be found by exploring a scene from each perspective.

Here is a scene from my first book, HOME AGAIN, at the Battle of Shiloh:

Off to the right of their line and behind the Rebel line several hundre...