@Fabricant451 Lol well my social life was all over the place when I started off. Try balancing Asian dramas (My first one was Devil Beside You, Taiwanese drama, starring Rainie Yang), learning anime dances (cosplaying...going to cons...), anime, reading manga, roleplaying, and social life... sleep was not a thing for me. That was my middle school and highschool life.
And I absolutely agree with you that the writer can be any gender and still make a phenomenal character with the opposite gender! My boyfriend actually plays females really well xD
And I mean, in my opinion, to be a good writer you should learn to get inside multiple characters' heads, you know?
The way I look at it is as long as people can relate to my character and see his/her journey, then I'm happy. Especially if I can get people to feel the feels... that makes writing so enjoyable.