There are a number of female characters in J'S GIRLS. Among these are the previously mentioned cop's long-time girlfriend and her circle who I will discuss later, but the one I found most challenging to write was his former partner who had been promoted and became his boss. In the first draft she spoke much like he does, but so did his girlfriend and it became clear as I read through it that at least one of them had to have a different voice. It made sense for the cop and his girlfriend to speak alike, even though she doesn't curse as much as he does and has deeper, more complicated thoughts. Her friends sound like her as well, they each have their own buzz words, but you can tell they are a tight knit group.
So, it was his boss and former partner, the outsider who's known him the longest, that got revised. She still looked the same, and remained tough as nails, but her back story changed dramatically. She even still had the same man as her husband, she just had a different upbringing and education. Lost the Cagney and Lacey accent for something more Upper East Side Wasp and self-satisfied.
I had go through the first draft and rewrite every thing that came out of her mouth. I was working my holiday gig at the Plaza Hotel during this time, I had plenty of contact with women to model her after. Not my favorite kind of people, I had to later write new scenes to soften her up. Make her more likable; she stayed antagonistic, but just not as much. Because life is like that, everyone has both black and white.