Is it okay to write genderfluid/etc. like this?

[Custos]

I'm an aspiring author/writer and whatnot and in my stories I'm keen on introducing genderfluid/bigender characters and so forth. To my understanding, this means that neither will be referred to as "she" or "he" or "they" at all times, so if I were to write in a way like this:

Alex went up to the table to collect her drink.

And then in another part of the story, simply go:

Alex kept glancing at the map in his hands.

or

Alex thought they knew what was going on.

(these are sentences I made up on the go by the way)

Does the almost implicit switching of pronouns in connection with the characters name seem coherent and respectful? I'm still learning about the gender spectrum so wanted to throw this out there for a bit of a check-up. Please give me any feedback! Thanks!

[Evren]

I think it's perfectly fine to write a gender-fluid character like that.

I remebered this fanfiction in which the author introduced an original character named Andy, and switched pronouns for him the entire way through the story. Her storyline starts in chapter 8, and continues in different chapters from there on. The sentences with Andy in them the always seemed very well put together, so you could look there for inspiration. http://archiveofourown.org/works/1003398/chapters/1987811(explict sex scences, liitle bit of bdsm, just so you know, Andy isn't in any of the sex scences, but they are there)

[Oddball-Meo]

You could write like that, it's not wrong but it might confuse people a lot. The general audience won't understand why you are constantly changing the pronoun. I would recommend using a gender neutral pronoun like 'they' or choosing a pronoun to stick to but showing the genderfluid aspect of the character through other ways. There's also the issue of some people thinking that your gender is automatically your biological sex so for them switching pronouns might seem even more confusing/strange. So in my personal opinion, it is respectful and coherent from a member from AVEN, but it might not be as coherent for the general public. Ultimately it is your story so write however you are most comfortable with.

[Gentle Giant]

I agree with Oddball-Meo that changing the pronoun constantly would be confusing to general public readers. It would be better to find one word that works and stick with it.

[Heart]

For some reason, reading that made me feel very happy. My name is not Alex, and I know you're not writing about me, but it just made me feel nice and comfortable and warm. Weird. But I guess the relevance there is that I, as a genderfluid person, would love to be referred to like that! Using "they" all the time is fine in that it doesn't cause dysphoria in any of my genders, but it also kinda cuts off the variety of who I am. It feels a little like I'm dulling down my identity in order to always be agreeable. I struggled for a long time, hating that my gender was fluid, wanting it to settle down somewhere, ANYWHERE, just so I could transition to something and be gone with the dysphoria for once and for all. But I've been through a journey and (mostly) accepted and come to love my gender the way it is. So to be referred to by the full spectrum of pronouns, according to who I am gender-wise at the time.... would be really nice. Kind of like a nice massage. But for the brain.

So there you go. At least one genderfluid person out there loves the idea ^_^

[Ace-TheTimelordsCompanion]

I like it too, but I caution you that I think a lot of it comes down to the character, and the kind of questions you have to ask about that character. I also think you can make it work by explaining your character's gender to the audience. You don't have to spell it out, but help them out, maybe something like:
"How's my favourite young man?"
Alex sighed, she hated being called a man on feminine days.

Then later.
"What a lovely young woman"
Alex gritted his teeth, surely his gender would coincide with people's guesses sometimes.

Or whatever.
It also brings up other questions that will inform pronouns and behaviour. Like:
Are they always two or more genders and switching pronouns every sentence?
Or do they change over time? How much time? How does this change their behaviour, thoughts, feelings, self expression? (For me it's every few days, I am more assertive when gender nautral, and I hate dresses. When I am a girl I am quieter, kinder and love dresses, I would love to have the matching pronouns)
How do other character's react, is your character out to them? How do they present? What pronouns do they put up with? How do they handle being misgendered?
Maybe they accept a gender neautral pronoun all the time, just to be accomodating, or to avoid misgendering. Maybe they are outspoken about it.

Hope this helps, and makes some kind of sense.
Thank you for writing about us, and for taking the time to get it right :)