Posted in Writing, tagged creativity, home, inspiration, persistence, sff, work on July 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Ah, Friday! I am coming to the end of this week’s work and so have the time for efforts of a less, shall we say, prosaic nature. My project for this weekend will be to build a Museum of Lost Things.
I imagine it will be just as difficult and interesting as one might expect:)
Posted in Entertainment, Likes, Writing, tagged arts, characters, creativity, entertainment, feminism, Fiction, genre fiction, How to Train Your Dragon 2, science fiction, sff, speculative fiction, Strong Female Character, Tasha Robinson, The Matrix, Thoughts, Trinity Syndrome, Writers, writing, yay on June 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »
We’re losing all our Strong Female Characters to Trinity Syndrome
This excellent piece by Tasha Robinson sums up a lot of the problems mainstream storytelling has with “Strong Female Characters.”
For the ordinary dude to be triumphant, the Strong Female Character has to entirely disappear into Subservient Trophy Character mode. This is Trinity Syndrome à la The Matrix: the hugely capable woman who never once becomes as independent, significant, and exciting as she is in her introductory scene.
If you are interested in learning how not to bury your SFC’s light under a bushel, I recommend this article. It highlights on-point questions creatives should ask themselves, like:
03. Could your Strong Female Character be seamlessly replaced with a floor lamp with some useful information written on it to help a male hero?
:p
In many instances, what starts out as an interesting character is hobbled in order to provide the male hero with whatever thing he needs (knowledge, motivation, etc.) to make it to the finish line. There are exceptions, of course, and I’m pleased to say that Emily Blunt’s character in Edge of Tomorrow was one such.
So maybe all the questions can boil down to this: Looking at a so-called Strong Female Character, would you—the writer, the director, the actor, the viewer—want to be her?
Like Tasha Robinson, I loved Cate Blanchett’s character in How to Train Your Dragon 2 and was as disappointed when the role for this supremely kick-ass woman who was willing to live in exile for twenty years to uphold her principles just sort of… fizzled out. I hope to see more from her in a third installment. In fact, I hope to see more Strong Female Characters across the board.
Who knows, one day we might even just call them, oh, I don’t know, “Female Characters.”
Posted in Funny, Writing, tagged finishing, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, inspiration, Michael Palin, middle of the week, national parks, persistence, planning, quotes, Thoughts, work on June 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »
It’s the middle of the week and I don’t know about you but Friday, and finishing everything on my list, feels pretty far away. Must be time for an inspirational quote and fabulous photo. Like… so!
You can’t get a suit of armour and a rubber chicken just like that. You have to plan ahead.
— Michael Palin
Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged fun, games, gravity, online game, physics, planets, required research, science, smashup derby, solar system, space, Stefano Meschiari, SuperPlanetCrash, writing on June 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Mwahaha, now this is fun:) SuperPlanetCrash is a little online game by Stefano Meschiari that lets you build your own solar system and learn something about orbital physics along the way. The goal is to keep your planets orbiting for 500 years. Click to add planets, ice giants, brown dwarfs and stars, then watch as gravity undermines your best intentions! Use the game to simulate that system you sketched out for your epic sci-fi space opera. Ponder the effects of gravity and motion while earning points for the longevity of your system.
And if you just want to add Super-Earths until the whole crazy house of cards comes crashing down? Go for it:)
Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged creativity, double rainbow, Fiction, finishing, genre fiction, goals, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Motivation, persistence, Thoughts, work, writing, yay on May 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »
This may be the best advice I’ve given myself all week:
Don’t worry about being good – worry about getting better.
P.S. More good advice – don’t run barefoot over these sand dunes in the middle of summer. Ask me how I know!
Posted in Writing, tagged artists, arts, creativity, death, inspiration, Maya Angelou, poetry, quotes, storytellers, Thoughts, Writers on May 28, 2014| 2 Comments »
Maya Angelou, Poet, Activist And Singular Storyteller, Dies At 86
This is such a loss. And yet…
I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life. I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life.” I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
― Maya Angelou
I still remember finding a battered, much-read copy of Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings on my parents’ bookshelf, and meeting her singular voice. That woman knew how to live.
Posted in Entertainment, Writing, tagged Ann Leckie, awesome, books, creativity, entertainment, Fiction, genre fiction, Nebula Awards, science fiction, sff, SFWA, short stories, Writers, writing on May 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »
In case you missed it over the weekend, the SFWA has announced the winners of this year’s Nebula Awards. (You may remember the winner for best novel from an earlier post here at this site.) Congratulations to all!
Novel
Winner: Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Nominees:
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler (Marian Wood)
The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman (Morrow; Headline Review)
Fire with Fire, Charles E. Gannon (Baen)
Hild, Nicola Griffith (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
The Red: First Light, Linda Nagata (Mythic Island)
A Stranger in Olondria, Sofia Samatar (Small Beer)
The Golem and the Jinni, Helene Wecker (Harper)
Novella
Winner: ‘‘The Weight of the Sunrise,’’ Vylar Kaftan (Asimov’s 2/13)
Nominees:
‘‘Wakulla Springs,’’ Andy Duncan & Ellen Klages (Tor.com 10/2/13)
‘‘Annabel Lee,’’ Nancy Kress (New Under the Sun)
‘‘Burning Girls,’’ Veronica Schanoes (Tor.com 6/19/13)
‘‘Trial of the Century,’’ Lawrence M. Schoen (www.lawrencemschoen.com; World Jumping)
Six-Gun Snow White, Catherynne M. Valente (Subterranean)
Novelette
Winner: ‘‘The Waiting Stars,’’ Aliette de Bodard (The Other Half of the Sky)
Nominees:
‘‘Paranormal Romance,’’ Christopher Barzak (Lightspeed 6/13)
‘‘They Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass,’’ Alaya Dawn Johnson (Asimov’s 1/13)
‘‘Pearl Rehabilitative Colony for Ungrateful Daughters,’’ Henry Lien (Asimov’s 12/13)
‘‘The Litigation Master and the Monkey King,’’ Ken Liu (Lightspeed 8/13)
‘‘In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind,’’ Sarah Pinsker (Strange Horizons 7/1 – 7/8/13)
Short Story
Winner: ‘‘If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love,’’ Rachel Swirsky (Apex 3/13)
Nominees:
‘‘The Sounds of Old Earth,’’ Matthew Kressel (Lightspeed 1/13)
‘‘Selkie Stories Are for Losers,’’ Sofia Samatar (Strange Horizons 1/7/13)
‘‘Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer,’’ Kenneth Schneyer (Clockwork Phoenix 4)
‘‘Alive, Alive Oh,’’ Sylvia Spruck Wrigley (Lightspeed 6/13)
Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation
Winner: Gravity
Nominees:
Doctor Who: ‘‘The Day of the Doctor’’
Europa Report
Her
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Pacific Rim
Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Book
Winner: Sister Mine, Nalo Hopkinson (Grand Central)
Nominees:
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, Holly Black (Little, Brown; Indigo)
When We Wake, Karen Healey (Allen & Unwin; Little, Brown)
The Summer Prince, Alaya Dawn Johnson (Levine)
Hero, Alethea Kontis (Harcourt)
September Girls, Bennett Madison (Harper Teen)
A Corner of White, Jaclyn Moriarty (Levine)
Kevin O’Donnell Jr. Service to SFWA Award: Michael Armstrong
2013 Damon Knight Grand Master Award: Samuel R. Delany
2013 Special Honoree: Frank M. Robinson
Posted in Writing, tagged creativity, Fiction, inspiration, kurt vonnegut, speculative fiction, storytelling, Writers, writing on May 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »
I’m work, work, working this week, getting lots done and I hope you are too. Today I bring you Kurt Vonnegut’s ideas on the shapes of stories, posted by Aerogramme Writers’ Studio with a terrific infographic designed by Maya Eilam. If you are a visual person, like to shore up your understanding of concepts with images, or just enjoy seeing how a great storyteller conceptualizes his work, you may find this useful.
The Shapes of Stories by Kurt Vonnegut
Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand.
― Kurt Vonnegut
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