Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘arts’

Why Female Characters Should Be More Than “Strong”

Posted in Entertainment, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on August 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I Hate Strong Female Characters

Over at the New Statesman, Sophia McDougall has written a thoughtful piece on female characters in television, movies, and text. Provocatively titled, it is much more complex than one might think at first glance. This isn’t a tear-down or a diatribe, and it’s well worth a read.

I like “sexy kickassery” as much as the next person, but when it comes to characters…

What do I want instead of a Strong Female Character? I want a male:female character ratio of 1:1 instead of 3:1 on our screens. I want a wealth of complex female protagonists who can be either strong or weak or both or neither, because they are more than strength or weakness. Badass gunslingers and martial artists sure, but also interesting women who are shy and quiet and do, sometimes, put up with others’ shit because in real life there’s often no practical alternative. And besides heroines, I want to see women in as many and varied secondary and character roles as men: female sidekicks, mentors, comic relief, rivals, villains. I want not to be asked, when I try to sell a book about two girls, two boys and a genderless robot, if we couldn’t change one of those girls to a boy.

…

I want her to be free to express herself

I want her to have meaningful, emotional relationships with other women

I want her to be weak sometimes

I want her to be strong in a way that isn’t about physical dominance or power

I want her to cry if she feels like crying

I want her to ask for help

I want her to be who she is

…this list of things is better.

Read Full Post »

Over at Clarion: Post on Place Settings by Gregory Frost

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »

>> note: this is a repost to get around an editing problem; ignore if you’ve seen it or reread at your leisure…

Over at the Clarion Foundation‘s blog, Gregory Frost shares some terrific advice about the importance of establishing place in writing. I agree that authors need to use their details wisely, but too many people forget the importance of place, and I’m not just saying that because I spent time studying Geography.

Quick, what’s the first question you would ask if you woke up in a strange place?

“Where am I?”

Settle that and you can move on to other issues (like “Why am I perched on a tower fifty stories in the air?” or “Who tied me up and how the hell do I get out of here?”). Without it,  all the conflict in the world can’t keep the story from feeling like it’s taking place in front of a green screen.

Read Full Post »

David Mamet’s Writing Master Class

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on July 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Today’s useful writing link: David Mamet’s Master Class Memo to the Writers of The Unit. Originally written in 2005, it remains as concise a discussion of dramatic writing as I’ve seen. Funny too. For those of you interested in writing, I highly recommend that you read the whole thing (it’s not long); here are a few excerpts to whet your appetite.
 
QUESTION:WHAT IS DRAMA? DRAMA, AGAIN, IS THE QUEST OF THE HERO TO OVERCOME THOSE THINGS WHICH PREVENT HIM FROM ACHIEVING A SPECIFIC, ACUTE GOAL.
SO: WE, THE WRITERS, MUST ASK OURSELVES OF EVERY SCENE THESE THREE QUESTIONS.
1) WHO WANTS WHAT?
2) WHAT HAPPENS IF HER DON’T GET IT?
3) WHY NOW?

Ignore the typos and the all caps to focus on the substance. This memo is terrific advice for any writer, television or otherwise. 
  
START, EVERY TIME, WITH THIS INVIOLABLE RULE: THE SCENE MUST BE DRAMATIC. it must start because the hero HAS A PROBLEM, AND IT MUST CULMINATE WITH THE HERO FINDING HIM OR HERSELF EITHER THWARTED OR EDUCATED THAT ANOTHER WAY EXISTS.
 
 
LOOK AT THE SCENE AND ASK YOURSELF “IS IT DRAMATIC? IS IT ESSENTIAL? DOES IT ADVANCE THE PLOT?
ANSWER TRUTHFULLY.
 
On that note, it’s time to get back to writing:)

Read Full Post »

Writing Advice Mashup

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

It’s Monday, and I like to start the week with a healthy dose of motivation. This list is a mashup of writing advice from a number of sources, arranged in no particular order except that I believe the last one to be the most important. Bracketed initials at the end of each entry refer to the author key below. Today’s post is brought to you by the letter F (as in “finish!”).
  • Don’t use generic beginnings. [lb]
  • Don’t use slow beginnings. [lb]
  • Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted. [kv]
  • Don’t try too hard. [lb]
  • Don’t use clichés. [lb]
  • Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for. [kv]
  • Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water. [kv]
  • Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action. [kv]
  • Start as close to the end as possible. [kv]
  • Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them-in order that the reader may see what they are made of. [kv]
  • Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages. [kv]
  • Structure, a.k.a. know where you’re going [jw]
  • Have something to say [jw]
  • Everybody has a reason to live, know who everybody is and why they’re there [jw]
  • Cut what you love [jw]
  • Listen to feedback [jw]…but also…
  • Don’t listen, and do the unexpected [jw]
  • Don’t sell out [jw]
  • Finish it! [jw]
Author Key and Citations:
[jw] Joss Whedon, adapted from Joss Whedon’s Top 10 Writing Tips.

Read Full Post »

Welcome to Diagon Alley!

Posted in Entertainment, Likes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Google Maps Street View now features an up close and personal tour through the Warner Brothers version of Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley. If that’s not fun for a Sunday morning, I don’t know what is. Thanks go out to the magical imagination of  J.K. Rowling, and enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Reporting Harassment at a Convention: A First-Person How To

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , , , on June 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Reblogging this because Elise Matthesen has been brave enough to turn a bad experience into something useful, and it may help someone in the future… although I hope you don’t need it.

Automattic Special Projects's avatarWhatever

My friend Elise Matthesen was creeped upon at a recent convention by someone of some influence in the genre; she decided that she was going to do something about it and reported the person for sexual harassment, both to the convention and to the person’s employer. And now she’s telling you how she did it and what the process is like. Here’s her story.

—-

We’re geeks. We learn things and share, right? Well, this year at WisCon I learned firsthand how to report sexual harassment. In case you ever need or want to know, here’s what I learned and how it went.

Two editors I knew were throwing a book release party on Friday night at the convention. I was there, standing around with a drink talking about Babylon 5, the work of China Mieville, and Marxist theories of labor (like you do) when an editor from a different…

View original post 1,930 more words

Read Full Post »

Quote for Today

Posted in Funny, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

“Write something, damnit! Send it in. Do it again.”
– Gardner Dozois

Because some days you (ok, I;) need a kick in the pants.

Read Full Post »

Joe Hill Writes Like… How About You?

Posted in Funny, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 22, 2013| 2 Comments »

Joe Hill's Thrills.

I was feeling a little blue and I was looking for something on the internet to cheer me up and Warren Ellis has a post on his tumblr pointing to a website, I Write Like, so I thought, oh, hey, why not? Warren got David Foster Wallace; I was thinking, huh, maybe it’ll tell me I write like John Steinbeck! Hell, maybe David Mitchell!!!

Thanks to the above post by Joe Hill I’ve discovered an entertaining website called “I Write Like.” Unlike him, however, my stylistic tendencies seem to be more varied. Depending on the story, I apparently write like Cory Doctorow, J.K. Rowling, Ray Bradbury, and David Foster Wallace. I think the minds behind the site put this fun tool together to raise writers’ confidence levels; who wouldn’t want to be told they write like any one of the people on that list?

I don’t write like Stephen King, though. Joe Hill’s got that all wrapped up.

Read Full Post »

Exciting News…

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on June 14, 2013| 2 Comments »

Exciting news, I have the page proof for my forthcoming Nature story in my Inbox this morning. What, I forgot to mention that I had a story accepted for their Futures column? I’ve been busy so I’m afraid that fell through the cracks, but that doesn’t mean I’m not thrilled by the prospect, because I am. The proof looks great, and the artwork they commissioned for the piece is just terrific, capturing the essence of the story in one beautiful image. I look forward to sharing it with you soon!

Read Full Post »

Iain Banks, 1954-2013

Posted in Other, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Iain Banks, 1954-2013 | Tor.com

This piece by Tor editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden gives a kind remembrance of author Iain Banks, who died yesterday from cancer. I particularly liked this description of Banks’s personality:

In the social world of British SF, Banks will be remembered as a larger-than-life figure—irrepressible, fearlessly outspoken, a boisterous lover of life’s many pleasures, and given to unsung acts of kindness and generosity.

We might all wish to be remembered so. And as Neil Gaiman says in his own reaction to the news:

If you’ve never read any of his books, read one of his books. Then read another. Even the bad ones were good, and the good ones were astonishing.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »