Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged awesome, books, disaster preparedness, home, libraries, literature, NPR, public libraries, quotes, Thoughts, TS Eliot, Writers on August 20, 2014| 1 Comment »
The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man.
― T.S. Eliot
Posted in Writing, tagged artists, books, creativity, fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Lev Grossman, literature, NYT, sff, speculative fiction, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing on August 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »
If you haven’t seen it yet, there’s a nice piece by Lev Grossman in The New York Times on “Finding My Voice in Fantasy.”
We — as a whole, as a culture — seemed to be getting more interested in the kinds of questions fantasy deals with: questions about history, and about our connection to the natural world, and about power, how to find it in yourself, how to master it, what to do with it.
…
Fantasy is sometimes dismissed as childish, or escapist, but I take what I am doing very, very seriously. For me fantasy isn’t about escaping from reality, it’s about re-encountering the challenges of the real world, but externalized and transformed.
Posted in Likes, tagged alternative, awesome, books, community building, ephemera, history, inspiration, librarians, library, literature, Megan Prelinger, Prelinger Library, private library on July 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Here’s a fun article at Modcloth about an independent librarian, cultural historian, community builder and all-around book maven:
Best Job Ever: Renegade Librarian Megan Prelinger
The Prelinger Library is located in San Francisco and is open on Wednesdays, but much of the collection is also available online.
I just asked the question, ‘What would an alternative research library look like? And, what would research look like if it was as much fun as going out on a field trip?’
That sounds like my kind of library.
Posted in Writing, tagged brevity, creativity, Danny Heitman, editing, Fiction, finishing, how to, John Kenneth Galbraith, literature, New York Times, Thoughts, Writers, writing, writing advice on March 26, 2014| Leave a Comment »
In writing, brevity works not only as a function of space on a page, but the time that an audience is willing to spend with you.
A friend sent me an excellent article this morning, with some of the most useful advice I can think of for writers. It can also be one of the least welcome suggestions:
Keep It Short.
Danny Heitman’s essay uses this pithy guidance to sum up a lot of bits writers hear when trying to improve their craft: be concise, be concrete, be on point, write for your audience, etc. This does not mean blindly banging away on the Delete button, mind you:
I frequently hear champions of brevity advising writers to cut their word counts by scratching all the adjectives or adverbs… The point of brevity isn’t to chop a certain kind of word, but to make sure that each word is essential.
Short version, keep it short. (Although I can’t help myself, here’s one more quote from the article, this time citing John Kenneth Galbraith):
The gains from brevity are obvious; in most efforts to achieve it, the worst and the dullest go. And it is the worst and the dullest that spoil the rest.
Draft your short story, essay, poem, novel or recipe, then if you have a little time, put it aside. When you come back to it fresh, make friends with that Delete button.
Posted in Writing, tagged books, campbell award, free, genre fiction, inspiration, literature, science fiction, sff, short stories, speculative fiction, Stupefying Stories, Writers, writing, yay on February 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Another year, another free Campbellian download!
Stupefying Stories has just made available M. David Blake’s “The 2014 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology.” This collection contains more than 860,000 words of fiction by authors eligible for this John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer award. Fabulous fiction, and all free free free!
Limited time offer, get yours today!
Posted in Writing, tagged books, diversity, Fiction, history, literature, Thoughts, Writers, writing on November 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I’m busy working on a hard deadline so today I invite you to enjoy this great, self-reflective piece on diversity in historical fiction (and by extension, all fictional worlds) by Mary Robinette Kowal. She’s talking specifically about race but the same points apply to gender, sexuality, etc. as well.
Don’t blame the homogeneity of your novel on historical accuracy. That’s your choice, as an author.
Posted in Entertainment, Likes, tagged best of, books, entertainment, Fiction, genre fiction, literature, NPR, sff on October 6, 2013| Leave a Comment »
It’s time for me to find a new book to read, and what better place to start looking than SFSignal’s delightful visualization of NPR’s Top 100 SFF Books? Sure, the list is a little older, but literature is timeless, people, timeless!
Posted in Entertainment, Writing, tagged arts, entertainment, equality, genre fiction, literature, women, writing 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.
J.R. Johnson 
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