Monthly Archives: April 2012

Teen Female Characters “Still Figuring it Out”

April 28, 2012 By in writing, Pop Culture, Characters, YA fiction Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

I have been thinking a lot lately about female protagonist and especially teen female protagonist.  The more YA I read, it seems like most teenage female leads can be broken into 3 big buckets:

  • the Hero – she is either the head cheerleader/prom queen who has the stereotypical perfect life but deep down inside is missing something OR the nerdy, unnoticed, unsuspecting girl who eventually finds herself and rivals the head cheerleader/prom queen.
  • the Damsel in Distress – she is constantly needing/wanting to be saved.  Mostly from herself, mostly by hot, male characters.
  • the Born Matriarch – shel has the heart of Mother Teresa and will one day surely be canonized because she always does the right thing.  She wants to save everyone (even your dark, vampire soul).

This is not to say that characters that fall into these buckets can’t be totally amazing. Of course, clichés exist for a reason; we all play these roles.  Some of us favor one more than the others and some of us flip-flop every hour.  Tavi Gevison, one of my favorite bloggers gave this great TedxTeen talk a couple of weeks ago.  I’ve been reading Tavi’s blog Style Rookie, for the past four years partly because she’s amazing, partly because she really takes me back to my teenage years and partly because I want to be her when I grow up…

“…[cardboard characters cause people to] expect women to be that easy to understand and women get mad at themselves for not being that simple.  In actuality, women are complicated. Women are multifaceted. Not because women are crazy, but because people are crazy and women happen to be people.”

Her concluding talking point is that people (especially teens) are a walking bundle of contradictions.  I love this because despite having not been a teenager for a decade, I feel like every day is still an adventure in trying to reconcile these contradictions.  Of course, now I use different tactics than I used then, and am now far more OK with this dichotomy within myself (personal growth #FTW!).

People make both rational and irrational decisions.  Decisions that are pragmatic and decisions that are emotional.  I know that in my life, some of the smartest decisions and some of the most boring choices I have made came from a logical place.  Some of the most rewarding decisions and some of the dumbest choices I have made came from making completely emotional decisions.

I realize that this is all very obvious, but why isn’t it more reflected in teen female characters and particularly in YA Faction?  Who are your favorite YA book characters or writers who break this mold?

Obsession: Vanessa Paradis

April 24, 2012 By in flow, inspiration, music Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Do you ever start writing listening to a particular record and find yourself needing to listen to the same record over and over again to keep the flow?

I listened to Vanessa Paradis ALL WEEKEND!

<3

I saw you walk down the street 
With some other girl 
Always thought that I was the only one in your world 
Baby can you tell me so 
Out of sight out of mind ain’t what love ought to be 
And I hoped all the time that you’d be faithful to me 
Faithful to me 

All I’m asking you for when you walk out the door 
Is to be my baby, baby 
I just want to be sure 
That forever and more 
You would be my baby 

Love is just like a flower baby it has to grow 
And when you are away I’m even loving you more 
I just have to let you know 
One on one is the way and that’s the way it should be 
So if you’re not gonna stay 
The don’t be playing with me 
You can set me free 

All I’m asking you for when you walk out the door 
Is to be my baby, baby 
‘Cause all this love is for you 
And you know that I’m true 
And I’ll be your baby 

All I’m asking you for when you walk out the door 
Is to be my baby, baby 
‘Cause you knew from the start 
That you were working my heart 
Won’t you be my baby 

I remember our walk the other Saturday night 
Sweet harmonies filled and floated through our minds 
Never felt this way before 
We were riding so high an love and understanding 
So why go wasting your time when you have got such a find 
That is everlasting 

All I’m asking you for when you walk out the door 
Is to be my baby, baby 
I just want to be sure 
That forever and more 
You would be my baby 

All I’m asking you for when you walk out the door 
Is to be my baby, baby 
‘Cause all this love is for you and you know 
That I’m true 
And I’ll be your baby 
And I want you to love me baby.

Read Dreadful Dumb Books

April 23, 2012 By in Quotes, writing Tags: , Leave a comment

“You must write every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads. I wish you a wrestling match with your creative muse that will last a lifetime. I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you. May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories – science fiction or otherwise. Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.”  — Ray Bradbury

Albiet 4 days late, I am happy to report that I managed to complete my first writing assignment for class. While anything to do with “late” generally gives me anxiety, I am feeling pretty good about this. Considering last week, I also finished my old job AND started my new job, one which involved a business trip to Kansas City (ok, maybe I just spent too much time eating BBQ).

Usually after going this hard I would give myself a break from writing, but honoring my plan, I am not going to do that. However, I will switch it up a bit, so maybe a little more blog writing :)

Oh, and this week, I want to read – both the “dumb and the glorious.”

Happy Monday!

xo

Conflict: Man Versus ?????????????????

April 13, 2012 By in Quotes, Vonnegut, writing Tags: , , Leave a comment

Photo credit: Helen Warner

I nearly had an anxiety attack when I signed into my Gotham Writer’s Workshop class today and realized that I have been assigned to post my work NEXT WEEK!  At GWW, you turn in two longer pieces for critique, so it’s kind of like having to take your mid-term after just one lesson.  I basically have two options at this point, continue with the piece that I started in the first class or start something new.  The problem with my old piece is that I still haven’t really worked out the conflict, yet.  So, all afternoon I have been conflicted over conflict, er.

“There is no reason why good cannot triumph as often as evil. The triumph of anything is a matter of organization. If there are such things as angels, I hope that they are organized along the lines of the Mafia.”  - Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titans

Sometimes getting back to the basics eases my need to breathe into a brown paper bag.  Approximately 2 seconds of Internet research triggers memories from Freshman English Class…there are two types of conflict: Internal and External.  I think that most good stories have both.

According to Aristotle, in order to hold the interest, the hero must have a single conflict; let’s take a look at some options…

Seven Basic Conflicts (via wikipedia)

  1. Man v. Man - A conflict arising between two or more characters of the same kind.
  2. Man v. Nature - A character pitted against one or more forces of nature.  It is also commonly found in stories about survival in remote locales.
  3. Man v. Machine - A conflict between a character and an artificial entity such as a computer, robot, or android. The emphasis is on contrasting the character as a natural organism with a synthetic creature.
  4. Man v. Self- An internal conflict involving a character wrestling with conflicting emotions, thoughts, or desires.
  5. Man v. Supernatural - A character at odds with elements outside of the natural realm. These include encounters with ghosts, extraterrestrials, and other speculative or theoretical phenomena.
  6. Man v. Society - A conflict between bad and good.
  7. Man v. Destiny - A character attempting to break free from a future path chosen without his or her consent.

Do you have a favorite type of narrative conflict to write/read about?

Does blog writing count as procrastinating? hmmmm…..

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do

April 10, 2012 By in Tips, writing Tags: , Leave a comment

I loved waking up to this post on McSweeney’s, so I figured I would repost.  I think that I am going to post these on my wall, next to Ideo’s Braistorming Rules.  I particularly like #5 about finding your Muse.

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do by Colin Nissan

1. Write Every Day   Writing is a muscle. Smaller than a hamstring and slightly bigger than a bicep, and it needs to be exercised to get stronger. Think of your words as reps, your paragraphs as sets, your pages as daily workouts….

2. Don’t Procrastinate   …Well, it’s time to look procrastination in the eye and tell that seafaring wench, “Sorry not today, today I write.”

3. Fight Through Writer’s Block   …Whatever you choose to call it, staring into the abyss in search of an idea can be terrifying. But ask yourself this; was Picasso intimidated by the blank canvas?…

4. Learn from the Masters   Mark Twain once said, “Show, don’t tell.” This is an incredibly important lesson for writers to remember; never get such a giant head that you feel entitled to throw around obscure phrases like “Show, don’t tell.”….

5. Find Your Muse   …Just be patient in your search, because the right muse/human relationship can last a lifetime.

6. Hone Your Craft …Perhaps George Bernard Shaw said it best when upon sending a letter to a close friend, he wrote, “I’m sorry this letter is so long, I didn’t have time to make it shorter.”…

7. Ask for Feedback   …Remember, the only kind of criticism that doesn’t make you a better writer is dishonest criticism…

8. Read, Read, Read   It’s no secret that great writers are great readers, and that if you can’t read, your writing will often suffer…

9. Study the Rules, then Break Them   Part of finding your own voice as a writer is finding your own grammar…

10. Keep it Together   …So treat your demons with the respect they deserve, and with enough prescriptions to keep you wearing pants.

Read the full descriptions by Colin Colin Nissan, here.

Writing Tips from a Commitment-Phobe

April 8, 2012 By in Quotes, Tips, Vonnegut, writing Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Hello!

I am rested, relaxed and feeling particularly motivated.  This year has been all about new things for me and I am happy to report that this has been my most successful year for accomplishing New Year’s resolutions (it’s only April so knock on wood).  One of which is to dedicate more time to writing and reading.  My daytime job keeps me pretty nomadic (which is what I like to blame my commitment phobia on), as one would suspect, the hardest part for me is to find the time. So here are the 4 steps I am taking to help make writing a more regular part of my life:

  1. Start a new blog
  2. Sign up for classes
  3. Block out time on my calendar
  4. Write every day.

Rationale:  1. I have this theory that if I tell the world about it, then I will do it.  check.  2. I take homework seriously.  And I love school; I am a nerd.  I just signed up for my second class at Gotham Writer’s Workshop.  check.  3. If something is on my cal then it’s real.  I think most clearly in the early morning or late at night, depending on what I did that day.  I am really going to try and stick with an early morning routine.  I marked off time everyday, in different amounts of minutes.  check.   4. Only time will tell, but I am off to a good start today ^-^

Here is some inspiration for the day (that I totally ripped off of Brainpickings) from Mr. Kurt Vonnegut himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmVcIhnvSx8&feature=player_embedded

8 tips on how to write a good short story according to Kurt Vonnegut:

  1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
  2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
  3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
  4. Every sentence must do one of two things-reveal character or advance the action.
  5. Start as close to the end as possible
  6. 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.
  7. Write to please just one person.  If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia
  8. Give your readers as much information 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.

If you have made it this far, THANKS for reading my first blog post.  I am not totally sure what this blog is all about and I am ok with that (commitment-phobes LOVE ambiguity, ha!)  But you can expect posts with regularity on: literature, travel, and a plethora of random topics that I might be “researching” for something that I am writing.  Oh, and my tastes range from Kurt Vonnegut to Amanda Hocking, so you have been warned!

<3

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