Writing not-sexist stories is tough. I’m not being flippant: I’m a woman who was raised in a reasonably feminist household and who currently lives in an environment with more-feminist-than-average peers, and my first drafts nearly always make me cringe. It would be easy to explain that the stories in my…
I read Sarah Rees Brennan’s novel The Demon’s Lexicon last weekend. It was quite enjoyable (although I still don’t understand the title, but nevermind, I’m always missing details by the end of a book), and I recommend it. However, I’m bringing it up mainly because it reminded of something I’ve…
So, about strong women in fiction. And I don’t mean strong only in this sense. This past month, I had the opportunity to work with U of T’s Drama Centre on a production as a historical consultant and a co-lighting-designer. While doing one of the many tasks that fall to…
Maybe you, too, read the short story “The Lady or the Tiger”, by Frank Stockton, in middle or high school. If you didn’t, read it now, because I’m going to spoil it in the next paragraph.
Here’s the thing about me and characters from plays: I don’t care about them. Not really. Now, I love plays, and believe me, when I watch one, if there’s a character who’s particularly cool or hateful or attractive, I’m certainly rooting for them or interested in them or hoping they’ll…
At the risk of revealing the depths of my current television obsession, let me just say that although this blog entry starts with an example from House, it’s not *about* House. My favourite-and-least-favourite character on House is Cuddy. The “least favourite” is because she’s been undergoing quite the character assassination…
Actual ramblings this week. You’ve been warned. You know the “magician” episode of any show that claims it deals with science vs. superstition? The one where the main characters for whatever reason encounter a professional magician? And somehow, the character who’s always right (can be either Reason or Faith, depending…
I’ve been working on some short stories lately, and I can’t help but notice a pattern in them and some of my novels: many of them are about how the main character comes to be the villain of the narrative.
Why am I writing a third entry on this theme? Because, man, it’s easier to write about writing than it is to actually write! Just kidding! (Well, not about the relative ease thing – that’s true. But the implication that I’m not working on my regular stuff isn’t.) So far,…
Last week, I blogged about writers having to balance between accepting other people’s criticisms and choosing what makes them feel best about their own story (and about how usually you can do both). As examples, I purposely chose some silly stuff: murdering circus clowns and being anti-letter-E-ist. But part of…