Fantasy

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Another Damned Damsel in Distress

In today’s post, I briefly explore unconscious bias and stereotypes. I could easily write 10,000 words about this (and I’ve also touched on it here, here, and here), but this blog is about the writing process, not the social deficiencies of our culture. So, I’ll share a little insight into my own process in the hopes it might help you recognize something you’d like to change in yours.

The title of this post came to me during my morning commute. I’d been thinking about writing my protagonist, which can be challenging when she is a thirteen-year-old girl and I am not. Of course, neither am I a wizard, dragon, slither-wither, or dreddendow. Nevertheless, it’s still something to consider because, in my experience, thirteen-year-old girls tend to be realer those other things, and therefore, people know more about them. In other words, I didn’t want to set myself up for some lazy, shortcut criticism of my story: Oh, another damned damsel in distress story.

A little more context about me. I’m a Gen-Xer, a small-town white kid whose life was 99%-filled with white people until I went to college. The stories of my childhood similarly lacked diversity: the majority had straight white heroes regularly saving women and/or children. Because clearly, helpless women and children give you the most “hero credit”. Unless perhaps you’re saving this baby pig.

230191-Cute-Baby-Piggy

Sorry, helpless kiddos!

Call them tropes, call them trite, or call them tired, I learned a lot about right and wrong from my childhood tales. I also, unconsciously, learned about strength and weakness. As a writer, I’m learning how to, uh, learn from these examples.

Go through this brief exercise with me. Don’t worry, we’re in a judgment-free zone, and no one will know your answers except you. Continue reading →

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Writing Exercise #8 – Whimsical Horror

This is post is approximately 650 words, many of them silly nonsense, but limned with a sinister tone, I hope.

I like fun and I like whimsy, and I like them mixed with horror. In the appropriate proportions, of course. Without the proper balance, a story is either too dark or too goofy. It’s something I’m managing in certain parts of my current manuscript.

I think this penchant comes from fairy tales I read in childhood. They’re cautionary stories, of course: stay in bed, eat your peas, don’t lie! They all promise horrible fates to children who fail in some regard. Take Little Red Riding Hood, who was devoured by a slavering wolf before a woodcutter sliced open the beast’s belly to free her.

In deliberate contrast to the horrors of the story, the pages often featured colorful illustrations of cherubic tots venturing obliviously into danger. After a few similar stories, we all knew something bad was coming, despite the innocence of the art. And we loved it. As kids, we were practically watching them through half-covered eyes, gleefully anticipating their demise as we imagined their chubby little legs carrying them toward certain doom.  Continue reading →