I don't even know where to begin, but since this is a writing blog, I'll start with my writing.
I FINISHED WRITING ANOTHER NOVEL!!! I finished Dragon Huntress on April 9th, my third novel ever, and the second of my little writing spree :) What am I working on now? I put up a vote on my Facebook and my friends and family chose "Thirteen Masters" as their favorite title, so that is the one I'm writing now.
Sort of.
My writing has been hindered by another update: I MOVED! My mother and brother now live WITH ME, thank you very much. I paid my first mortgage on the fourteenth or thirteenth...I think. So here I am, blogging in my house. I'm so proud! The only problem is moving has put a severe cramp in my writing-lifestyle. I couldn't come up with ideas or plot or write Thirteen Masters...until today! I mean, I had written twelve pages so far, but during lunch at work I was able to actually come up with a plot and some twists and ideas. Until then, I only had names and a general premise. To help with ideas, I'm reading myths and legends books for Celtic, Japanese, Norse, and Greek mythologies. You'll just love this book once I'm done :D I think I can make this one into a really great series, but starting tomorrow I'll just focus on getting back on my 1500 word goal.
And getting back to discipline in general. As I put on my facebook status:
"DISCIPLINE: I HAZ IT!!!!! Every. Single. Day this week (as of last Sunday) I wrote 1500 words (some 3-5 pages), sketched, read, studied Japanese, avoided junk food, ran 15min on my treadmill, did 20 sit ups, and 20 push-ups. On top of working 35 hours, going to Muay Thai, Judo, and Jiu Jitsu on Mon, Wed, and Fri respectively, walking the dogs the days I didn't have class, and STILL finding time for fun. #warriorprincess ftw !!!!! >3 Oh, yeah, and I'm almost finished with my third novel. BOO. YEAH."
So I want that discipline back baby! And I WILL get it back.
Plus more, since I'm not one to stop moving forward.
Another update: this week I invested some money. Since I work at a bank, the annual brokerage account fee is waived, so since I had some money saved up, I figured why not? Thus I made my first investment! :D I've wanted to invest since I was like...fifteen hahaha so now I have and it's yet another thing off my vision board. (Look it up--vision boards are really great motivators!)
And JUST TODAY!: I applied for banker positions and reapplied to my local University. I'm also looking into a university that offers a comics and sequential art major and may take a class at each this coming fall :) Besides that, I learned my work helps find volunteer opportunities for employees. They didn't have any good ones, but it reminded me that I want to get into that, so I'll be looking for some volunteer networks that can call on me on my days off. Time to give back to my community!
What are your updates? How's life and writing for everybody? Leave a comment please!! :D
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Writer Meets MMA (mixed martial arts)
So this week I did something that I've been meaning to do for a long time:
start taking some sort of martial arts.
It's not like I worry about my safety and want to know self-defense techniques. I've just always looked up to strong women and especially ones that can handle themselves in a fight. I love action movies (and although the way they fight is little like it is taught) I still want to be like my heroes.
Let's take this as a character-building opportunity:
We know that a character has to have strong motivation to do something. Characters are more interesting and real when they have layers, so here are mine:
Become athletic, fit, and a great martial artist
I want to do the above BECAUSE I don't want to be weak; I want to be strong
I want to be strong and not weak BECAUSE my heroes are strong
I want to be like my strong heroes BECAUSE my mother is strong (though in a different way :) )
And from there I can't go much further really. I love my mother and look up to her, so I want to be like her.
Thus, I have layers. I have goals that act as motivation for other goals that are all rooted in one basic motivation that often steers a lot of what I do.
Now, moving away from the character stuff, let me tell you about my first couple of classes in MMA.
I was super nervous. I knew it would be male dominated, but the first class I watched had 30 men and 0 women. Period. I've never been one to exactly challenge male/female dominated activities. I believe in doing so, I've just never had any interest in things that are male dominated with exception to reading comic books :P Never had an interest in football, cars, tools, the army, etc. If I entered any of those fields, I would come up against the same ratios as I found in the MMA class.
I felt, honestly, like a girl trying to hop aboard a ship back in the day: i.e. NO GIRLS ALLOWED, girls are bad luck, sort of a thing.
Turns out (and I'm glad I didn't act on my insecurities because of this) but the guys are not at all worried about having girls join.
The class begins with warm-ups, followed by a specific lesson, and then ends with grappling. No joke. First day and I ended up going against...two blue belts and a purple? Guys who were stronger, more experienced, and heavier. But everything went fine, to my surprise. I learned a lot because the boys were happy to teach me. It was an awesome work out and today I'm insanely sore.
So, if you're going to take something from this, take the following:
If something interests you, especially if it's out of your comfort zone, DO IT.
Don't make assumptions.
Being brave is about confronting fears, not being fearless. (I seriously felt nauseous going into my first class because I was so nervous and afraid of looking like an idiot)
So there you are: Writer meets MMA. The warrior princess lives! ;P
start taking some sort of martial arts.
It's not like I worry about my safety and want to know self-defense techniques. I've just always looked up to strong women and especially ones that can handle themselves in a fight. I love action movies (and although the way they fight is little like it is taught) I still want to be like my heroes.
Let's take this as a character-building opportunity:
We know that a character has to have strong motivation to do something. Characters are more interesting and real when they have layers, so here are mine:
Become athletic, fit, and a great martial artist
I want to do the above BECAUSE I don't want to be weak; I want to be strong
I want to be strong and not weak BECAUSE my heroes are strong
I want to be like my strong heroes BECAUSE my mother is strong (though in a different way :) )
And from there I can't go much further really. I love my mother and look up to her, so I want to be like her.
Thus, I have layers. I have goals that act as motivation for other goals that are all rooted in one basic motivation that often steers a lot of what I do.
Now, moving away from the character stuff, let me tell you about my first couple of classes in MMA.
I was super nervous. I knew it would be male dominated, but the first class I watched had 30 men and 0 women. Period. I've never been one to exactly challenge male/female dominated activities. I believe in doing so, I've just never had any interest in things that are male dominated with exception to reading comic books :P Never had an interest in football, cars, tools, the army, etc. If I entered any of those fields, I would come up against the same ratios as I found in the MMA class.
I felt, honestly, like a girl trying to hop aboard a ship back in the day: i.e. NO GIRLS ALLOWED, girls are bad luck, sort of a thing.
Turns out (and I'm glad I didn't act on my insecurities because of this) but the guys are not at all worried about having girls join.
The class begins with warm-ups, followed by a specific lesson, and then ends with grappling. No joke. First day and I ended up going against...two blue belts and a purple? Guys who were stronger, more experienced, and heavier. But everything went fine, to my surprise. I learned a lot because the boys were happy to teach me. It was an awesome work out and today I'm insanely sore.
So, if you're going to take something from this, take the following:
If something interests you, especially if it's out of your comfort zone, DO IT.
Don't make assumptions.
Being brave is about confronting fears, not being fearless. (I seriously felt nauseous going into my first class because I was so nervous and afraid of looking like an idiot)
So there you are: Writer meets MMA. The warrior princess lives! ;P
Friday, March 16, 2012
Vacation Time
Remember that post where I mentioned everything I'd do if I could write full time?
Well I get a week's vacation starting tomorrow and I'll certainly have time to test it out.
I'm torn between trying to do everything and do nothing at all...
In the end I usually lean towards everything and end up doing nothing...
:)
Let's blame human nature, shall we? ;D
I'm stuck on a fight scene in Dragon Huntress, but I better get over it quick. There's a lot more action where the came from. If I have the whole day off and dedicate a work-shift to writing, I should get four to five thousand words done per day...
That would be awesome because I'd add 35k over my vaca and be very near done :D
On an unrelated note:
at my not-so-favorite job, we had a power outage :D Do you know how fun a power outage is at a bank? Well let me tell you! Banks are naturally well-closed up for obvious safety reasons. Unlike my previous job at Barnes, we don't have big fat windows you can drive a truck through (for better or worse :P)
So when the lights went out, it was DARK. And awesome 8D
We couldn't process transcations, couldn't let anyone in more than one at a time, and didn't have to deal with almost anyone for the last two hours of my shift (I only worked til two anyway). And this on a Friday--busiest day of the week. Add to that the fact that everyone left their mortage for the last minute (also today :) ) and we should have been painfully busy. But not so today :P
It was lovely. Us tellers were already having fun before the blackout and the day before we we were up to some shenanigans (spelled wrong). The blackout just made us let loose and chill out for a while, which was, as I mentioned, lovely.
So there you have it. Blackouts, vacations, and writing. My life is a story these days :D
Well I get a week's vacation starting tomorrow and I'll certainly have time to test it out.
I'm torn between trying to do everything and do nothing at all...
In the end I usually lean towards everything and end up doing nothing...
:)
Let's blame human nature, shall we? ;D
I'm stuck on a fight scene in Dragon Huntress, but I better get over it quick. There's a lot more action where the came from. If I have the whole day off and dedicate a work-shift to writing, I should get four to five thousand words done per day...
That would be awesome because I'd add 35k over my vaca and be very near done :D
On an unrelated note:
at my not-so-favorite job, we had a power outage :D Do you know how fun a power outage is at a bank? Well let me tell you! Banks are naturally well-closed up for obvious safety reasons. Unlike my previous job at Barnes, we don't have big fat windows you can drive a truck through (for better or worse :P)
So when the lights went out, it was DARK. And awesome 8D
We couldn't process transcations, couldn't let anyone in more than one at a time, and didn't have to deal with almost anyone for the last two hours of my shift (I only worked til two anyway). And this on a Friday--busiest day of the week. Add to that the fact that everyone left their mortage for the last minute (also today :) ) and we should have been painfully busy. But not so today :P
It was lovely. Us tellers were already having fun before the blackout and the day before we we were up to some shenanigans (spelled wrong). The blackout just made us let loose and chill out for a while, which was, as I mentioned, lovely.
So there you have it. Blackouts, vacations, and writing. My life is a story these days :D
Friday, March 9, 2012
What Should Keep the Story Moving
I'm well into Dragon Huntress and writing daily, but just yesterday I got stuck and frustrated. Here's what helped me keep moving that might help you in your writing:
What moves a story is the character. The character has a motivation, and it has to be strong. Revenge, safety, love, etc. From there they have a goal. Get revenge on Mrs. X who killed their family, run from the people threatening family, marry romantic interest. From there they have conflict reaching that goal. Things get in the way. The character gets in their own way. They get what they want and either realize they want more or want something else entirely.
Well, my character, Victoriana--greatest dragon huntress that ever lived--seeks to hunt the dragons in their own home after the dragons destroy a neighboring village. She decides to start with none other than the dragon king. Her motivation is revenge and to protect her family and fellow hunters. She can continue to have this motivation without pursuing the dragon king, but she cannot pursue the dragon king without this motivation. The conflict becomes that she gets to know the dragon king and gets to like him (that and he curses her :) ). She sees not all dragons are evil.
As soon as I reached that part, I got stuck. Why? Because I wanted her to stick with the same dragon-hating revenge-seeking motivation throughout the next scenes, but it wasn't possible. By all rights, what had occurred in previous scenes should have proved to her that her goal was no longer necessary.
How I got unstuck:
I gave her a new goal based in the same motivation the instant she realized she no longer hated all dragons. Instead, she turned her hatred and revenge-seeking on the same dragon that killed her family. "Coincidentally", the dragon king tells her where the find this same dragon. The scenes that would come hadn't changed in my mind, but having her motivation clear and logical made it easier for me to keep the writing flowing because the character could drive the story. Things didn't have to just HAPPEN. Victoriana would make things happen, and as circumstances get in the way, the story remains interesting because we all know what she wants. What we want to know, is how she's going to get it.
So there you are. If you are stuck or bored with your story, start by examining your character. Is she/he pursuing a goal for no conceivable motive? Is he/she not pursuing a goal at all, but simply running in the direction you want them to go? You can still get them running down that trail, just make them want to do it, for better or worse.
What moves a story is the character. The character has a motivation, and it has to be strong. Revenge, safety, love, etc. From there they have a goal. Get revenge on Mrs. X who killed their family, run from the people threatening family, marry romantic interest. From there they have conflict reaching that goal. Things get in the way. The character gets in their own way. They get what they want and either realize they want more or want something else entirely.
Well, my character, Victoriana--greatest dragon huntress that ever lived--seeks to hunt the dragons in their own home after the dragons destroy a neighboring village. She decides to start with none other than the dragon king. Her motivation is revenge and to protect her family and fellow hunters. She can continue to have this motivation without pursuing the dragon king, but she cannot pursue the dragon king without this motivation. The conflict becomes that she gets to know the dragon king and gets to like him (that and he curses her :) ). She sees not all dragons are evil.
As soon as I reached that part, I got stuck. Why? Because I wanted her to stick with the same dragon-hating revenge-seeking motivation throughout the next scenes, but it wasn't possible. By all rights, what had occurred in previous scenes should have proved to her that her goal was no longer necessary.
How I got unstuck:
I gave her a new goal based in the same motivation the instant she realized she no longer hated all dragons. Instead, she turned her hatred and revenge-seeking on the same dragon that killed her family. "Coincidentally", the dragon king tells her where the find this same dragon. The scenes that would come hadn't changed in my mind, but having her motivation clear and logical made it easier for me to keep the writing flowing because the character could drive the story. Things didn't have to just HAPPEN. Victoriana would make things happen, and as circumstances get in the way, the story remains interesting because we all know what she wants. What we want to know, is how she's going to get it.
So there you are. If you are stuck or bored with your story, start by examining your character. Is she/he pursuing a goal for no conceivable motive? Is he/she not pursuing a goal at all, but simply running in the direction you want them to go? You can still get them running down that trail, just make them want to do it, for better or worse.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Little Things Made Me Happy Today
This morning I had to take my little brother to school, so I was home at eight with two hours before work and I wrote. By the time I left for work, I had broken 10k on my third book :)
At work, I finished up my 1500 words. I actually sat down for my break, wrote for what seemed like two minutes in my mind, and looked up to see forty-five minutes had passed.
On the way home, I saw a quail and a rottweiler in my neighborhood. Love both, so I was all bouncy pulling into my driveway.
Once home, I realized I had all the time to myself since I got writing out of the way.
So since I arrived around six thirty, I inked my drawing of my main character, chatted with a friend on facebook on writing and other stuff, critiqued one of the submissions from my writer's group, read Macbeth (finding it freaky as hell so far), and still have forty minutes to spare. I'm going to plot another one of the books I want to write by talking to Satanic Jak and then chat some more with that friend of mine. Then go to be reading a comic book :)
Good freakin' day, I have to say. And tomorrow has a similar schedule so, here's to finding time when you really look for it!
At work, I finished up my 1500 words. I actually sat down for my break, wrote for what seemed like two minutes in my mind, and looked up to see forty-five minutes had passed.
On the way home, I saw a quail and a rottweiler in my neighborhood. Love both, so I was all bouncy pulling into my driveway.
Once home, I realized I had all the time to myself since I got writing out of the way.
So since I arrived around six thirty, I inked my drawing of my main character, chatted with a friend on facebook on writing and other stuff, critiqued one of the submissions from my writer's group, read Macbeth (finding it freaky as hell so far), and still have forty minutes to spare. I'm going to plot another one of the books I want to write by talking to Satanic Jak and then chat some more with that friend of mine. Then go to be reading a comic book :)
Good freakin' day, I have to say. And tomorrow has a similar schedule so, here's to finding time when you really look for it!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
What I Would do if I Wrote Full Time
Well, given I currently write 1500-2000 words a day even when I work 10 hours some days (8-6:15), I would probably get some sixty thousand words done a week (like I'd take a day off from a dream job).
All the rest of the time would be mine to play with. And play I would!
I'd read a lot more. There's so much I want to read, but it took me two months to finish the last book I read. So getting to all the other ones is tough. Given more time though, I'd read:
I'd pick up martial arts and make Jackie Chan look like an amateur :P
I'd read comics galore, both manga and American (I want to catch up on the new DC 52 thing D: )
Play video games. A lot. Especially Final Fantasy. I need FF13 please!!!!
I'd spend some weekends hiking
I'd take my dogs to the park two or three times a week
I'd take my brother to the arcade, planetarium, the aquarium, the zoo, museums, etc
Vacation like crazy (especially to Brazil to see family and Japan because, well, it's Japan)
Learn languages (Japanese so I can run around Japan, duh (I already know some, too :D))
Learn some instruments
I'd do a lot of other stuff, but that would all depend on how much money I had lying around :P
So...yeah...can I quit my job now? I could use those extra forty hours...
21 days to make a habit tally stands:
writing: 0 days to go I AM IN THE HABIT OF WRITING DAILY!!!!
blogging: 0 days to go I AM IN THE HABIT OF BLOGGING DAILY!!!
No junk food: 3 days to go I...still want junk food T.T
All the rest of the time would be mine to play with. And play I would!
I'd read a lot more. There's so much I want to read, but it took me two months to finish the last book I read. So getting to all the other ones is tough. Given more time though, I'd read:
- local authors like crazy
- the most popular YA
- the most popular fantasy
- myths and legends and fairy tales galore, especially the books I already have on Norse, Japanese, and Celtic mythology, plus Anderson's and Grimm's fairty tales.
- shakespeare, with emphasis on his fantastic tales like A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth
- books on writing
- loads of classics
- some nonfiction, especially historical and anthropological goodstuff
I'd pick up martial arts and make Jackie Chan look like an amateur :P
I'd read comics galore, both manga and American (I want to catch up on the new DC 52 thing D: )
Play video games. A lot. Especially Final Fantasy. I need FF13 please!!!!
I'd spend some weekends hiking
I'd take my dogs to the park two or three times a week
I'd take my brother to the arcade, planetarium, the aquarium, the zoo, museums, etc
Vacation like crazy (especially to Brazil to see family and Japan because, well, it's Japan)
Learn languages (Japanese so I can run around Japan, duh (I already know some, too :D))
Learn some instruments
I'd do a lot of other stuff, but that would all depend on how much money I had lying around :P
So...yeah...can I quit my job now? I could use those extra forty hours...
21 days to make a habit tally stands:
writing: 0 days to go I AM IN THE HABIT OF WRITING DAILY!!!!
blogging: 0 days to go I AM IN THE HABIT OF BLOGGING DAILY!!!
No junk food: 3 days to go I...still want junk food T.T
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Why So Many Men?!
I have this superhero story running around my head now called Bad Guys. All you need to know is I follow around a "bad guy" (though not quite super-villain) as he tries to make a living for his misfit family by breaking every law possible and running into his city's local superhero team right and left.
Well, as I try to think of his bad-guy team and the opposing superhero team, I mentally run through the superhero archetypes in my favorite comics: DC comics.
You've got some basics to cover and so my thoughts go like this:
Well, I need a powerhouse guy like superman, a dude who's super strong and near-invincible for breaking stuff...except most of the the ones in comics are guys, so I'll make it a girl. And I need a tech-dude like cyborg or batman or braniac 5, the one that makes all the gadgets and he...except all the tech dudes are dudes, so I'll make it a tech woman. And then I need a person that deals with magic like Zatara and Doctor fate and this guy...except it's always a dude, so I'll make her a girl too. And there's the stretchy person like plastic man, and the fast person like the Flash, and alien like Martian Manhunters and...and...THEY'RE ALL FREAKIN' DUDES!!!!
And suddenly my book is female strong and I'm thinking...why does this seem so weird when most people don't bat an eye at the male-saturated comics, animation, and novels EVERYWHERE?
So I thought about it some more as I worked out today. I had Justice League, the animated series, playing and noticed a few more examples. The very first episode, we see the martians fight off some alien invaders in a cut scene showing the Martian Manhunter's memories. All the martians and all the alien invaders had masculine figures. So I thought to myself, why the heck are they all dudes? Why not some chicks in there? And then I realized I was jumping to conclusions. It's an alien race, maybe there are no females or they don't look any different--at least not in a way I can tell. But it bothered me that the default was male. Sure, they may not have males and females on Planet X but why do they all LOOK male? Why not make them all female then? It could happen--an all female, butt-kicking squadron of Planet X's front-line force. But then people would think it's an all female-race, like some alien amazons.
And by the time I've thought all this through, I've missed a minute and a half of the show, so maybe it's easier to just make them all men and move on.
But I disagree. I think it's freakin' worth it to have people think through all of this because it sets a standard. Next time the viewer sees an all female group, they may get caught up for thirty seconds, but the next time they won't bat an eye. After all, TV used to be all WHITE males who "happened" to be good little protestants in their mid-thirties. Not so much now. You can have a white guy who's older, or a guy who's black, and a guy who's Muslim, and we're even starting to have more gays, and people aren't throwing as big a fit as they did yesterday.
So why do women get the axe?!
Well, perhaps it's because they think it's more realistic.
BULL.
My bank for example:
manager
service manager
7/8 tellers
1/4 bankers
ALL FEMALE
Female dominated situations happen, and they happen just as randomly as male-dominated situations most of the time. And even if they didn't, YOU'RE MAKING STUFF UP.
NEWS FLASH:
There are no superheros.
There are no aliens that we know of.
No cyborgs.
No mutants.
Nothing.
So why play by our rules ANYWAY? Break them all, I say! I do :P My books are going to be female-dominated if only to change things up a bit. Yes, I'm one of those make a character every-color-of-the-rainbow people and let me tell you why:
I'm not lazy!
Why does that matter? Honestly, because I think the male dominance comes in large part out of laziness.
The same laziness that says if you're walking in the woods, the only thing that is going to alert you to the bad guy that is following you, is when THEY STEP ON A STICK ON ACCIDENT. And worse, this freakin' happens even outside of the woods. Everywhere you go--watch out for really dry, really loud sticks that you may step on. Seriously, no one can sneak up on the good guy on TV or in books. And it's always for the same freakin' reason.
And if you want to save the day when the whole freakin' universe is doomed, the shit has hit the fan, and all is lost?
REVERSE THE POLARITY.
Reverse the ion charge.
Reverse SOMETHING. It'll fix EVERYTHING.
LAZY LAZY LAZY
Sure, animators can draw their little get-away drivers wearing seatbelts because THEY HAVE TO so kids won't drive without seatbelts, but put in an equal number of women so little girls realize they fit in everywhere, whether that means as the last of the martian resistance, the alien invaders, or the manhunting robots? NooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Well, I'm not lazy. If someone is sneaking up on my character, they're either going to realize it because of something original, or they're getting a smack to the head.
If my character's need to save the world, they're going to reverse the polarity.
And realize that does nothing.
And these characters that are sneaking through the woods and saving the world?
You better believe most of them are going to be women.
21 days to make a habit tally stands:
writing: 1 days to go
blogging: 1 days to go
No junk food: 4 days to go
OMFG SO CLOSE!
Well, as I try to think of his bad-guy team and the opposing superhero team, I mentally run through the superhero archetypes in my favorite comics: DC comics.
You've got some basics to cover and so my thoughts go like this:
Well, I need a powerhouse guy like superman, a dude who's super strong and near-invincible for breaking stuff...except most of the the ones in comics are guys, so I'll make it a girl. And I need a tech-dude like cyborg or batman or braniac 5, the one that makes all the gadgets and he...except all the tech dudes are dudes, so I'll make it a tech woman. And then I need a person that deals with magic like Zatara and Doctor fate and this guy...except it's always a dude, so I'll make her a girl too. And there's the stretchy person like plastic man, and the fast person like the Flash, and alien like Martian Manhunters and...and...THEY'RE ALL FREAKIN' DUDES!!!!
And suddenly my book is female strong and I'm thinking...why does this seem so weird when most people don't bat an eye at the male-saturated comics, animation, and novels EVERYWHERE?
So I thought about it some more as I worked out today. I had Justice League, the animated series, playing and noticed a few more examples. The very first episode, we see the martians fight off some alien invaders in a cut scene showing the Martian Manhunter's memories. All the martians and all the alien invaders had masculine figures. So I thought to myself, why the heck are they all dudes? Why not some chicks in there? And then I realized I was jumping to conclusions. It's an alien race, maybe there are no females or they don't look any different--at least not in a way I can tell. But it bothered me that the default was male. Sure, they may not have males and females on Planet X but why do they all LOOK male? Why not make them all female then? It could happen--an all female, butt-kicking squadron of Planet X's front-line force. But then people would think it's an all female-race, like some alien amazons.
And by the time I've thought all this through, I've missed a minute and a half of the show, so maybe it's easier to just make them all men and move on.
But I disagree. I think it's freakin' worth it to have people think through all of this because it sets a standard. Next time the viewer sees an all female group, they may get caught up for thirty seconds, but the next time they won't bat an eye. After all, TV used to be all WHITE males who "happened" to be good little protestants in their mid-thirties. Not so much now. You can have a white guy who's older, or a guy who's black, and a guy who's Muslim, and we're even starting to have more gays, and people aren't throwing as big a fit as they did yesterday.
So why do women get the axe?!
Well, perhaps it's because they think it's more realistic.
BULL.
My bank for example:
manager
service manager
7/8 tellers
1/4 bankers
ALL FEMALE
Female dominated situations happen, and they happen just as randomly as male-dominated situations most of the time. And even if they didn't, YOU'RE MAKING STUFF UP.
NEWS FLASH:
There are no superheros.
There are no aliens that we know of.
No cyborgs.
No mutants.
Nothing.
So why play by our rules ANYWAY? Break them all, I say! I do :P My books are going to be female-dominated if only to change things up a bit. Yes, I'm one of those make a character every-color-of-the-rainbow people and let me tell you why:
I'm not lazy!
Why does that matter? Honestly, because I think the male dominance comes in large part out of laziness.
The same laziness that says if you're walking in the woods, the only thing that is going to alert you to the bad guy that is following you, is when THEY STEP ON A STICK ON ACCIDENT. And worse, this freakin' happens even outside of the woods. Everywhere you go--watch out for really dry, really loud sticks that you may step on. Seriously, no one can sneak up on the good guy on TV or in books. And it's always for the same freakin' reason.
And if you want to save the day when the whole freakin' universe is doomed, the shit has hit the fan, and all is lost?
REVERSE THE POLARITY.
Reverse the ion charge.
Reverse SOMETHING. It'll fix EVERYTHING.
LAZY LAZY LAZY
Sure, animators can draw their little get-away drivers wearing seatbelts because THEY HAVE TO so kids won't drive without seatbelts, but put in an equal number of women so little girls realize they fit in everywhere, whether that means as the last of the martian resistance, the alien invaders, or the manhunting robots? NooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Well, I'm not lazy. If someone is sneaking up on my character, they're either going to realize it because of something original, or they're getting a smack to the head.
If my character's need to save the world, they're going to reverse the polarity.
And realize that does nothing.
And these characters that are sneaking through the woods and saving the world?
You better believe most of them are going to be women.
21 days to make a habit tally stands:
writing: 1 days to go
blogging: 1 days to go
No junk food: 4 days to go
OMFG SO CLOSE!
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