Thursday’s Children – Inspired by…well…What I Don’t Like

The Thursday’s Children blog hop is about what inspires us as writers.  This week I’m turning it around a little bit and looking at trends in current YA literature that I don’t like.  Trends that are helping me figure out what not to do in my own manuscript.

These aren’t new observations; I’ve heard/read some of them before.  Now I’m looking at them in terms of how I want to do things differently in my own work.  And not just do things differently, but do my very best to push against the tide of troubling trends I’m seeing.  Alliteration got a little out of control there, but I stand by it.

I’ll preface this by saying that I read a lot of YA that has some sort of paranormal aspect to it, so many of these observations are in that context.  But, these trends are prevalent in non-paranormal works as well.  Also, quite a few of these trends are intertwined and feed off of each other.

I’m pretty sure we can all think of examples of these trends/characteristics, so I’m not going to point any out.  Instead, after I get through the bad, I’m going to give some examples of characters that I feel go against these trends or are good examples of strong characters.

The whiny/selfish female:  Everything that comes out of her mouth or runs through her head is negative in some way.  I don’t like this, this wronged me, I didn’t get my way on this, and it’s just not fair.  Life ain’t fair, suck it up and deal with it.

I struggled with what to call this one (not wanting to betray the sisterhood), but I settled on “the stupid female”:  This one is more prevalent in the paranormal genre.  It’s the character who thinks, “I don’t have any powers but others do, but I can’t possibly let them help me so I’m going to put myself in danger and make things worse.”  I know there has to be conflict and drama, but this is nothing but frustrating to me. 

The female who has nothing else in her life but the guy:  She has no hobbies, no other friends, nothing to do but think about him and how wonderful he is.   Moreover, if the guy goes away or they break up for a while, the world ends.  Again, I know there has to be conflict.  But if someone is that dependent on another person, I think there are larger issues here.

The overprotective/stalker-ish male:  We all know this character.  His girl can’t go anywhere without him, can’t be trusted to stay out of trouble unless he’s there to protect her.  He watches her when she doesn’t know it.  While she’s sleeping maybe?  Sorry – couldn’t resist that one.  And he gets angry at her when he thinks she puts herself in danger.  Which leads us to…

The angry male:  This often goes hand in hand with the overprotective male.  The female character has to watch what she does so she doesn’t make him angry, often resorting to lying about her actions or whereabouts.  Which always leads to more trouble.  In addition, he often blames her for his anger; if she wouldn’t do certain things, he wouldn’t be so angry.

The male that treats the female like a small child:  This could be carrying her around like a piece of luggage (again, happens more in the paranormal genre) or essentially patting her on the head and telling her to be quiet any time she tries to speak.  You know… “It’s time for the grown-ups to talk now,” in the most patronizing voice you can imagine. 

There are a number of reasons these traits bother me.  When it comes down to it, would I want my daughter using these characters as role models?  No.  Okay, I don’t actually have a daughter, but I have some close friends who do.  Do I want their daughters using these characters as role models?  Absolutely not.  I want them to grow up as strong, independent girls whose lives don’t revolve around a boy.  And I want them to look for boys who treat them well, treat them as equals, and respect them.

I’m getting a little feminist here, so I’ll flip it around.  I don’t want the little boys I know to grow up thinking girls are helpless and the proper way to treat them is to lock them in the tower and tell them “Don’t worry your pretty little head, I’m a boy, I’ll take of everything.”  I want the boys I know to grow up and treat girls, or whomever their significant other may happen to be, as equal partners.  Partners that help each other and help make each other better.

As promised, here are a few examples of strong characters (in my opinion) within YA fiction:

Kaylee Cavanaugh in the Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent – she does what she needs to do to protect those around her and everyone else can either help or get out of her way.  But, on the other side, she’s not a bitch about it either.  She just knows what she has to do, she is protective of those around her and will do what needs to be done no matter the cost to herself.  She has strength and integrity.

Grace Divine and Daniel Kalbi in the Dark Divine series by Bree Despain – she is powerful in her own right and Daniel accepts that (although it does take him a little bit to get there).  By the end, they are true partners and he trusts her to make the right decisions.

Rose Hathaway and Dmitri Belikov in the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead – this is another example of a relationship where they are true partners.  They make each other better, work well together, and treat each other like equals.  There is still drama, and yes they are apart for a while (which seems to be a necessity in all YA series'), but it’s not what you expect and Rose does what she needs to do to try to fix it.

                                  

Dru Anderson in the Strange Angels series by Lili St. Crow – she gets thrown into a situation almost immediately that is way over her head.  But, she uses what she knows, takes help where she needs it, and fights like hell to keep herself and others safe.

Apparently, I like main female characters who take on the difficult tasks.  This may seem like it conflicts with my point above about the female who puts herself in danger unnecessarily.  However, these characters have the skills they need to pull off the tasks at hand.  They know their own power and use it, they don’t put others in danger because of an inherently flawed idea that people who care about each other can’t work together and help each other.

What it comes down to is this…  Now that I know what I don’t like, I know what types of traits to avoid in my characters and their relationships.  My goal is to write books that contain characters who are role models and who help to reverse this troubling trend.

Don't forget to check out the Blog Hop, and join in, too!

Here's the code for the Linky to put on your own post.

<!-- start LinkyTools script -->
<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=190621" type="text/javascript"></script>
<!-- end LinkyTools script -->

Thursday's Children - Soundtrack to a Book

First off, in case you can't tell, I'm going through a bit of an identity crisis.  I decided to change the name of my blog, but haven't decided what it's going to be called yet.  I also changed my name *on* my blog, so don't be confused.  I'm still me.  J

Ok, on to the Thursday's Children portion of this post.  This was not the topic I planned on writing about today.  The topic I had in mind is more serious and I decided I just didn’t have it in me today to tackle it.  So instead, I’m going to share my playlist for my current work in process. 

I’ve talked about a song in particular that inspired a project, but never the playlist for my current story…the one I plan to finish this year. 

I will freely admit that I have no idea why some of these songs make me think of this project.  There are songs that I hear and I think of a certain character, or scene or place.  And then other songs, it’s just more of a vibe, something I can’t really describe.

I fully expect this list to grow as I work towards the end of the book, but this is where the playlist stands right now.

Vanilla Twilight – Owl City

I Won’t Give Up – Jason Mraz

Brighter Than the Sun – Colbie Caillat

Where You Are – Gavin DeGraw

Burn it Down – Linkin Park

Brave – Josh Groban

Are We Afraid – Toad the Wet Sprocket

How Soon is Now? -  Love Spit Love

Angel Mine – Cowboy Junkies

The Boys of Summer – The Ataris

Colorful – Rocco DeLuca & the Burden

Follow Through – Gavin DeGraw

The Great Escape – Boys Like Girls

Everybody’s Changing – Keane

Walk On – U2

All I Want – Toad the Wet Sprocket

Crushcrushcrush – Paramore

The Lighthouse’s Tale – Nickel Creek

Cry in the Sun – Better Than Ezra

No One’s Gonna Love You – Band of Horses

Now that I have the list typed out and staring at me, I’m not sure how some of these songs even relate to the same book.  But they do, in my mind anyway!  Below are a few videos I pulled off YouTube, for what I feel might be a couple of the more obscure songs (and one of my all-time favorites).

Click here to view the other blogs in the Blog Hop (and to join in, too!)

Monday's Musings - Sort Of

So I’m a day late with my post this week.  I blame it on my lazy Sunday, which made me forget I had a blog to write.  This week’s topic is “What do I need to write?”  This can be interpreted a few different ways, I’m choosing to go with what are those quirky things I need to have so that I can actually sit down and write?

Be sure to check out my fellow Monday’s Musings bloggers at the links below to find out what they have to say:

Chris Allen-Riley

Tess Grant

Lynn Doezema

When trying to come up with what I need to have handy to help me accomplish my writing goals, I had a hard time.  I’ve never really thought about it much, to be honest.  I’ve never thought about the entire writing environment and process in these terms.  But I did come up with a few things.

Music, I have to have some sort of music playing.  I can’t concentrate when there is no background noise.  If it’s dead silent, my mind tends to wander more.  It’s like there’s a part of my brain that needs to be kept occupied so the other part can concentrate on the task at hand.

No clutter is another one.  I absolutely cannot concentrate if my office is cluttered in anyway.  Even if the first floor of the house needs a good cleaning or straightening, I have a hard time focusing.  It’s something about the disorder; it interferes with my ability to think.  I was that way all through school, too.  I couldn’t concentrate on homework if the area where I was working was a mess. 

I also need to have some sort of comforting beverage on hand, be it Diet Dr. Pepper (I have a *slight* addiction there) or tea.  It usually depends on how cold my office is to determine which one I go with.

Hand in hand with things I need are things I don’t need.  I really need to learn to turn off the wireless on my computer so I can’t access the internet.  I know it’s been said before, but the internet is the downfall of many a writer.  There are way too many fun things that can distract when you’re already stuck and can’t decide where to go next.

I’ll tell you another thing I don’t need is my cat walking on my laptop, lying on my notebooks, curling up on my arm, and repeatedly rubbing up against the monitor as if to claim it as his.  Every time he rubs the corner with his head, he jostles the laptop and closes it just a little bit more.  At least he's affectionate, I guess.

So, anyway, there are a few things that either help or interfere with my writing process.  What do you need to get those creative thoughts flowing?

Monday's Musings - Favorite Movies and TV Shows

It's time for another Monday’s Musings post and our chosen topic this week is favorite movies and TV shows.  I’m going to narrow the field down a little bit because I feel like topic is one that could take on a mind of its own.

First off, I’m going to stick to movies.  The main reason for that is, I’m completely addicted to a certain TV show at the moment (see last week’s office tour post) and I if I tried to write anything on that topic it would be way more than anyone wants to read and basically just an excuse to include pictures of a certain person. J So instead, I’m going to write only about movies, specifically my top five favorite movies that are based on books.  These are in no particular order because I couldn’t possible rate them.

Check out the links below to see what movies and TV shows my fellow bloggers are into:

Chris Allen-Riley

Tess Grant

Lynn Doezema

To Kill a Mockingbird

One of my all-time favorite books is also one of my all-time favorite movies.  Atticus Finch is an amazing father figure and no one could have played him as well as Gregory Peck. 

Robert Duvall plays the infamous Boo Radley in one of his first film roles.  It’s almost strange to see him play such a shy, quiet character since one of the things I’ve always associated with the actor is his powerful voice. 

The story is one that portrayed a very serious and touchy subject through the eyes of a child, and I think the movie was able to do the same thing in an equally impressive way.  While Scout may not have understood 100% of the situation, she experienced the emotions of those around her and knew this wasn’t just any trial for her father.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Little Women

There have been many versions of this move over the years and I’ve seen them all, but my favorite is the version with Wynona Ryder and Susan Sarandon.  No one could play Marmee like Susan Sarandon and who doesn’t love a young Christian Bale as Laurie? 

I especially love the re-creation of Orchard House, which is such an integral part to the story.  It was so true to life, it made you feel like a part of the March family and I always wanted to be Jo. 

While the other versions of the movie are great in their own ways, this one stands out because the actors come across so natural, it pulls you in and you forget you’re even watching a movie.

Little Women

Pride and Prejudice

Like Little Women, there are many versions of this movie; my favorite is the BBC version with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy.  Colin Firth *is* Mr. Darcy as far as I’m concerned.

This version, while close to five hours long, is totally worth the viewing time.  It runs as closely to the book as just about any movie I’ve ever seen and the locations used are straight from Jane Austen’s imagination. 

This movie is one I always watch when I’m sick, getting lost in the scenery and characters makes me feel better every time.    

Pride and Prejudice

The Princess Bride

The love story in this move is timeless, but it’s the characters other than Buttercup and Westley that really clinch it.  Inigo Montoya has one of the best lines in all of movie history.  Say it with me now, “Hello.  My name is Inigo Montoya.  You killed my father.  Prepare to die.”

Andre the Giant is wonderful as Fezzik (he is the brute squad) and Billy Crystal is beyond funny has Miracle Max.  Westley is the hero we all want who would fight for his love to the end of the earth, even when he’s mostly dead. 

When I was younger I would get annoyed at the breaks in the story that pulled you back to the present and showed the grandfather and grandson.  As I got older though, I realized the importance of those scenes and it just made me appreciate the story more. 

The Princess Bride

The Last Unicorn

This one is a new addition to this particular list, I only recently found out it was based on a book.  Like the story of Buttercup and Westley, I have watched this movie more times than I can count.  So many times, in fact,  that when I pulled it out a few weeks ago and watched it for what was probably the first time in five years I still knew every word.

The basic synopsis is this:

There is a unicorn in a forest who overhears two hunters talking and learns she is the last unicorn left in the world.  She meets a butterfly who tells her the story of the Red Bull that took away all the unicorns years ago.  She decides to go on a quest to find out if this is true and where the other unicorns are.  Along the way she meets a magician named Schmendrick who is not the best magician in the world, although he does possess true magic.  He decides to accompany the unicorn on her quest. They also pick up one other traveler on the way, a woman named Molly Grue. 

Eventually they end up at the castle of King Haggard and his son Prince Lir.  At this point, the unicorn is in human form (courtesy of Schmendrick) to prevent the Red Bull from discovering who she truly is.  Eventually they learn what happened to the unicorns and there is a final showdown.

I’m not going to go through the rest of the story because I don’t want to give away the surprises and the ending.  This is an absolutely beautiful animated movie; it was really my first exposure to Japanese style animation.  The characters are voiced wonderfully (Jeff Bridges, Alan Arkin, Christopher Lee, Mia Farrow) and the band America performs the music. 

The Last Unicorn

As you can see, I had a hard time toning down the hyperbole in this post; I just love these movies to pieces.  If you haven’t seen any of them, I recommend putting them on your watch list as soon as possible.  You won’t be disappointed.

What about you, what are some of your favorite movies and TV shows?