I write because my passion is to tell people stories.
Stories of love and hate, of fear and hope. Stories where good people do bad things and bad people do good things. Stories of lives that are unexpected, horrible and beautiful.
I write these things because I believe they are true in real life, therefore should be in fiction too. But not matter what I write, I always seem to be asking 'why'?
Also, since I’m being featured as an author I thought today would be a good day to give a story away for free. So, below is a link to a story called Broadcasting Live. I’ve sent this story out many times in many different variations but it hasn’t found a home. Probably because it seems like part of a larger story but I honestly have nothing else to say about Katie. I still quite like it despite it’s age and so I would like to share this science fiction short story with you. Check it out and let me know what you think (comments are open on the page).
Technically this is the fifth post in the week long series. The comments just got so interesting that we needed more time between each. So, here is my second and final post in the series...
Wow. What an amazing discussion this has been. Lynda’s post on Friday got some really great comments on Facebook. Like from Cenobyte B:
“…Because the genre developed in this predominantly male audience, there
developed certain tropes, and I think one of those tropes is that female
characters must either be lovers or adversaries… I think the era of
multi-faced female characters is just now coming to the forefront of all kinds
of literature, although more ‘mainstream’ literary fiction has had more time,
more space, and more of an audience to develop these themes. Science Fiction and
Fantasy are still eking on to the ‘literary’ scene, and so, as genres, are still
having to overcome some of those traditional tropes.”
This and other comments over the last week have prompted me to ask myself a question.
As a writer, does the gender we are born to (or choose to embrace) have an impact on our ability to write from the opposite sex?
Many of the writers I know have asked this question at one point or another. It’s normally asked if a man can write from a women’s point of view convincingly or vice versa. The answer always seem to depend on the author, but for the most part authors are more comfortable writing from their own sex’s point of view. There are of course exceptions to this rule. Our own Lynda Williams has a very male dominate cast in her Okal Rel series. I, on the other hand, find is easier to write from the female point of view even though I tend to write from both male and female perspectives equally.
Could this be the cause of these “tropes”? Is it because men were the storytellers? But why would women not write from women point of views when they finally broke into the genre? Was it because the “normal” storyline and characters were expected?
I agree that true women characters are just starting to be seen in genre fiction, and perhaps this is because it’s only now become acceptable to portray that in genre fiction. I think fantasy caught on to this much sooner than Science Fiction, but it’s coming. A new era perhaps?
I know that Lynda will write a closing post shortly, and I won’t take away from that, but for myself I would like to close by saying I think that a strong female character doesn’t need to have a fist fight or beat up a guy to captivate an audience. She can be hero without lifting a finger in anger, just as some of my female hero’s have done in real life… but sometimes kick butt stories can be really fun to read.
Yesterday’s (Day Two) post by Lynda was a great way to start things off. We spoke about the social sphere of influence that women in our history had and how society changed to take that away.
Society is funny like that. The 1960’s were really the decade for Science Fiction. It was popular, Star Trek and Outerlimits were on the television, and more mainstream people where becoming interested in “those kinds” of books. The changes that started in the 1950’s with Rock ‘n Roll (which had a profound effect on society) continued into the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres. Racial segregation or integration, women in roles other than the damsel in distress, and the space race/exploration were all things that North American audiences wanted to see and so the genre catered.
In the 1980’s and 90’s it became more common place for women to be seen in what once were traditional male roles. Women became leaders in industry, medicine and finance. Women have a dominating presence in the office/ corporate world, but can be found in positions like welder, pilot and labourer. Women have integrated into the “man’s world” but most are still responsible for the “woman’s world”. Child rearing, cooking, cleaning.
Today, women are learning how to balance their lives in a completely new way. What’s interesting is that statistics show that more women are watching Science Fiction shows. They are reading more genre books. Is this because they are finding something in the genre that they want, or is it because they are looking for something and hoping that the genre will provided it?
During this chaos, a funny little subgenre called “women’s fiction” popped up. Danielle Steel made her millions selling books about strong female characters, timeless values (love, children, home, family), and women’s issues (cancer, divorce, children problems). Her characters are women who face tragedy and emerge stronger. This is a genre unto itself now and it’s picking up speed.
Is this what all those women are looking for? Or is it that they are looking for something similar but mixed in with something fantastic?
For decades, Science Fiction and Fantasy have shown us what could be, what might be. They have been tools for escape, places of retreat from the real world. But perhaps it’s time for a little realism to show through into the genre. Perhaps it’s time for a little bit of “women’s fiction” to find a place within Science Fiction and Fantasy just as Horror, Mystery and Romance have.
Both of the flash fiction stories that I submitted to the Absolute Xpress Flash Fiction Challenge: Creatures of the Night, have been accepted for publication.
That means that by Christmas I’ll have 5 short stories published this year alone. How awesome is that?
Here is something else that’s awesome. While I was at Con-Version (Calgary’s Science Fiction and Fantasy conference) I met a very nice man named Mike Plested. He runs a podcast called Get Published on his website The Irreverent Muse.
He decided to interview me as an up and coming author and get my impression on how going to Con’s can help writers make connections and “get published”. The podcast is now live on his website and I would love to know what you think of it. Click here to go to the podcast. Pointers are greatly appreciated because I’d like to do more of these podcast interviews.
All in all, August has been a wonderful month for my writing. I hope September is just as good.
Lynda posted the introduction to our blog panel today at Reality Skimming.
She asked some interesting questions to start us off, like: will people want to identify with someone who isn’t slinging her enemies about her head when angered? Could an author make their female character strong, and fun, without turning her into a damsel in distress? Can we identify without feeling belittled? And is there anything worth learning from them?
All good questions. Lynda also mentions one of these non-viloent herioines that she developed for the next book in her Okal Rel 10 book series. No doubt we will hear more about this girl, Sam, over the coming week.
Personally, I wonder if it’s possible for a female character to not “kick butt” at this point in time? Or is there still a hang over from the recent “equality wars” that make women want to read about other women who can kick butt just like a man can?
I look forward to answering these questions over the coming week and I hope you will add your opinion to the conversation as well.
