[writing] Leaving prompts for myself
Jan. 13th, 2017 08:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennariaSo one of my goals for this year is to Write More. Probably original fiction, because it's been a while since I had the itch to write fanfic for anything besides Yuletide.
On the other hand...a while back, I posted something about wanting stories from Sarah (LABYRINTH), or Christine (PHANTOM OF THE OPERA), that were about them and not about their arguably fucked-up relationships with charismatic men who sing seductively. (I've found a couple stories wherein Sarah becomes a Fey power to equal Jareth, but nothing for Christine yet.) And then I've been reading stories about Leia, partially because obvious reasons and partially because I found a series where Vader instructs Leia in the Force (which I like for more reasons than just Grey Jedi Leia, but that's a huge plus).
In RL, I gravitate toward women-heavy environments. My Hogwarts department is almost all women; my church is three quarters women (and two out of three of its ministers are women); my circles of fandom tend to be more women than men.
In fiction - increasingly as I've gotten older - I want stories about women, stories that aren't romances (though I do love a deliciously cheesy romance). I want Cosette to deal with her shit (and maybe Valjean's shit too, because I love LES MISERABLES and I love Jean Valjean but the man has a library's worth of issues, near-sainthood notwithstanding) (also seriously Cosette should have so many issues of her own and they're all handwaved). I want Christine to become a diva in her own right, some place that's never heard of the Opera Ghost. I want all the girls whose canons stranded them off on their own, stuck as love interests or romantic heroines, and I want them to have their own lives and their own goals, and maybe that involves a romantic partner and maybe it doesn't, and maybe that romantic partner is their Designated Boy from their canon and maybe it isn't.
(This is sorta the thing I loved SPIRITED AWAY for - yes, Chihiro has a Thing with Haku, but the story isn't about Haku, it's about Chihiro and how she learns to be awesome and also magic. MISS FISHER'S MURDER MYSTERIES does the same thing, except murder instead of magic, and also the part where Phryne always knew she was awesome. I want that.)
I may wind up writing these myself. Or I may wind up signing up for Yuletide (properly, instead of pinch-hitting) for the first time in years, and asking someone else to write for me. If any of y'all have any recs along those lines, please do.
On the other hand...a while back, I posted something about wanting stories from Sarah (LABYRINTH), or Christine (PHANTOM OF THE OPERA), that were about them and not about their arguably fucked-up relationships with charismatic men who sing seductively. (I've found a couple stories wherein Sarah becomes a Fey power to equal Jareth, but nothing for Christine yet.) And then I've been reading stories about Leia, partially because obvious reasons and partially because I found a series where Vader instructs Leia in the Force (which I like for more reasons than just Grey Jedi Leia, but that's a huge plus).
In RL, I gravitate toward women-heavy environments. My Hogwarts department is almost all women; my church is three quarters women (and two out of three of its ministers are women); my circles of fandom tend to be more women than men.
In fiction - increasingly as I've gotten older - I want stories about women, stories that aren't romances (though I do love a deliciously cheesy romance). I want Cosette to deal with her shit (and maybe Valjean's shit too, because I love LES MISERABLES and I love Jean Valjean but the man has a library's worth of issues, near-sainthood notwithstanding) (also seriously Cosette should have so many issues of her own and they're all handwaved). I want Christine to become a diva in her own right, some place that's never heard of the Opera Ghost. I want all the girls whose canons stranded them off on their own, stuck as love interests or romantic heroines, and I want them to have their own lives and their own goals, and maybe that involves a romantic partner and maybe it doesn't, and maybe that romantic partner is their Designated Boy from their canon and maybe it isn't.
(This is sorta the thing I loved SPIRITED AWAY for - yes, Chihiro has a Thing with Haku, but the story isn't about Haku, it's about Chihiro and how she learns to be awesome and also magic. MISS FISHER'S MURDER MYSTERIES does the same thing, except murder instead of magic, and also the part where Phryne always knew she was awesome. I want that.)
I may wind up writing these myself. Or I may wind up signing up for Yuletide (properly, instead of pinch-hitting) for the first time in years, and asking someone else to write for me. If any of y'all have any recs along those lines, please do.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-01-13 11:12 pm (UTC)Girl power!
:D
(no subject)
Date: 2017-01-14 12:26 am (UTC)I went through a spree of urban fantasy some years ago, and got frustrated that a lot of them 'felt' like the author was trying to imitate Laurell K. Hamilton, which is not a selling point for me. (Not so much the porn-for-plot thing, as the neo-noir vibe. I like October Daye! But I need recs for woman-focused urban fantasy where the heroine isn't a private detective.)
(I definitely agree about women-authored books. It's not a perfect fix, but I've read too many male-authored novels where the only characters who feel real just happen to be male as well. :-( )
(no subject)
Date: 2017-01-15 01:32 am (UTC)Ilona Andrews' "Kate Daniels" series (Kate is a sword for hire who has some magic)
Patricia Briggs' "Mercy Thompson" series, along with her "Alpha & Omega" series (werewolf-centric stories, but Mercy is a coyote shifter)
Kalayna Price's "Alex Craft" series (Alex is a witch who can raise the shades of the dead)
Faith Hunter's "Jane Yellowrock" series (Jane is a skinwalker and a vampire hunter), and a newer series from Hunter (which is a spin-off from the Jane Yellowrock series) "Soulwood", featuring an intriguing heroine who is learning to depend on herself after escaping a male-dominated cult
(no subject)
Date: 2017-01-14 12:43 am (UTC)I love female-centric fics and fandom often gravitates towards (white) male characters. I get why, I just... turn to fandom for the narratives that DON'T already exist.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-01-14 01:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-01-15 11:19 am (UTC)