Whenever someone gets on a rant about Kids These Days, especially in a literary context, I find myself wanting to tell them that young people are reading more than you.
How small children use metaphor to survive.
Max Barry on Dogs and Smurfs: ” Then you’ve got Smurf books. Not actual Smurfs. I mean stories where there are five major characters, and one is brave and one is smart and one is grumpy and one keeps rats for pets and one is a girl. Smurfs, right? Because there was Handy Smurf and Chef Smurf and Dopey Smurf and Painter Smurf and ninety-four other male Smurfs and Smurfette. Smurfette’s unique personality trait was femaleness. That was the thing she did better than anyone else. Be a girl. Smurf books are not as common as they used to be, but Smurf stories are, oddly, everywhere on the screen …”
In praise of Joanne Rowling’s Hermione Granger series. Because I enjoyed the Harry Potter books, but pretty much wondered from book one why Hermione wasn’t the hero, because Harry has the destiny and the troubled past, but Hermione is smart and works hard, doing her homework along with Harry and Ron’s.
From Saundra Mitchell: “If you want to fix the male literary crisis, here’s your solution: Become a feminist.”
Judith Tarr (aka dancinghorse) on Girl Cooties: A Personal History.
Kari Sperring on the problems of treating history as a theme park.
The Editor Devil on hook and heart in story openings: “But most of all we need a hook and a heart to the story. Just one or two lines to tell us her unique dilemma (hook) and why we should care (heart). Maybe even tell us what she’s after (goal). Most classes and books teach you to include the hook on page one, but they never mention including a heart. “
Malinda Lo on writing about race in speculative fiction: ” Ultimately, that’s what writers have to do all the time: Be aware of the words we choose. I don’t think there’s any short cut here. You have to do your research, and you have to think about every word you use.”