Bettie's Top Ten
The many, many authors at Fangs, Fur & Fey, are posting the top ten hallmarks of their writing. So, even though they are print-published authors, and I've only got two novellas out--one of which is free and the other of which won't be released for another week--I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon.
- Moral ambiguity
I've said it before, I'll say it again: I like villains. My protagonists aren't all bad people, but they sometimes do bad things. My goal at the outset of any story is to write it in such a way that if it was told by a different character, the hero would be the villain. - Secondary characters with lives
Another storytelling goal of mine is to write secondary characters with lives and secrets. There are things you don't know about your friends. There are times when you are just a support character in their story--and if there aren't those times, you don't have friends, honey, you've got back up singers. - Fairy tales
I love the gory ones. No surprise here, but almost every story I write references fairytales or folktales as a general idea, or a specific comparison. - Romance
But it ain't all hearts and flowers. Love is a battlefield -- violent and explosive. Or an ice-skating rink -- cold and treacherous. Or a race track -- fast and competitive. Or a waltz -- dreamy and whirling in perfect accord. Love is different things for different people. Why should my characters all have the same version of it? Though, to be honest, I really like the battlefield. - Multi-racial and international characters
Why? Because when I was a kid, there were so few nonwhite characters in books that weren't about race that I used to randomly pretend heroines in my favorite adventure stories were brown girls. Because as a reader I am damned tired of seeing the word "white" used as a description of the heroine's beautiful skin. Because I want my characters to look like me and my friends. Because I think authors who refuse to write about characters who aren't their own skin color or ethnic background are wusses. - Violence
Most of it movie-like and stylized. Some of it not. Fact is, I like adventure stories. When it comes to movies, I like car chases and sword fights and Hong Kong style fight scenes. And sometimes I use physical violence as a symbol of emotional turmoil. - Strong female protagonist
Do I even need to say this? I can't imagine writing a weak female protagonist--leastwise, not one who didn't end up strong by the end. Those martyriffic heroines who let everyone shit on them for an entire book before the hero realizes that they are pure and virtuous and wonderful are not my heroines. No way, no how. - Virtue is NOT its own reward.
See above. I hate the idea of noble suffering. Usually, characters who spend a whole book suffering nobly could have ended it all by telling a few people off. I also am not down with selfless heroines who will always, always, always sacrifice themselves to help or save people they love--Self-sacrifice like that isn't noble, it's co-dependent. - A is for "Alpha" and "Asshole"
I admit it, my heroes are kind of assholish. But all they need as motivation to end their asshole ways is the no-nonsense love of a strong female protagonist (see # 7, above). Just like in real life, right? ;o) - Dark
This isn't part of my manifesto, it's just something people keep saying about my stories. Even the sweet ones. I don't set out to write "dark" they just end up that way. - Bonus Feature: References to classic/hard boiled mysteries.
Not in every story, but in a few. Email meor leave a comment on this post* identifying Like a Thief in the Night's references to Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammet titles by February 1, 2008 and you'll be entered to win a $25 Amazon gift certificate.
10 comments:
What a fun contest. Just from reading your list, I see why you're now on my auto-buy list.
"Multi-racial and international characters
...Because I think authors who refuse to write about characters who aren't their own skin color or ethnic background are wusses."
I'll give you an amen for this. So many times, I've seen people try to play it off with, "Oh, I'm afraid I'll get it wrong."
Scuse me, what? Are you telling me there's only one way to be Korean, Honduran, Haitian, whatever? That race dictates all personal qualities? Well, I think that's the sorriest mess I ever read.
I figure my characters are right, however I write 'em because, damn, I made them up. They may not offer the universal experience of a real person belonging to that race, but even a shift in geographic location brings out differences in people.
That's exactly why I populate my books with lots of color. Multicultural didn't fly for me in straight romance, which is why they come out as e-books (and I hope someday to make NY with a straight romance) but it's rocking cross-genre.
What race is Jax? Well, I'll let you in on a little secret. I pictured her looking a lot like this, only more scarred up.
As for March, I'll be very interested to see if anybody can guess what I had in mind, based on my descriptions.
And my romances are way MC. Guide had a white hero / black heroine. Alibi had a Latina heroine / white hero. My Valentine has a Lebanese / Colombian heroine (yes, just like Shakira, and that's how I picture Maya, only MUCH taller), and a black hero. (There's also a reincarnation story wherein they're both white). I mix it up, and I think people who don't are just coppin' out.
Interesting topic.
And I always love what you say about love.
And as a good little buddhist, I have to disagree with #8. Virtue IS its own reward, but ONLY properly motivated virtue. I.e., if you are virtuous out of fear, repression, timidity, ignorance, lack of opportunity for vice, etc., then it ain't real virtue. Virtue is only virtue when your action is the same when nobody's looking.
:sigh: now I'm even more impatient to read Grimspace.
"They may not offer the universal experience of a real person belonging to that race..."
While I think there are a lot of common experiences people share when they share a culture or a national origin, I don't think there is such a thing as a "universal experience". If there is, me and a lot of other folks missed the memo ;o).
"It IS its own reward, but ONLY properly motivated virtue. I.e., if you are virtuous out of fear, repression, timidity, ignorance, lack of opportunity for vice, etc., then it ain't real virtue."
Excellent point, Sherry. Rereading my reasons, I think my real issue is not with the rewards of virtue, but what constitutes virtue. Philosophers have been mulling over that one for ages, but my big quibble is with gender-based ideas about virtue that lead to Mrs Giggles's infamous Too Stupid To Live heroines--passivity, useless sacrifice, unnecessary suffering and chastity (see, useless sacrifice and unnecessary suffering, above).
But, damnit! "Virtue is Not it's Own Reward" was such a catchy title... ;o) Now I have to think up a new one.
That's an awesome contest! I was already excited about the book but I love Hammet!
Your Ten are so much more erudite than mine. :-)
Bettie, I totally agree with the lack of universal experience. There's commonality, but it's not, nor can it ever be, unilateral. Upbringing and geographic location prevent it.
Minor note: I mixed up the races for Guide: it was black hero and white heroine. I got typing too fast, I guess. But I feel strongly that most paperbacks are too white. It also irks me when people use race as a shorthand for description.
She was Korean. (Well, wtf, author? You saying they all look alike?)
And I'll get you your signed ARC as soon as they arrive in the mail! Freakin' post office.
"...authors who refuse to write about characters who aren't their own skin color or ethnic background..."
Speaking as one of those people whose skin would be described as white, I sometimes feel reluctant to do it because people are so danged PC these days - ever ready to find insult or discrimination where there is none. I wrote about an Indian woman I worked with who was under the mistaken impression and all carpoolers were required to use the Carpool lane, which terrified her, since she had only been driving a short time.
It was funny in a way that she would think that, and I did enlighten her. But I didn't tell the story to mock her, just to show the assumptions we all make, and if only we'd ask questions when something makes us uncomfortable...Boy did I get lambasted for my bigotry on that one.
I grew up in San Francisco, lived near and attended school with kids of all races and religions and never thought anything about it, until I lived in a semi-Southern environment and saw the contrasts. I think I'm pretty color blind, but some of the readers, oh, they are primed to take offense. /;+)
Thanks for doing the meme, Bettie. I can see from your list that I'm going to have to read your stuff. I'm keeping track of participants as much as I can, over on my blog, so if you know of someone else who's done it, mention them in comments, please. That's how I found yours. ;+)
Oh, I just thought...I don't know if you or any of your commenters write straight erotica, but here's a call for interracial erotic short stories. It's for part of an anthology series, Coming Together, which has been going on for a while. Each of them is dedicated to a different theme, and all proceeds go to the designated charity. So, no pay, but good company in the writers they choose, and a publication credit. Also a chance to get some positive interracial relationships out there. Click here to get the deets. And pass it along to anyone you think might be interested.
Zaza, the meme is great, it's been fascinating to read so many different responses. :)
"I sometimes feel reluctant to do it because people are so danged PC these days"
When someone says they don't want to write nonwhite characters because it's hard I have a tough time taking that as anything other than an insult. Basically, they're saying it's easier to pretend I don't exist than to try to look at the world from something like my POV and risk not getting it exactly right the first time.
Authors who refuse to even attempt to grant me the same courtesy I've granted western lit my whole life don't get my respect or my time, because obviously, they don't have any time or respect for me.
And it's not that I don't practice what I preach. Maybe there are some white folks out there who think I got "Ember" all wrong. Maybe some Chinese-Americans will be pissed at the way I wrote Arden, the heroine of "Like a Thief..." If I made some mistake about pale European types with freckles, or twenty-third century assassins disguised as Shanghainese photographers, I do hope that people in the know will understand that I tried my best, and maybe drop me a note to let me know how to do better in the future.
Good list Bettie. Speaking of fairytales AND ethnicity, as you know, the earliest version of the Cinderella story came out of 9th century China. Man, would I love to read a re-write of THAT story complete with polygamy and foot-binding....
Hi Tumperkin,
I've read versions of the Chinese tale. I like the talking fish. :o) The European versions are the ones I'm most familiar with, so I tend to think of Cinderella as a European story. Also, I always thought the Euro version had interesting overtones of prostitution and droit de seigneur, so that's the one I went with.
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