Okay, it's only January, but I read a couple blogs suggesting that people add a strong romantic subplot to increase reader-interest. That made me laugh since I don't have a romantic bone in my body. Then, I found this blog by Amanda Nelson on Top Ten Made-Up Literary Couples. The pairings are priceless. My favorite was Bella Swan and Lestat. All the couples are worth a chuckle or two. Just don't drink your coffee while reading.
While thinking about romance, what's a strong woman to do? You know, the kind of women you encounter in urban fantasy novels, where action is in the forefront and the romance come after the mayhem is done. Dr. Fran Cohen Praver, a clinical psychologist, has an article in the Huffington Post about Strong Women Make Better Marital Partners. Since most of my friends are mouthy women married to strong, quiet men, I agree.
For younger women who are still working through their relationships, consider this quote: "Think of your self-worth as a garden that you will weed by countering insidious messages and planting new healthy ones."
Makes me glad I'm an old bat who grew up before today's intensified media. Yeah, there're a lot of advantages to ageing ... as long as you're reasonably healthy.
Strong women aren't only found in urban fantasy. It's close to the second anniversary of the Haitian mega-quake. Takes a strong woman to protect her family in such an aftermath. Oxfam's, Yolette Etienne, wrote about "How Women are Lifting Up Haiti" in a CNN op-ed piece. One thing I thought interesting, she mentions working mixed farming plots similar to those used right after their Revolution. GeekGirlCon provided the link.
Of course, if your a writer, your strong woman needs some vulnerabilities. Noelle Pierce blogged about dreams and offers some possibilities if you're looking for a way to knock your main character down to size.
Now, I'm still left with finding a way of making Mariah, my Half-Elven hero, more vulnerable. She's still an elf, even if she drinks too much. -- We won't go into my son's request I go into more detail in my semi-sex scenes. [Oh, they indulge, but I don't describe the blow-by-blow.]
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6 comments:
I still like the old "behind closed doors" method, but maybe that's because I'm an old bat too.
You're so right about making our heroines or female protagonists vulnerable, though. If they don't have some kind of weakness to overcome, they can't really grow during the novel (or series).
When I saw your comment, I thought of the last episode of Castle where Beckett and Castle visited a phone sex operation. The camera pan seemed to slow down over the grandmotherly types taking calls.
Actually, my characters fumble around a bit before the scene fades.
As I think about my first novel, though no longer alive, the woman is still asserting her strength and love in he interactions with her grieving husband and passed daughter who is with her.
The women in my family all have definitely strong personalities. As our most of my writerly female friends, present company included!
What can I say? Strong women happened on both sides of my family, all the way back to the 1700's.
As my mother once said, "You don't look at the fifteen-year-old you have the hots for, you look at the mother to see what kind of wife you're getting." My grandfather didn't.
Cheers to strong women, Kay! I married one, and I'm grateful everyday... well, everyday that doesn't leave me broken and cowering in a corner, that is.
All kidding aside, I've always felt that because we enter life alone and leave it that way, that it is meant to be lived as an individual. Married or not, you have to live on your own terms--be your own person. A woman confident enough to live her own life, especially if she welcomes you along for the ride, is an incredibly attractive thing.
I'm prejudiced for partnership marriages. Maybe because my parents had one. Outside of sex and maid service, I don't comprehend why men would want live with a "door mat". Trophy wives are also puzzling, though I understand the motivation for those better.
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