getting to the <3 of the matter
Why isn’t the existing Hero’s Journey model already good enough to use for heroine-centered stories? In this post, we address the three main problems we see in Joseph Campbell’s monomyth and its impact on storytelling, and how we hope to design the Heroine’s Journey model differently to avoid them.
Read moreLast year at GeekGirlCon’s Star Wars Expanded Universe panel, an audience member posed the question – Where should I start? In our Expanded Universe where the books and comics present one continuous canon, this question pops up with regularity. I’m always interested to see how fans answer it. It’s natural to want to pitch our personal favorites in response, but not everyone who’s asking is going to have the same tastes. So when I’m presented with that question by a curious potential fan, I try to return a question to him or her before considering my response – What is it that you like?
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This past Saturday, Nickelodeon premiered The Legend of Korra, a new animated series from the creators of the acclaimed Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Read moreEarly next month I will be speaking at the Belvedere-Tiburon Library in northern California about the wide range of opportunities open to science fiction fans.
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I knew March would be madness with Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse and The Hunger Games – stories with great female heroines like Jaina, Tahiri, and Katniss. In the meantime I’ve been writing away on Wynde, working with my heroine in that book and playing with some storytelling ideas to help draw the reader into Vespa’s story.
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After much anticipation, it was delightful to see The Hunger Games movie succeed so brilliantly. Check back later this week for more thoughts and analysis of the film, but in the meantime you can start with the movie review. The short version: it’s a 9/10.
Read moreA young hero from a desolate and isolated region, torn from that life by the evil machinations of an oppressive regime, mentored by a wise-yet-weary warrior, forced into new alliances and a rebellion, a singular life-defining shot that hits its mark… I bet you thought I was talking about Star Wars.
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Last night I attended the midnight movie premiere of The Hunger Games at my favorite local theater. Here’s my preliminary, spoiler-free recap.
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Good stories always have great characters. The great stories always have something more. What sets them apart are themes that resonate deeply with the reader, viewer, or audience. Great stories don’t just entertain – they make us think, challenge our assumptions or beliefs, or inspire us to do great things ourselves.
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What sets The Hunger Games apart from the rest of the field, though, is its lead character, Katniss Everdeen, and the skill with which Collins executes a novel trilogy centered around a young female lead. Where so many others have failed, or not even bothered to try, Collins not only creates a Strong Female Heroine, but also makes the story her Heroine’s Journey from impoverished nobody to national symbol. There are far too few stories of this kind in the genre – or anywhere else for that matter – even amid the prolific storytelling boom of recent years. For authors, screenwriters, and others struggling to figure out how to write better female characters and better female-centered stories, The Hunger Games has to be at the very top of the list to read, analyze, and learn from.
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