Comments on: Clarion West, Week 2, Day 2

By: gay degani

gay degani — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:58:53 +0000

Thanks Jordan for letting us participate in your conference here. I am always trying to write male characters, but at my best with females. I keep trying though because from my viewpoint, men and women will read books with male protags, but some men will only read with male protags. You guys excluded since you’re all on a higher plane than most!

By: Alexander Burns

Alexander Burns — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:25:44 +0000

On the one hand, I can see how we should look down on the big franchise books; they’re essentially officially condoned fan fiction. But on the other…there are solid writers like Peter David who do lots of books like that and still pump out quality original material. And a lot of that stuff is what gets kids interested in reading to begin with; whether it’s written well, a lot of it is fun. I still fondly remember reading the original Dragonlance books when I was a kid.

There’s also something to be said for getting a chance to write characters you’ve loved forever. If someone offered me a chance to write a Dr. Strange novel or something I wouldn’t hesitate.

I prefer writing female characters, too. In a way, it’s like rooting for the underdog, right? There are so many built-in burdens and stumbling blocks that come with being a woman, it’s fun to come up with ways for them to overcome. There’s a great inner strength to women that’s generally more interesting than men.

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:46:11 +0000

Media tie-ins are indeed hack work. But that’s okay for some writers, because they want to pay the bills. Depending on the type of tie-in (such as a movie novelization) it’s easy money from what I hear, but, at the same time, I think a little of your soul dies …

A friend of mine has a Stars Wars novel coming out this fall. He said it’s a lot of money up front, but very little in the royalty department … still, it should bring more readers to his other stuff.

Glad to hear you’re having a good time.

By: Oso

Oso — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:43:47 +0000

I’m glad all is going well. I was worried you’d fallen off the Space Needle for a little while.

I, too, feel like I write female characters pretty well. Maybe it’s because I take the time to wonder how a woman would act/react in certain situations while I might take a male character for granted.