writers | Entries tagged with characterization

Do we still need First Girl Ever stories?

In the real world, these stories happen and are still happening, but we've been telling them for several decades--the Song of the Lioness quartet (Alanna), by Tamora Pierce, came out in the eighties, and I've read opinions that this trope is "tired and overused." (To be clear, this isn't the only place I've read/heard that, Brennan is just very clear.)

While I definitely agree with Brennan in the article linked above, that I would love to see more Second Girl Ever stories, I'm wondering if there's still a need for the First Girl Ever story. Is it still important? There are girls making huge strides in male-dominated fields today, but as Brennan points out, they're largely in "field[s] that, while not exclusively male, [are] still heavily skewed that way." Which makes the Second Girl Ever story all the more important.

So what do you think? Is the First Girl Ever story tired and overused? Or an important story that needs to be told, no matter how many times we've already said it?

(Crossposted, since I'm hoping to get as many opinions as possible.)

meoryn

I was watching an interview with Terry Goodkind the other night and he said something about villains that got me thinking.

What do you consider are the qualities of a "good" villain in a story?

lilsneak

Main characters

Well, me and my friends were discussing about main characters from the shows and books that we love/hate and I was surprised by how much they disliked some characters. The main problem is they are often too whiny, too weak, too Mary Sue-ish [or Anti-Maru Sueish], too emotionless, too emo, too lovestruck.....you get the picture.
So, bbs, tell me, what do you think a main character should be like?

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