People love to rag on Disney for giving little girls unrealistic expectations about their lives, and they have a point. Almost all of those girls were gorgeous with amazing singing voices, and they all ended up marrying a wonderful prince (except Pocahontas. And Jasmine, since technically Aladdin isn't a prince), and lived happily ever after (I choose… Continue reading Why Disney Princesses Are Badass (Part 1)
Category: Characters
Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover (Alone)
People are always saying, "don't judge a book by its cover." When they say this, of course, they aren't talking about books at all--they're talking about people. Usually, when somebody says this, they mean that you shouldn't judge by outward appearance. Never mind the shoes, the clothes, the jewelry, the nails, the eyes--what really counts… Continue reading Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover (Alone)
Brace for Impact
Today, while I was studiously putting off the critiques I have to write for tomorrow, I came across this video on TED talks. It's a short presentation given by Ric Elias, who was a passenger on the plane that went down on the Hudson river back at the beginning of 2009. His presentation is about… Continue reading Brace for Impact
Writing Habits
Hey, kids. I have a question. I want to know if I'm alone in this: Do you make playlists for your characters? I mean, I know that lots of people have playlists for specific stories, and almost everyone listens to music of some sort while they're writing (let me know if you don't!), but how… Continue reading Writing Habits
Thesis Statement
In keeping with last week's theme of "questions writers hear a lot," I have a new one I'd like to address. It's one that I've been getting a lot lately, especially with yesterday's Easter gathering, where various family members all wanted to know the same thing: What is your novel about? To the average person,… Continue reading Thesis Statement
M.M. Jordahl 