Historical Fiction and Feminism | Olivia J

"No matter what you do, your job is to tell your story," Gary Vaynerchuk

I just can't hop off the literary analysis train, can I? 

Disclaimer: I am not an authority figure on the history of feminism. I also don't read or write all that much historical fiction, at least not at the frequency at which I write contemporary or survival fiction. Hence, this is not comprehensive or set in stone by any means. These are just my thoughts, here to get you thinking. 

Historical fiction is too feminist. 

Let me explain. 

I've been in a reading slump for the past two weeks, so I've been rereading some of my favorite books that are way overdue for a reread, and this includes the Vengeance Road duology by Erin Bowman. (Read my review for Vengeance Road and Retribution Rails at the respective hyperlinks.)

However, I'd like to re-explore the gripe I had with both of these books, concerning the feminist prose and undertones.  I also had this gripe with These Shallow Graves, among other historical fiction works that take place before the first wave of feminism. 

For Vengeance Road, the focus is less on feminism explicitly, but many of the thoughts and quips of Kate, the main character, reflect a modern egalitarian mindset. She comments regularly on the problematic state of women in the West, and how others perceive her. While there's nothing inherently wrong with this commentary, it feels too self-aware - and at times, unneeded - for the context of both the story and the character. 

For Retribution Rails, Charlotte, the book's main female character, is an outspoken feminist. This works slightly better in the context of the character, since Charlotte is an educated, wealthier girl, and her choice of career faces a lot of sexist backlash. However, it all still feels out of place. 

Why? 

Because feminism existed differently back then. It was viewed differently then, and feminism isn't even viewed the same as it was ten years ago. The author tries to put on this lens of twenty-first century morals onto a story that took place over one hundred years ago. This disconnect jolts the reader out of the story, and dates the writing significantly. 

The thing is, is that now we can look back on history and say that "yeah, that was wrong," and "yeah, that was oppressive," but these characters set in the past don't have the cultural context we have now. Many of them probably didn't have a problem with the way their society worked, but still made the best of what they had and who they were in the context of their culture. 

Another problem is that, back then, feminism was a beyond radical idea. Not many people - even women - supported it. Sure, people have believed in feminism since the beginning of time, but only recently has it become a mainstream thing.  But having all of these main female characters ALL be these radical feminists feels unrealistic, especially considering the time period. Surely, not all women felt the same way, as women don't feel the same way even today. Often, the women who don't challenge the social order or make these feminist comments are painted as weak, which is a whole other problematic can of worms . . . 

Going back to my point, it doesn't feel realistic for all of these young female characters in historical fiction to be radical underground feminists. Sure, the late-1800s was when feminism was gaining leverage, but by saturating every single historical fiction story with an overtly feminist character paints an unrealistic picture of how most women believed and behaved. 

Granted, I understand why both the authors wrote these themes and specific lines in, and the publishers kept them in. They kept them in because we live in a feminist era, and the target audience for these books are young people, who are more feminist than ever. By weaving in some nice feminist propaganda into modern historical fiction stories, it allows for easy digestion of the actual state of women in said era. It misrepresents the good - and bad -  of these time periods. 

Which, now that I think about it, is kind of worse than just leaving the issue alone. 

I'm not saying that feminist females in historical fiction are bad, or should be erased. What I am saying is that the over-saturation of feminism in historical fiction is actually very unrealistic. Not every historical fiction story with a female main character has to tackle feminist content. 

What is your take on feminism in historical fiction? Do you believe it has been too modernized in the context of historical fiction? What is the place of examining social issues in historical fiction? Can a female character in historical fiction still be a strong character without being an overt feminist? 

(The answer to that last question is a resounding 'yes', by the way.)

As edgy and controversial as always, 

~The WordShaker

The Man On the Rock | Short Story

"My time is best used by making art, not worrying about whether it's good or bad."

For the love of God, words can't express how I feel. But I suppose I can try, in the most cryptic and creative way possible, as per usual. 

~

The railroad tracks stink with that twinge of metal. The spaces between the trees hold my heart. 

My hands, they ache and crack with overuse. At the places where my heart rests in between the branches, rain falls. 

Cold and aching, the water drenches me. I hold my brother even if he doesn't want me to, because I know he needs it. 

The rain falls but the sun shines. A conglomeration of stars I'll never begin to understand. 

For every step I take, the rails peel further and further apart. The sun is lined with iron and the clouds silver. 

I cast a line made of my own veins. Off a bridge made of iron and oak, the water swallows the green and yellow land. 

Slivers of fish swim by, far below. My spine grinds beneath my armor made of tissue paper skin. 

Brushing it's comforting fingers over my face, the air meanders past, warm and sweet. For a moment, I can't breathe. 

Sorrow dances on the wind like ribbons. I toss a red one down into the white water. 

It moves and bends and forms along with the current. A depth rises in my bones, from the metal below. 

Along comes a yellow light and a steaming engine, plowing through the sun and rain and greenery. Things of little meaning flutter off the trees. 

For another moment, I can't breathe. The air presses against me, and the sun, the iron god, explodes in a million different rays that make everything look so damn beautiful. 

The hot, metal rails move further and further apart, ripping apart a great divide. I jump, and for a fleeting moment, I believe I'm flying with all the other leaves and butterflies and birds. 

Four timeless moments, I feel. Four timeless moments, I become. 

Four timeless moments shed off of me like the jacket flying behind me. 

From under the water, the rain makes coin sized stalactites. The in between space, that place, is the place I can feel. 

The train shudders through the forest, across the bridge. Fish wrap their way around my submerged body, in ribbons of silver. 

For a moment, I can't breathe. The sun, the sky, everything glitters like diamond and solid gold. 

The current pushes me along, across the slick rocks and the souls in the river. I suppose this is where the ducks go when the pond freezes over. 

Frightful, I emerge from the water. The golden sun touches everything, blessing it with threads of the brightest yellow. 

Beyond the rapids is a waterfall, where the trees bow before the man on a rock. The man on the rock tells me to jump, and again I feel strange. 

And again, four timeless moments, I feel. Four timeless moments, I become. 

Four timeless moments shed off of me like the water droplets that crystalize into gold. 

Old and haggard, the man tells me to swim to the bottom of the lake. A deep and murky darkness stretches out below my feet. 

I tell him that he's crazy, that I'll drown. And he tells me that he knows already. 

Inflating the tired balloons in my chest, I dive. The water cuts through me and I believe for just a moment that I'm flying again. 

Through the darkness, through the blind mud, an emerald that shines like a star unfolds before my eyes. I reach out and a soft light begins to flood me, begins to flood the whole lake.

Like flaking rust off of iron railroad tracks, this jewel becomes my armor, becomes my flesh and blood and the cloak I wear. The water has those divets of raindrops on its surface once again. 

The man on the rock smiles at me, but it's only now that I realize he has become a part of the rock, a part of the lake. The moss and algae leave behind streaks on my fingers. 

Still, the scent of wet metal travels through the sweet air. I wave goodbye to the man on the rock, and face the expanse of trees before me.

Leaving my fishing pole behind, I suppose I should try and find a way back up the hill, to the railroad tracks. My brother is still up there, and he needs to find the waterfall as well. 

~

Well. I have no idea what the hell that was. If someone wants to tell me what they think it means, that would be great. 

~The WordShaker

Chapters of Our Lives | How Writers Handle Life

"Blessed are the weird people: poets, misfits, writers, mystics, painters, troubadours, for they teach us to see the world through different eyes," -Jacob Nordby

My last novel was about surviving. But this one is about living.

My last novel, titled A Cactus In the Valley was about two teenagers working through their issues while surviving in the desert. It was to show that no matter how bad life is or how bad life has been, that we can always overcome. That there is always hope to conquer anything. That no matter how bad life can get, that it can always get better.

This novel, which has yet to have a title, is about six teenagers, each struggling with a different aspect in their lives. While it does deal with them struggling, it has more emphasis on them living - experiencing, loving, just being, appreciating the good and where they are in life. That no matter how bad life can get, or how bad life already is - that it can always be good. Something about life is always good, even when the hurricane rages on and the whole world is crashing down around you.

My point in this is that each "segment"of my life is a story. Everything I am, everything I learn, goes into all of my novels. And, I think, as writers, this is how we deal with things, how we tie everything in life into a nice little bow and send it off. A culmination of our lives, of a season. 

The past six months, maybe even year, have been a novel in the making. But when I was going through it, I hated it. I didn't understand why I couldn't write. 

And now, to send off this season of my life, I need to write about it. As painful and as raw as it might be.

~The WordShaker

Crazy Stupid (Problematic) Teenage Love | Olivia J

"Never annoy an inspirational author or you will become the poison in her pen and the villain in every one of her books," -Shannon L. Alder

Happy Belated Valentine's day post, I guess? Except I despise Valentine's Day, even when I had a significant other. Beside the point. 

~

As a crazy, stupid teenager, I consume a lot of stories with crazy stupid teenage love. 

Like the name implies, a slew of teenage love stories are, dare I say, problematic. They're only problematic because of the negative effects they have on our ideas of love, and, more importantly, teenage relationships. 

Unfortunately, this was inspired by the trailer to Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. Granted, I have yet to read or watch this story. However, while I was watching the trailer, I was struck with this repulsive sense of familiarity. This predictability that infects YA romances. While the genre has become more creative over the years, moving from basic rom-com setups to having more inventive premises and spins, a few things still permeate the genre, as well as how it's worked into stories as a subplot. 

Hence, this is me bitching about YA romances.

~ 

1. Love Triangles

Let's get this one out of the way. The most obvious and terrible trope of 'crazy stupid teenage love' is love triangles. Two people are madly in love with one person - or find them just super hot. 

-Why It's Problematic

Very rarely do love triangles like the ones seen in YA fiction develop in real life. Surely, two people can like one person, but most of the time, the person caught in the middle is not so indecisive. If they are, it's a general rule that people dislike to be strung along like the way they are in YA fiction, so one base of the love triangle will drop off. They realize that the pursuit is useless. 

Love triangles are only used to create drama, and to appeal to everyone's  - especially girls' - desire to be desired, and this becomes wish-fulfillment. Don't use them, unless you put a unique spin on them, because most readers can see a bad love triangle forming from a mile away. 

-How We Can Change It

Observe how 'love triangles' form in real life. See their nuances, and how un-dramatic they really are. Stay away from the stereotypes. Realize that there are very few times that you should employ a love triangle.


2. Misunderstandings

You know how it goes. Information gets omitted, people read into meaningless things, and suddenly, the girl thinks he cheated, or some variation thereof. 

-Why It's Problematic

It's extraordinarily frustrating for the readers, because they know the whole story, most of the time, or they realize how ridiculous the reactions and emotions of the characters. This portrays that misunderstandings are an integral part of relationships, and that they always must be this dramatic. That every little glance means he's cheating. That every little comment means she doesn't like him anymore. It portrays a hyper-dramatic, unhealthy relationship that only breeds fighting.  

-How We Can Change It

Realize that misunderstandings do happen in relationships, but never make them the central conflict. When they arise and are resolved, make sure your characters learn from the. Never use it as a way to create unnecessary drama. 


3. Lack of Emotional Connection

This is when no reason is given why these characters are able to connect. What are their shared experiences? Common interests? All too often, the author never gives the reader a clear reason on why these characters are connected emotionally and mentally. All we're given is that "they make me feel all fluttery inside" BS. 

-Why It's Problematic

Not establishing a strong emotional connection between characters gives the idea that romantic relationships are only based on good feelings and attractive people. This is so unrealistic, because if we only gravitated towards friends because they made us feel good, then we'd leave them if and when that feeling subsided. Relationships - any relationships - are based on emotional and mental connections. What differentiates platonic from emotional is the phsyical attraction factor, which should not be the defining factor in a relationship. 

-How We Can Change It

There's no real other way to change this than to create a way that your romantic interests have an emotional connection. Think about why you connected so well with your friends or past or current significant others. Was it because you have the same morals, or sense of humor? Make sure there's an emotional and mental connection at the same time, if not before, a physical one. 


4. The Manic Pixie Dream Character (MPDC)

Definitely the most critizied of tropes along with love triangles, the Manic Pixie Dream Character serves to only further the main character's emotional journey. I've already written a whole post dedicated on how to avoid this trope - check it out here!

But alas, I'll go over the basics here. 

-Why It's Problematic

This sets up the idea that there is this perfect person out there who is just waiting to fix us. That another person can cure all of our problems, and show us all there is to life. And surely, people can teach us lessons. But the problem happens where the MPDC devolves into a plot device, and become two dimensional. 

-How We Can Change It

Give the character a goal in the story that doesn't concern helping the protagonist. More on that in my previous blogpost, Writing People Not Plot Devices. 


5. The Magnum Opus

This is a Latin phrase meaning 'greatest work', as in reference to an artist's most successful accomplishment. But in this context, it means - or rather, I want it to mean - is that "this high school romance is the best it's ever going to get and I'm so in love that nothing could tear us apart so dramatic much sappy". In other words, that the romance that these teenagers are experiencing is so world-shifting and heart-wrenching that it could never get any better and that it will last forever and ever. Right. 

-Why It's Problematic

You're seventeen. How likely is it that this cute boy from your math class is your soulmate? Yet again, this portrays the idea to teenagers that high school romances are so important and detrimental. Acting so dramatically about relationships at such a young age exposes the heart, which isn't always a good thing, because people sure do love to step all over hearts, and crush them. They make good doormats. 

-How We Can Change It

Don't make everything so serious. The characters are young, probably in high school, and, realistically, immature, relatively speaking. Realize that a lot of what teenagers focus on in relationships are feelings, despite whether this is a good thing or not. 

And most importantly, if you take all of the above advice and culminate it in your story, you can probably avoid the "Magnum Opus" trope all together. 

~

Surely, not all of these apply to every YA romance on the market, but a good handful of them do. Hopefully, we can eliminate these annoying stereotypes - which are mostly wish-fulfillment - and write real romances. 

~The WordShaker

Success as a Writer | Olivia J

"Writing is a dangerous profession. There's no telling what hole you may rip in society's carefully woven master narrative," -Danielle Orner

Recently, I've revived some of my wonderful beta readers. Yesterday, one of them finally finished my novel, way ahead of time.

One of her comments at the end of the last chapter was:

"Honestly, it's been a while since I got emotionally invested in a story like I did with this one. You are a brilliant writer, and I'm so excited to see where you go with this beautiful work of art. When you're a famous author someday, I will have the privilege of being one of your biggest fans. This story was so powerful and full of messages that aren't easy to read, but need to be shared. Thank you for pouring your heart and soul into this book. I am confident it and all of your writing  will go on to inspire people for generations to come."

This comment almost made me cry. Nothing - and I mean nothing. No paycheck, no award, nothing - can compare to the feeling that your reader got it. They fully understood what you were trying to convey, and it impacted them.

This is true success as a writer. Many people think when I say I want to be an author, they think I want to be the next Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. And truthfully, it would be nice, but the fame and the money isn't what it's all about. 

And sure, being a household name means more people will buy and read your books, which will make the story have a larger impact in numbers, but true success as a writer isn't determined by the number of copies you sell, or how much money you make. 

It's determined by the souls you touch and the lives you change. This cannot be quantifiably measured, by any statistic, any paycheck. It's the impact you make on others, and yourself, that matters. 

Now, writers, go get people to read your work - because the most satisfying thing is knowing your art -the very thing that helped you heal your heart and soul - reached across the great human divide and healed someone else's. 

~The WordShaker

NEVER DELETE YOUR WRITING: Advice For Writers

"Writing is 5% talent and 95% persistence," -Unknown

One upon a sixth-grade Olivia, I wrote a Hunger Games fanfiction. And, quite frankly, it was gold. It was feels-y and well written (by sixth-grade Olivia’s standards) and so much fun.

But then, I deleted it. I must have had a brain aneurysm, because I hit ctrl+a and then backspace for some stupid reason. And since then I’ve been searching and searching for this fanfiction, and I was wanting to find it because it had a scene in there that I wanted to study and reread. However, I remembered that I DELETED IT. Gone forever.

And I narrate this sad little tale to you all because, writers: I beg of you, DO NOT DELETE YOUR WRITING. Because sometimes you’ll want to go back and read it. And enjoy it all over again, just as much as when you wrote it.

I know because I recently went back and reread significant sections of my first novel.

Believe me, 90% of it will be crap. You’ll cringe over your poor word choice and unclear sentences. You’ll shake your head at the stupid decisions your characters make. And, ultimately, you’ll think “holy chocolate chip cookie dough, what the frick frack, crack-a-lack, h-e-double-hockey-sticks was I thinking when I wrote this?” And you’ll feel like a shitty writer for a hot minute.

But then, you’ll realize that you feel this way because you’ve improved. You begin looking at your writing with a critical eye, seeing ways you can improve it, which is good!

But the best part is when you find those little gold nuggets in a sea of pyrite. Those scenes where the characters are brilliant and three dimensional, those scenes where the scene moves and climaxes beautifully, those scenes where the villain is pure evil, where the emotions connect, where the writing is eloquent and effective.

And that. That is where you appreciate your characters, your stories, and how far you’ve come. And it gives you a reason to keep going.

So, my dear writer friends, NEVER DELETE YOUR WRITING. Because when you read it later, you never know what great things might come out of it.

~The WordShaker

The Last Star by Rick Yancey Book Review: Olivia J, The WordShaker

"We're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh." -Doctor Who

That was one hell of a conclusion. 

A FLUFF-TON OF SPOILERS.

If The Fifth Wave was a 4.50, The Infinite Sea was a 4.75, then The Last Star was a 4.45. 

As usual, I'll talk about the bad, first. 

1. Writing is occasionally confusing. 

This is just Rick Yancey's writing style, but at times, things happen so quickly or so vaguely, the reader's like 'oh yeah, they got shot' or 'wait, what is she doing again?'. And then, they'll have to go back and reread, breaking up the flow. 

2. Ben ends up with Ringer.

Now, don't get me wrong, they aren't my NOTP, but I just wasn't a huge fan. While at times they were cute, I didn't feel that they were really together, or that they should be. I just didn't feel the sparkle. But maybe that's because I really kind of disliked Ringer in this book. One could argue that they are foil characters, like Evan and Cassie, which is an interesting concept. However, I still found Ringer to be inhuman, unrelatable, distrustful, and cruel at times. 

3. More time with Cassie and Sam would have made the ending more impactful. 

While we had to spend time advancing the plot with the other characters, I would have loved to see more of the interaction between Cassie and Sam. While they grew into amazing characters, there wasn't enough time to see them together, to develop their relationship even more. While I still feel like the ending hit home, I felt that it could have been so much stronger, tied in better, and more heartbreaking if we got to see Cassie and Sam interact more, etc. I just wanted to see more of them together, because this is what The Fifth Wave Series is all about. 

~

And now, the almost insurmountable good. 

1. Masterful Storytelling. 

Mr. Yancey has a wonderful way of building suspense and then releasing it, like in the scene where Ben is searching for the Urbana Silencer. 

2. Quirky Writing. 

Never have these books failed at making me laugh out loud. Cassie is just so wonderfully funny, because she makes these quirky observations that are undeniably relatable. Even with the other characters, the writing is so viscerally real with an amazingly light-hearted twist - with grim humor - that makes it easier to bear and more relatable. 

3. FABULOUSLY REAL CHARACTERS. 

I cannot say enough about this section. And this is especially concerning Cassie, Ben, and Sams, and maybe even Ringer at times. Occasionally Evan, especially with his scene with Cassie in the middle section, where I'm not entirely sure whether they had sex or not . . . More on the confusion of Yancey's writing above. 

Anyway, Rick Yancey has such a beautiful ability to craft deep and real characters. Previously, Sam forgot his ABC's, and then he killed Constance, and immediately following, he remembers his ABC's as well as his mother's face. This scene was brilliantly executed, with just the right amount of horror at a six year old killing someone and just the right amount of emotional catharsis and sympathy. 

Ben's reaction to Dumbo's death was heartbreakingly gold. Not only was the writing delicate yet real, the whole scene connected to the reader. You connected with Dumbo mostly because of Ben's reaction. Ben taking out the time to bury him in a sea of death was beautiful and appropriate. Yet another display of Ben's resilience and strong character. 

Now, a whole section has to be devoted to Cassie's awesomeness:  

4. CASSIE'S LAST ACT. 

A good chunk of the last act is dedicated to Cassie saving her little sliver of the world: and becoming who she was really meant to be. 

On the fourth day, she is downloaded with almost the entire consciousness of humanity via Wonderland. This portion of her narrative, she becomes a beautiful foil to Ringer, becoming everything she is not. 

Cassie becomes humanity. She becomes who we are, viscerally relatable, with a heart and a soul the size of Texas. What's so great about this is that only now we see that Cassie was always humanity, that this was her purpose. And when she sees the pod, the readers know exactly what she's going to do. 

And it's perfect. 

Not enough words can come to mind to describe the amazingness of Cassiopeia Marie Sullivan. You'll just have to read - or, rather, experience - it for yourself. 

And the conclusion works because humanity has defeated the aliens. Because it's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. 

source: iztarshi.tumblr.com

~

Truthfully, I'm okay that not all of the 'aliens' have been defeated. I'm okay that we don't truly know who the Others are. 

But overall, The Fifth Wave Series is definitely a must-read. I love it. 

~The WordShaker

The Cooper Kids Adventure Series by Frank Peretti: My Experience

"Better to write for yourself and have no public than to write for the public and have no self," -Cyril Connolly

Growing up in a Christian school and being an avid reader, my beloved elementary library was packed to the brim with good (and bad) Christian fiction.  From about second to fourth grade, I was obsessed with the Cooper Kids series by Frank Peretti.  If you weren't a nineties Christian kid, these books are about Jay and Lila Cooper and their dad.  The 8 books focus on their adventures and the mysteries they solve across the globe, with an appropriate dose of evangelical faith.

I remember falling in love with this series, determined to get my hands on all 8 books.  I was enthralled by the clever, descriptive writing, hooked by the intensity and action, amazed by the complexity and mystery, in awe of the characters' perseverance and faith. Little did I know, however, that these stories would shape me into the writer I am today.

The Cooper Kids series has been described as 'Indiana Jones mixed with Stephen king with a good dose of religion', which, I realize, is a good descriptor for my writing - from the mere flittings of ideas I have to my short stories to my full-length novels. Like this series, my writing is not afraid to push the envelope in terms of content.  Many Christian books don't even want to approach the invisible line between Christian fiction and secular fiction. Peretti, however, addresses the secular and the Christian, and, ultimately, has the motive to convert.  For example, my current novel is about two teenagers who get in a plane crash, and all this weird stuff starts happening.  But under that, it is a story from lost to found, of hope and redemption, of pain and strife, all via Jesus Christ.  On that note, the Coopers meet many people along their adventures, some who come to the light and some who reject it.  Realism in a realistic world - mostly.

These books tackle the paranormal in a supernatural way.  In a dark way.  The Cooper Kids Adventure Series are dark and edgy, but always contain the power and hope of Jesus Christ - which is all I aim to write about. All that I want - all that I need - to write about is the gritty realistic truth. The dark, the dirty, the hard-to-swallow, while never taking the focus off of the beaming hope of salvation.

I highly recommend the Cooper Kids series by Frank Peretti for any kid you know - or for the adventurous child inside you.

~The WordShaker