life, On writing

The little moments of life that sneak into your writing. Like ninjas. But nicer.

writing in cafeThere’s one of those little sayings ‘You know you’re a writer when….’  And sometimes that feels exclusionary, like “Well, I don’t always look up murder sites in crowded cafes but I think I’m still a real writer Susan”, but I think everyone who writes ends up putting parts of their daily life into their work. You can’t help it sometimes. Those little moments or feelings sneak into your creative mind like friendly ninjas and go “Oh hey! have you seen me? I’d look pretty good in your WIP don’t you think?”.  And they do say to write what you know, so…

A little while ago I was running late for work. Traffic was horrendous. I had dropped my son off to his Granny after a long commute and was hoping I’d at least get to school before the first class. I drove down the side road and turned into the main road only just slowing, not stopping completely at the stop sign. Habit I think – mostly because there was never anyone there. That day there was a cop on a motorbike. The red and blue lights flashed, the siren went, and with a sinking feeling in my stomach I pulled over. Continue reading “The little moments of life that sneak into your writing. Like ninjas. But nicer.”

Musings on Fiction and Tropes

I still choose the Chosen One

I’ve been watching Wynonna Earp and thinking about the whole Chosen One trope. I love it. I know it’s a bit problematic at times (what with it’s occasional overtones of privileged saviour and the tendency to jump over plot holes) and prone to cliche and suffering from a case of the Mary Sues, but it has always spoken to me.

It must speak to others too because there’s an abundance of examples to choose from. Films like The Matrix have their Neo, and Star Wars attempted to make Anakin a chosen one (I reserve a little judgement on that one). Harry Potter is all about the Chosen One, although it plays with it in various ways. Many of my favourite TV shows centre on a chosen one – Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Once Upon A Time, Merlin, and now Wynonna Earp.

As I prepared my lists of Chosen Ones, it struck me that they all, with the possible exception of Merlin and Arthur, and maybe Luke Skywalker, are reluctant saviours. At least at first. Usually they grow into their role. Emma Swan ends up merging who she is with her role as saviour, and Wynonna Earp gets antsy if she thinks she’s being left out of the action.  Once we’re made important it’s hard to back down from that. Especially once we accept that we’re actually doing some good too. Continue reading “I still choose the Chosen One”