Let's talk about Disney...

So I was browsing Pinterest the other day and saw a shared post from Tumblr talking about the new Disney film Frozen. The post claimed that Frozen was the first Disney movie to have female characters to not need men to save them.

After reading the post, I started thinking.

And when I finished thinking, I realized that they were wrong. I will discuss a few of my personal favorite Disney movies to elaborate my point that this post was incorrect that Frozen was the first Disney movie to project this idea.

Beauty and the Beast:
My first and all time favorite Disney Princess movie is Beauty and the Beast. Not only does her personality reflect my own, but she LOVES books like me :)  Belle is different from the other women around because she reads, she doesn't want to marry the "hunky hottie" in town despite his actions towards her, and she wants more than what the small village can offer. She had the option to marry and be taken care of for the rest of her life, and she turned it down. Instead she sacrificed herself for her father, never knowing if she would ever see the outside world again. In the end she rushes back to The Beast to try and save him, not the other way around. She didn't need him to save her.

Mulan:
Mulan is also one of my favorites, maybe because of Khan, her horse, or because of her attitude. This is another tale of a girl who instead of acting like her family and society thinks she should, goes against the grain. She questions why women must only live to bear sons and be a wife. Then when her father's life is in danger she lies to save him. At the very end, despite all of the men around her telling her she couldn't, she saves ALL of CHINA. She didn't go looking for a man, she just wanted to protect those around her.

Pocahontas:
Again, it's her personality that I love. She refuses to marry the man that she is "supposed to" according to her social standing. She yearns to carve her own path. Though she does fall in love with John Smith, she never wanted nor needed a man to save her. And once again this is an example of a female Disney character going against the grain and saving the foolish men around her. Instead of letting her father kill Smith, and so start the war, she puts her own life in danger to get the men to understand each other instead of fight. No one saves her, she saves all of the men.

Tangled:
Rapunzel is a wonderful character who only wishes to see the floating lights. She wants to see and experience the world that has been denied to her. In fact, until she sees the lights and realizes how she cares for Flynn, she really wasn't interested in men. I suppose I have to give a little credit to Flynn Ryder for going after her when her "step mother" is going to hide her away again. But once again it is the princess who saves the life the man. This movie is slightly more balanced than the previous ones, but in the end her actions save his life not the other way around. She didn't go looking for a man to save her.

Brave:
I think it may be my Scottish heritage showing in this one, but this is my favorite of the newest Disney films.Merida doesn't want to marry, she would rather shoot, ride and explore the land around her than marry. She certainty doesn't need a man to save her, and while her problems stem from her own actions, she ends up saving her mother, her father, her brothers, and the clans around them. She never asked for help from her suitors, nor did she want a man to save her. She wanted to save herself and change her fate.

I have nothing against the new film Frozen. I did watch it, it was cute. But it probably won't become one of my favorites. I wish that before people glorified the latest and greatest thing, they would think back on what came previously. I know that I am not doing any of the above films justice. I could probably write a 20 or more page thesis paper on these films, but hopefully my synopsis of them makes sense enough.

It's official!

I have officially finished my third, and full, read through of my first novel.
Yay!! *insert cheers and Huzzahs*

Now the fun...er ..some what fun work starts.
I decided to add in more of one characters perspective to the story to add more depth to what is happening in one of the cities, as well as expounding in several places throughout the story. Overall my goal of finishing the edits by the end of the month is going okay. Though I might be pushing that goal back to mid-February instead. And then finding beta readers.

The joys of the writing life. Oh well, so now I have to start planning what to write and starting to look through *finally* my second novel, and the one I wrote during NaNoWriMo.

Making progress! It's a good sign that I was engrossed in the story as I was re-reading. Now to make it better :)

Living a Creative Life Part 4-Accepting Criticism

I love the creative arts...well most of them, but obviously my favorite form of art is the written word. Sadly, this form of art, and most other mediums are also subjective. There is no golden standard of ingredients that when put together create the perfect book, short story, or poem that makes everyone who reads it fall madly in love with it.

There will always be those that are not fans of your work.

Unfortunately this is something that every creative person needs to come to grips with: You are NEVER going to please everyone. This, this is a tough concept for me. When I write something, especially my more creative genre pieces, it is hard for me to give it for someone to read. My heart jumps and my stomach twists and turns. Why?

I want them to like it.

It seems that the longer that I work on something, the more I feel attached to it. And therefore the more anxious I get about someone else reading it. I want the readers to fall in love with the characters and concepts as much as I have. The really hard part comes when I get their comments and opinions. Then that anxious feeling comes right back.

The hardest lesson that any creative person needs to learn is how to accept the fact that people are just mean and will tear down your story, painting, etc. just to make themselves feel better.

One of my favorite writing movies perfectly expresses this idea:

"You know what the absolute best moment is?
It's when you sit down with your manuscript before these arseholes take something they couldn't do in a lifetime and tear it apart."

If you haven't seen Finding Forrester, it is an excellent movie with lots of advice and inspiration for writers, as well as a great movie in general. Sometimes people just tear your work apart because they can, or they think they are being helpful.

The real helpful stuff?

You usually have to shift through to find the nuggets that are useful, the rest? Feel free to toss 'em out!
It is YOUR story/book/movie/painting after all.
Yes, accepting tough comments is hard, and sometimes people see things that we miss. Or we need a wake up call to realize something that we missed or took for granted but that the reader is missing. Those are the comments that are as valuable as gold to a writer. 

Writerly New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year!
Hopefully everyone had a great and safe celebration. My first New Years off of work in seven years and I stayed home due to a sinus infection, but it was still enjoyable.

OK, I'm usually not a fan of resolutions...by March I've forgotten all about them or have just blatantly ignored them. This year I am not making many personal resolutions but rather I making several goals for my writing.

Goal 1: I will finish revising my first novel and send it out to be read by a beta reader or two.

Goal 2: I will write the third and fourth books in the series during the two Camp NaNo's or NaNoWriMo.
Goal 3: Write at least two novels this year, possibly three.
Goal 4: Revise my first novel after being beta read.
Goal 5: Send out query letters for first novel.
Goal 6: If no one bites, Self-Publish the darn thing and start revising the second book.

Yes, I have a time line of a few months between querying and self publishing. I really don't see the point in waiting to go the traditional route when, hopefully, by the end of the year I will have written 4 books in the series. Why wait? Why not put a (many times) revised and polished story out there for people to enjoy right away? Why should I wait and sit on 4 books?

So maybe my writing goals are ambitious, but I do know that they are attainable!
What goals are other writers setting for themselves? Any writing resolutions?