Cool Girls

Hi, my name is Diana and I write books about cool girls who do cool things.

Of course, what passes for cool varies enormously depending on your own personal taste. Some people think that long conversations about the perils faced by polar bears given global climate change (complete with scientific equations) is hopelessly uncool. Others are totally turned off when a group of young women yank out bows and arrows for a little friendly competition. I’m pretty much into all of that, though.

It takes all types.

On that subject, I really liked this post by kiwi YA writer Karen Healey about how she’s sick of the bum rap cheerleaders get in a lot of fiction. Almost invariably, they are presented as mean, empty-headed, shallow, boy-crazy… what’s nice is the post engendered a great discussion about those cheerleader stories that don’t perpetuate the stereotype. To wit: some cheerleaders are awesome, like those in Jennifer Barnes’ THE SQUAD series, or the fabulous women of Bring It On.

Though not a cheerleader, Philippa of RAMPANT is a volleyball player, and embodies a lot of the characteristics common to the evil-cheerleader trope. She’s a beautiful blonde jock, a popular girl with lots of guys after her and a ton of influence due to a large circle of friends who think she’s super-cool. Ready to hate her?

Luckily, most folks love Phil. In fact, when I met with a school group who’d read RAMPANT, one girl thanked me for writing a “nice jock.” As an athlete and a reader, she was weary of only reading about mean girls and guys in the sporting world. I recommended she check out HOW TO DITCH YOUR FAIRY, by Justine Larbalestier, which is chockers with athletes.

Speaking of Justine, it was about a year ago that she introduced me to the concept of the Bechdel-Wallace test.

A story (book, movie, etc.) passes if:

1. It has at least two women in it,
2. Who talk to each other,
3. About something besides a man.

Like any neurotic writer, I immediately feared that I’d unwittingly failed this test. But I’ve come to the conclusion that the kind of writers who would care whether or not they pass the test probably don’t have anything to worry about. Yes, the girls in my books talk about boys, but they also talk about: religion, their futures, polar bears, mythology, computer programming, ancient warlords, pretty clothes, their classes, their theses, nuns, political scandals, the best way to hold a sword, the best reasons to join (or not join) a secret society, how they felt when their mothers died, how they felt the first time they killed something, how best to get another girl they know off drugs, the movies they like, the jobs they want, the things they fear more than anything in the world.

Which is not to say that stories that don’t pass the B-W test are inherently bad. Some are fantastic. But the kind of books I write (cool girls doing cool things), are very Bechdel-Wallacey.

And of course, cool girls come in all shapes and sizes. Some are sweet; some are bitchy. Some are into clothes, or sports, or music, or parties, or medicine, or God, or some combination of things you’d never expect. I’ve gotten letters from readers thanking me for writing a nice Christian girl. I’ve gotten letters from readers disappointed that they finally read a book with a Singaporean girl in it, only to discover that she was mean. The pitfall of writing a lot of different types of cool girls is that sometimes, the one with the characteristics a reader most identifies with has other, far more unlikeable characteristics. It’s unavoidable. I try to write balanced characters, who have reasons for the things they do. After all, that nice Christian girl has been known to be pretty mean from time to time, and the bitchy Singaporean girl has a very good reason to feel slighted, and, on the plus side, she’s really good at hunting killer unicorns.

It’s a good thing to read about different kind of people. Expands the brain. I loved this post by Malinda Lo, the author of ASH, about reading for diversity (and not just because she name-checked RAMPANT). I don’t want the cool girls I write about to live in a world where everyone is white, or straight, or American, or has the same religion, or likes the same things, or believes in the same things (or even believes in the same things for the same reasons — one of my favorite things to write about is people who team up to achieve the same goal for markedly different — even diametrically opposed — reasons). It makes things more interesting. It makes things more realistic, too. Because that’s the kind of world we actually live in.

So, cool girls. Cool girls doing cool things. It’s important to me as a writer that I continue to write those kinds of characters. Not simply out of a sense of responsibility to my readers (who are also, by and large, cool girls — though there are a lot of cool guys, too) as Jo Leigh points out in this awesome post about how she writes books about strong young women who believe they are worthy not only of love but of the best in their lives. But I also write those kind of books because I honestly can’t imagine it any other way. Those are the books I like to read, too. I like to read books where the women are strong (not necessarily physically strong, but strong in character and conviction) and interesting. I like to read books about cool girls doing cool things, and when I write a book, I have to read it a lot.

I love the girls in my books. I love the decisions they make, I love the mistakes they make as they work their way toward their own self-identity. I love the fights they have, and the love they show to each other. I also love the boys who love them — I love that their taste in women is all about cool girls who do cool things. Those are the best kind of men, if you ask me.

I’ve spent the week working on revisions for the second killer unicorn book. I’ve spent the week with Astrid and Phil and Cory, and other cool women you may or may not have met yet, and I’m really proud of them. I’m proud when they are put in impossible situations and they don’t give up. I’m happy when they look at mistakes they make and think, okay, I screwed up, but I’m not going to let this stand. I’m thrilled when they are brave enough to fight for what they want and who they love. I’m in awe of the sharpness of their minds and the size of their hearts and the strength of their spirits.

I love how totally cool they are, and I’m glad I created them this way.