Types of Female Action Characters (And How to Avoid Making Them Cliché) Part 1

We all know from watching action/adventure movies that the female characters in them seem to fit into at least one of two categories: either weak and helpless, cowering in a corner and sobbing because they're scared, or out there with the rest of the guys saving the world and looking totally awesome while they're at it.

Hold up. I mean, I love action movies just like anyone else, but can't we be a little more creative? Don't the characters deserve more than just cliché personalities? I think we could do better. 

First, I'm going to outline ten six types of female characters commonly used in movies and TV shows, and then give you a few parallel examples of what you could do to twist that in writing the female makeup and mindset. (And no, I don't mean the makeup that goes on your face.) 

Cliche:

1. The Flawless Babe

Despite the fact that she is living in an apocalypse, complete with a dictatorial government and some kind of widespread epidemic, she somehow manages to never grow armpit or leg hair or have periods. Like ever. 

Solution:

Have her be real. She's human; humans have body hair and body odor and a lot of other disgusting things. Make her be weirded out about her hairy man's legs because she hasn't shaved in like, two months. Go ahead and have her go on a rant because her period came at a totally inconvenient time. Just make sure not to have her be too fickle or inconsistent; that's no fun watching or reading. 

Cliche:

2. The Healing Female

The magical, soothing woman who can cure any of the male protagonist's ailments by gently putting a wet cloth on his forehead, even if he has a broken leg. 

Solution:

Just... no. It's perfectly alright to have your female character be nurturing and caring, but... give it a little more substance. (Helpful hint: the injured guy she's tending to does NOT need to be her love interest. How about if they're just good friends? I know, I can hear your gasps of disbelief.) It would also be cool if she wasn't afraid of inflicting pain in the name of doctoring and keeps a calm, level head in the midst of all the stress. (Or, you can have her stress out just a little. She's human, remember?) 

Cliche:

3. The Boss Lady

She's the only female in her FBI or CIA unit, and is consequently the best at everything, squelching her male counterparts in the process. Her closet consists entirely of all-business blazers and high heels sharp enough to stab somebody. (This may or may not reference Peggy Carter, but she obviously doesn't apply to this cliche because she's awesome.)

Solution:

I just feel like this one is really overused, especially by Marvel (although they did a heck of a good job with Peggy). I am certainly not against having a dominant female character, but use in moderation. You can make this cliché really cool if you can rework it into something more believable. 

Cliche:

4. The Invincible Maiden

She's in a galactic war, fighting side by side with a bunch of her alien friends while explosions rain around her, and she only manages to get that attractive little cut across her cheek. Meanwhile, her comrades are blown to pieces, but she presses on, completely unhindered and invincible. 

Solution: 

Obviously, make her get more injuries and let her suffer. (JK, that's not required. But highly encouraged if you want to.) But honestly, there are more cool wounds than just that little cheek slash. Again, she's human. Wouldn't it be super neat if she maybe got a limb blown off and had to get a bionic leg? Now THAT would be cool. 

Cliche: 

5. The Tireless Dame

Her stamina is unparalleled. She can sprint through steaming jungles and across scorching deserts and never break a sweat. And if she does sweat, heaven forbid her sweat look unattractive and run down her face and arms like it's supposed to. 

Solution: 

Make her get a stitch in her side while she's running, and kick her while she's down. Anything to break her; if she gets back up, it will show how resilient she is. 

Cliche:

6. The Mysterious European Lass

She's the foreign woman, preferably an undercover agent, whose sexy accent can never really be identified. French? Romanian? Russian? No one knows. Also, she can kick butt like nobody's business. Looking at you again, Marvel.

Solution:

Make her American. She could be from the Midwest, or the Southern States, or the West Coast. If you don't like America (we got baseball, eagles, and deep fried freedom, ya'll), she could be from Puerto Rico, Belize, the Dominican Republic. To name a few more, Norwegian, Icelandic, Scottish. 

If you wanna really branch out, make her Canadian. I'm positive that she would be the nicest secret agent ever. 

Now, there are actually a lot more than what I have listed here, but since it's pretty long, this will be a two-part post. So look for the next part two weeks from now!


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Really Cool Writing Prompts

First of all, I apologize in advance for missing a week to post. Lame excuse, but it was really busy, and I never got around to doing one.

So, that being said, I may not end up posting every two weeks, but whenever I have the time and motivation. Hopefully. Being a senior in high school is stressful, ya'll.

Anyway, on to more cheerful things! Today I'm just posting some random writing prompts that will get you inspired to write. I honestly love writing prompts. Since there's so many, lots of them will apply to your characters and you can draw awesome ideas from them. Unfortunately, I don't use them as often as I should. Sometimes I really can't get my inner Loki to cooperate.

Dialogue Prompts:

"I haven't had so much fun since I got my tonsils removed."

"Calm down? You have a member of the Secret Service tied up and gagged in your basement, and you want me to CALM DOWN?"

"Kale, hot sauce, and beer? As your father, I'm very disappointed in this diet."

"She said WHAT?"

"Yeah, apparently we're not on the same page."

"The same page? You're not even in the same library!"

"Yuck, what's that awful smell?"

"The smell of your parent's disappointment and unicorn farts."

"You sure you didn't pull a muscle with all that language?"

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out how to process so much stupid all at once."

"Oh, everybody hold up! I'm starting to have emotions."

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to be completely embarrassed and disgusted by your impromptu dance routine."

"So... I just realized... that I've been shot. Multiple times."

"You can't just waltz up to her and wink conspicuously and rattle off government conspiracy theories and reasons why you hate the NFL and brussel spouts! Women don't go for that sort of thing."

"Watch me."

"Sometimes memories are the worst form of torture."

"I'm going into the woods to scream my lungs out for awhile. Anyone wanna join?"

Random Prompts:

Turn to page 39 of the book nearest to you. Go to the middle paragraph on the page and use the first sentence of that paragraph as your writing prompt.

Take a survey of what some people's greatest fears are and compile a paragraph with all those fears put together.

Write a paragraph from the perspective of someone who is deaf. 

Write a scene using only dialogue, starting with the sentence, "What happened to you?"

Close your eyes and describe in detail the sounds you hear around you, using any descriptive words you can. 

Write a huge historical event from a child's perspective.

Write a short story about a harmless prank that goes awry.

Imagine a scene where someone you know barges through your front door and says, "Whoever comes knocking, I've been here an hour, got it?"

List all the things you wish you'd said.

Start a paragraph with the words, "I knew my childhood was over when..."

In ten words, write the saddest story you can imagine.

Describe someone's eyes without mentioning the color. 

Write about the moment your main character decides to leave the path. 

Perspective Prompts:

They thought I'd forget. But I didn't. I remembered everything.

Out of all the things that might have gone wrong that day, being shoved down the laundry chute was not one of them.

I saw his face in all my dreams, but I knew I'd never met him in real life.

I never could get used to the cage.

I keep all my secrets hidden in the pantry. It's mostly depressing poetry, some croissants when I'm feeling peckish, maybe the occasional wad of counterfeit money. Because you never know when the agency could call, and you want to be ready for anything.

Looking down the flat of her sword, I knew I should be afraid. Terrified, even, of what she could do to me. But as my eyes met hers, the only thing I felt was a wave of relief.

I no longer wanted to fight. 

Our hands met, reaching for the same book.

To say that the wedding was not going as planned would be the understatement of the century. 

I remember how excited I used to get when watching the sunrise. Now all I feel is dread. 

How can you explain the sound of your loved one's heart monitor flatlining, after everything the doctors did to save them?

From a prophecy, you would have expected neat calligraphy on parchment paper, not words that were out of order and scrawled on a wall in a suspicious brownish-red color. 

With an awkward chuckle, he pointed to the mistletoe above my head.

I would have agreed with her, except then we'd both be wrong.

I had never seen so much blood in my life. But I was pretty sure that blood wasn't supposed to be green.

I vomited. I mean, what else are you supposed to do when someone's trying to force-feed you something that looks like moldy sour cream and smells even worse? 

Thanks for bearing with me, guys! Here's a Fitzsimmons gif for the really long post. (Btw, current Fitzsimmons feels.... I can't. Marvel will destroy me.)

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Really Cool Locations You Can Use in Your Book

Whether you're writing a story about a huge inter-galactic war, a sweet romance, or a swashbuckling action-adventure book, location really is everything. Sometimes I think the standard locations in books these days are rather limited - you know, the never-ending suburbs of Chicago, or a vacation house at the beach, or a castle in the forest.

Which are all very well and good... until several people all decide to write about the same location, over and over.

So here's some really neat, diverse locations that are sure to spice up your book.

1. Forests
Now, forests are very common in many fantasy novels and perhaps overused. But, I realized while researching that there isn't just any one kind of forest! It will help add some variety if you specify what type of forest it is...

Pine forest, where the trees are close together and there's a lot of shelter under the trees?

Is it a redwood type forest, where the trees tower into the sky and lots of moss hangs off the branches?

Or maybe an alpine forest, covered in snow and sparse timber?

2. Jungles and rain forests

I also feel like jungles are very under-used. I've hardly ever read about jungles in books, except one. Maybe that's just because I don't read enough. But let's be honest, jungles are really awesome. Who wouldn't want to trek though a hot, steamy environment, slashing through vines with a machete and keeping watch for panthers and snakes and insects that could come flying out at you at any moment? OK, well, maybe not. 

3. Deserts

I don't see deserts a whole lot in books, either. But, there's even variety in those, too. There's the rocky deserts that can be the cold kind...

Or the kind that is made of shifting sand dunes.

4. Grasslands and plains 
Plains could be either lush and grassy, or they could be dry, cold, and barren, a bit like the alpine tundra. Either way, they make great settings for stories. Plateaus are flatter than plains, less rolling, but still ideal places.

5. Oceans, archipelagos and islands
I've always thought the ocean was super cool, if not a bit scary, but islands and reefs make really awesome places for stories. The main character in the book I'm currently writing is from a cluster of islands, and I've had fun playing around with her natural instincts for water and boats. Plus, you get to explore lots of stuff in the ocean... atolls, reefs, beaches, deltas, fjords, harbors, lagoons, and a lot more. Overall, they are on my list of top ten locations in story writing.

6. Mountains
Mountains are always great to have in any kind of story, just because they are so majestic and awe-inspiring. Plus, you can play around with the climate... cold, snowy alps that are treacherous in wintertime; wet, tree-covered ranges that trap in lots of moisture; or dry, barren peaks where almost no life forms can be found.

7. Tundra
Tundra is that weird in-between place where it snows half the year, the soil is permanently frozen, and it has no trees, but it's still very cool, pun intended.

8. Urban cityscape
This is useful when you need a high concentration of people in one area. I don't use it very often, but it will come in handy if one of your characters needs to get lost in a crowd.

9. Towns and villages
What I really like to use is quaint little rustic towns set back in the country where not much happens.

10. Planets

Or, you don't have to use any of my suggestions and just decide to come up with new planets! That's great too. 

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Modern Names for Your Characters

If you're anything like me, chances are you've spent hours, maybe days, obsessing over the perfect name for your character. Well, obsess no more! I thought I'd do you a favor and spare you all the precious time that you could be using to write or channel your creativity. *intense stare*

So here are some names for both guys and girls that are sure to get you inspired and ready to write!

Girls:

Adrianne
Mae
Piper
Rowan
Saige
Simone
Tatum
Everly
Cecily
Jade
Adair
Bree
Chanel
Julia
Mercy
Sophie
Lida
Tory
Chloe
Jacey
Lindy
Kennedy
Elise
Charis
Blaire
Tulsa
Sadie
Gracen
Ivana
Teegan
Zuri
Baylee
Mieka
Camilla

Guys:

Lucas
Noah
Mason
Caleb
Wyatt
Graham
Nolan
Miles
Gavin
Asher
Xavier
Declan
Zane
Jamison
Alec
Colby
Jess
Cameron
Elliot
Titus
Thatcher
Neil
Tom
Tate
Landon
Asa
Michael
Finn
Oliver
Jack

And here's some last names thrown in, too. Just to help you out.

Mayfield
Harding
Preston
Wright
Darrow
Kingsley
Cooper
Erwin
Maxwell
Walters
Ross
Bronson
Addington
Bishop
Sterling
Hartley
Iverson
Randall
Tremer
Whitting
Yates
McCoy
Wheaton
Burke
Jennings
Langley
Ericson
Beckett
Weaver
Olson
O' Connell
Fenninger
Vandecamp

Hope all those names helped! And if they didn't... well, good luck scrolling through endless baby name websites.

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Historical Fiction Book Recommendations

Okay, guys, let's play a game. It's called... How many books am I currently reading/ how many books are on my desk right now?

Here's the answer.

Yeah. I may have gotten myself into more than I can handle. But who doesn't love being in two worlds at the same time?

I thought I'd try something different today and give some book recommendations. These are some of my favorite historical fiction books, and they've given me lots of inspiration for my next writing project.

1. The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom (Autobiography). This one doesn't really count as fiction, but it's such an inspiring story that I just HAD to include it. The book has a God-centered focus, and plenty of intrigue and danger coming from Corrie's real-life experiences in World War II and German-occupied Holland.

2. Under a War-Torn Sky, L.M. Elliott (Fiction). I've read this one once before, and it was such an awesome book that I'm re-reading it now. The way the author writes is a style like no other, and the plot kept you on your toes. It's also a WWII era book, as a lot of these next ones will be. (Sorry, not sorry.)

3. Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand (Biography). I haven't technically read this one, but it's a truly amazing story about a young man in the midst of crisis. The book details the journey of Louis Zamperini as he rises to fame as an Olympic runner and then finds himself in the midst of WWII in the Pacific, stranded on a raft after his plane crashes in the ocean. I've been told that the book is best suited for 13 years old and up, due to some graphic descriptions of torture and human peril.

4. The Twilight of Courage, Bodie and Brock Thoene (Fiction). Also a WWII era book, this is hands-down one of the best books I've ever read. Complex characters, real-world struggles, and engaging plot. It is 600 pages long, so be prepared for a time commitment before reading this one. But trust me, it's worth it.

5. The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare (Fiction). Deviating from my WWII streak, this book is set around the time the Salem Witch Trials are taking place in the colonies, and it follows a girl from the Barbados Islands who comes to live with her strict Puritan relatives. This is a book written in an artful, engaging way, and reveals a bit about life in those tumultuous times.

6. The Bronze Bow, Elizabeth George Speare (Fiction). Set in the time of Jesus' life on earth, the story follows a Jewish boy who hates the Romans for killing his father and vows to get revenge on them. I haven't read this book in a long time, but I figured I'd throw some variety in...

7. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (Fiction). If you're in need of a good romance story (preferably sarcastic and frustrating romance) then look no further! Pride and Prejudice has all of the famous British wit and drama you'll need. I first read this when I was 15, and found it boring, but that was most likely because I was more interested in adventure stories and too young to appreciate a good classic. Plus, I hadn't yet mastered the art of sarcasm.

8. The Story Girl, L.M. Montgomery (Fiction). Written by the author of the acclaimed Anne of Green Gables series, the Story Girl is a fun, lighthearted book in which some of the other folks of Avonlea get into various scrapes and incidents. Apparently, Canadians also have great skill with wittiness and words. I actually laughed at loud at this book, which doesn't happen very often.

9. Give Me Liberty, L.M. Elliott (Fiction).  And lastly, this book follows the life of a young boy named Nathaniel after he is bought from a plantation in the early stages of the Revolutionary War. It's also one of my favorite books; it's poetic and intriguing, but easy to read and offers insight into the late 1700's when the colonies were rebelling against England.

Well, there you have it! I hope these books carry you through time and leave a mark on your outlook, as they did to me. Happy Reading!

(And never apologize for being a bookworm. I get so ticked when people can be buried in their phones all day, and when I pull out a book, I'm antisocial. Get real. I'm a freaking Time-Lord.) Nerds and geeks unite!

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