Writing Archives - Thea van Diepen

I Wish I Didn’t Have to Think About the Political Implications of My Characters

Thea van Diepen

When I started writing, I didn’t think about how people would react to my characters for simply existing as themselves. This is partially because I was eleven and partially because I wrote characters no-one in my social circle would really object to (except maybe in the case of their gender). To be blunt, I wrote straight, cis, able-bodied white characters who were, by default, Christian. And if they weren’t Christian, it was either because they’d never heard of Christianity or

Can We Become Foreigners in the Stories We Create?

Thea van Diepen

When writers write, we invariably include our perspective into what we create. This can be a good thing when done in service of the story, but, when overdone, it becomes preaching. Or, if only just overdone, undermines the integrity of the world and characters we create. During my gap year, I read Talyn by Holly Lisle. The world she creates is fascinating, absorbing, and yet there was something jarring about it. Not because of the world itself. But because all her

Do Girls Really Think Books about Boys Don’t Apply to Them?

Thea van Diepen

Someone asked me the other day whether girls really think that books about boys don’t apply to them. It was an honest question, respectfully asked. I’m glad they asked, too, because the intensity and passion of my answer surprised me, so much so that I felt it important to share it more widely. This is why I will never stop asking for and writing more female protagonists: I remember the first time I read A Paper Bag Princess. Even at that

Hunter and Prey Has an EPIC Writing Playlist

Thea van Diepen

Starting today, I’m writing Hunter and Prey, book 3 in the White Changeling series, as a part of NaNoWriMo. To kick things off, a special post about this book’s writing playlist seems appropriate. (Seeing as I’ve been torturing myself with it for the past two weeks.) The Hunter and Prey Writing Playlist As Hunter and Prey centres around a werewolf, it’s only appropriate that, after watching Blood and Chocolate again, I found the book’s anchor song in that movie’s soundtrack:

Why Stephanie Meyer is a Truly Great Writer

Thea van Diepen

Yesterday, I read Eve by William Paul Young, the author of The Shack, and it taught me something I will never forget. Reading as an author different than reading as a reader – when you’re a writer, you don’t read to read. You read to learn. You read to gain a better grasp on story, to discover ways to improve your work by following or not following the example of the author you’re reading. So what struck me all through reading Eve was