What I find interesting and heartening, though, is that there does seem to be a shift in the subject matter being written about by women that is doing well in the culture. We're seeing more women writing dystopian fiction, more women writing novels set post-apocalyptic settings, subjects and themes that used to be dominated by men.
Laurie FoosHaving a magical element in a realistic setting without explanation seems to me to be the hallmark of fairy tales, which present us with a kind of metaphorical look at some aspect of our lives.
Laurie FoosI tend to start with a fantastical premise, and then I place it in the world we know. Or, really, it places itself. Honestly, I feel that I have very little control of the magical aspect, as that's just what comes out for me.
Laurie FoosI feel that if I establish the world or the premise from the first line, then I can get the reader to come with me where I want her to go.
Laurie FoosI'd say that most of life seems to me to be that way, a mixture of the mundane and the mythic, when you're living the life of the mind.
Laurie FoosFundamentally I think we all write the kinds of work we'd most like to read. Or we try to.
Laurie FoosI've always gone with Kafka's model of establishing the world from the first line, as in Kafka's famous line from Metamorphosis, "Gregor Samsa woke up from uneasy dreams to find himself transformed into a gigantic insect" (or beetle or cockroach, depending on the translation). I have to have that first line before I can go further.
Laurie Foos