Being Geek Chic is a blog about one woman navigating the male-dominated industries of production and tech. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi, Founder, CEO and Director of Mighteor - one of the world's first internet video production companies. Learn more about Mighteor here.
Picture this: you’re a young fashion designer with a background in engineering and a physicist for a best friend. Together, you create a time machine, allowing you to venture seasons ahead in time, seeing trends and looks well before they hit the runway. As a result, you find yourself on an adventure that may jeopardize New York’s most elite and change the future of fashion forever.
Sounds pretty amazing? Thank sisters Shawnelle and Shawnee Gibbs, the writers and creators of Fashion Forward. It’s a new webcomic that just debuted last month. You can download the first issue on Comixology, an online digital comics platform, here.
The Gibbs sisters are the definition of a dynamic duo. The award-winning writing team from the San Francisco Bay Area started their careers in indie animation when they began creating their own webtoons and animated shorts while in college. The Gibbs gals have a mission that we can totally get behind: telling contemporary and timeless tales with female protagonists.
Read on for their interview with BGC!
Q: How did you arrive at the premise for Fashion Forward?
Shawnelle: It was at least 5 years ago now that the idea came on a road trip on the California I-5 from our hometown in Oakland back to Los Angeles. Since the view of cows and dry grass gets pretty redundant after a while, there’s nothing much to do but talk or listen to music and we were in the talking phase of the 5.5 hour trip. I was telling Shawnee´ about a book I wanted to write about a Fashionista who time traveled for ideas. It started a discussion that started snowballing and became the webcomic that became the book. I still get excited thinking about it.
Shawnee: Shawnelle had me with the magic words “time travel” and “stilettos.” We’d been working on all sorts of out-there ideas about ghosts, an early 1900s circus performer and stuff about aliens, so a time traveling adventure was right up our alley. Shawnelle has a bit of a background in fashion–she’d produced on the show Project Runway and had briefly gone to school for fashion back in college, so it manages to spill out here and there. To start an idea, we first have to pitch it to each other (and we can be the toughest critics of a pitch). Sometimes we have to work extra hard to convince the other person of an idea before we write it, but I was immediately onboard with this one and I’ve gotta thank the long and monotonous California I-5 highway for it!
Q: How do you hope Fashion Forward will inspire readers?
Shawnee: At the core of the story is a tale of a young woman in a workplace environment that doesn’t value her very much. When you’re starting a job, particularly creative ones, (which we have a bit of experience with), wages are low and expectations are insane. Sometimes you’re treated terribly and you don’t know what to do. For those that don’t quit entirely, a lot of people grind it out and find themselves in a position where they can either be a part of the problem (the old horrible boss phenomenon) or rise above it all and create a new model.
We’re hoping our readers recognize the importance of staying true to yourself no matter how crazy the fill in the blank world is that you find yourself in–in our protagonist Sam’s case, it’s the incredibly unique and competitive world of haute couture. We hope our readers take away the idea of going against the grain and realizing you can take a stand no matter how much muslin you find yourself tied up in.
Shawnelle: My hope for Fashion Forward is that it encourages women to dream big in the STEAM world while making decisions along the way that they can live with.
Q: Talk about taking the story from script to comic book art.
Shawnee: Shawnelle and I come together to write the script where we plan the story, dialogue and early layout for the panels of a page but it’s our artists who really bring it to life. And we’re so, so lucky to have found two very talented young ladies: Linda Chung, our interior page artist and J.M. Tolman who’s our cover artist for the first half of the series and takes over sequential art for our later books, when Linda moved up North to do amazing things in the gaming world.
Our jaws dropped at these young women’s portfolios and they’re skill and work ethic is just phenomenal. These girls both have talent oozing out of their fingertips and we’ve been lucky enough to have them both on the team!
Q: When did you discover you were “geeky”?
Shawnee: I got the sneaking suspicion that I might have been a geek when Shawnelle and I were kids writing our own comic strips in grade school. But I think the big sign post geeky moments were being in high school opting to hang out late in our English Teacher Ms. Pyeatt’s room editing and drawing comics for the school newspaper while other kids were hanging out at football games and parties. I knew for certain that I was a geek at that point, and I was cool with it.
Q: If you could take any fictional character out for a drink, whom would you choose and what would you drink?
Shawnee: It would have to be Doro the Immortal from the Octavia Butler Patternmaster series. We’d probably drink Scotch—neat…as I try to pry the mysteries of the world out of his cold heart.
Q: What would you tell your 13-year-old self?
Shawnelle: Someone is going to offer you fried oysters in a few years, avoid them. And just go ahead and keep being your special brand of weird, you’ll end up totally fine.
Emma Bauer is a Being Geek Chic Contributor. Clearly, she’s got great taste. She is a PR enthusiast, dog lover, tea drinker, art appreciator, and of course, aspires to Be Geek Chic. Follow her on Twitter: @emmalynnbauer
Writing strong female characters isn’t as hard as Hollywood would make you think. If it were as easy as giving her a black outfit and a particularly strong level of talent with a highly obscure weapon, then they’d be all set. Unfortunately, real strong women are a bit more complicated than that. And most of us don’t bother with quivers and guns.
Last week, we talked about expanding the definition of the strong female character beyond ass kicking super heroes and even talked about examples of women who aren’t normally defined that way, but should be. It’s only natural then that we try to define some ways in which writers can approach creating their own strong female characters.
1. Give her a REASON for being that isn’t related to love. Every protagonist needs a purpose. Harry Potter needed to avenge his parents. Bilbo Baggins needed to deliver a ring to Mordor. Katniss needed to defeat the Capitol and President Snow. Gustave H. needed to clear his name of murder. And Emmet needed to stop President Business from gluing the Lego universe together. We all need a REASON, even in real life. So come up with one that doesn’t immediately go to: She needs to get the love of her life back. Or she needs to pull off the perfect wedding. Protagonists should have all kinds of reasons for existing and weddings and babies aren’t the only available ones for women. Barf and death. That’s what I say to that.
2. Make her passion her superpower. Her drive and ambition should come from her own passion or talent, not out of vengeance or malice. This kind of character became especially popular after the Kill Bill era, but it has gotten old. And as much as I love a great dystopian story, it shouldn’t be the only place we seem women taking charge. Selena Meyers from Veep is a good example of this. She’s brilliant at what she does and it moves her forward in her profession continuously.
3. Make her relatable by giving her qualities and hobbies that are real and modern. In other words, skip the tragic things like: she’s beautiful, but she’s a klutz! She’s brilliant, but she always says the wrong thing at the wrong time! We don’t just all have drinks and get lattes and go shopping. We do those things, sure, but expansion beyond this is critical. Real hobbies are things like painting, hiking and playing guitar. It’s a fact that real women do these things too. Be honest about that.
4. Give her physical qualities that express something about her. Glasses do not make a pretty girl less attractive. Skip that descriptor. We expect her to be pretty. So, instead, give her physical qualities that are actually used as a form of self-expression: tattoos, piercings, bold hair cuts or hair colors. These things are real and also, relatable.
5. Romance is not the only way to express vulnerability. Too many writers try to show that a woman has a “soft spot” by giving her a romantic interest to help her seem like she has some other side to her than strength. Black Widow in the Avengers series is actually the perfect example.
6. Give her other women to interact with. This isn’t just here to help you pass the Bechdel test. Look at Bridesmaids. Director Paul Feig is a genius for a multitude of reasons, but one of the most prevalent is how he carefully crafts a community of female characters in his projects. They don’t all get along and they don’t all love each other, there’s nuance and balance there that reflects real life relationships and it can only be achieved when you have more than one other woman in a script.
7. Don’t just gender swap. In the simplest terms possible, don’t just take a male role and make it female. If you do this, it means you’ve created a strong character, but a shallow one.
8. Give her a career. This one is also obscenely simple, but it’s remarkable how few women in film and television don’t get beyond a tertiary: “this is so and so and she is pretty and has a dog.” Giving her a job is just a simple way of building out some intention behind the person and it proves you’ve given some thought to the type of human this woman may be and what talents she may possess.
9. Write dialogue by listening. The Duplass Brothers are masters of this and it’s because of their methods. They write their dialogue by first recording it like a conversation and then listening back to that conversation. By then writing their dialogue after listening to the flow and rhythm of their original recording, they capture authentic, useful back and forth. I recommend this as a way of writing great dialogue in general, no matter what sex you’re trying to capture. However, it’s especially important when writing a strong female character to understand what her dialogue is doing for the story. Is it moving the plot forward? Is it an insight into her purpose? Her mission? Does it make you feel closer to her? Do you understand her motives now?
10. Be unafraid of weirdness. Stereotypes and cliches are bad in any kind of writing at any time. But they are especially maddening when it comes to female characters because there are only about 5 cliches from which writers draw upon and that’s it. How can we combat? I think by embracing the weird, we can create more broad opportunities for… developing all kinds of broads. I know, sorry for the pun, but it’s true. Frances Ha is the perfect example. That girl is bizarrely obsessed with her best friend, working in a job that is going nowhere and it totally flailing about her life. And she might be the worst dater ever in the history of dating. But she’s real and full and fun to watch.
Meet Kendall Ashley (@Kendall_Ashley). She’s a freelance writer with a pen full of sass, spunk, and geeky pride. Her passions of Star Wars, gaming, Doctor Who, and Supernatural are all funneled into her blog, Distracted Blogger, where she keeps us updated on the goings-on of her life.
But on top of that, Kendall also contributes regularly to Nerdophiles, Outright Geekery, Cinema Blend, and The Mary Sue, just to name a few. Our favorite writings of this Lady Geek include the five characters she’d invite to her Thanksgiving table, when she showed us the First Look at Katie Cassidy as the Black Canary (beware: Arrow spoilers in that link!), and all of her recaps of The Walking Dead.
So, thinking of becoming a freelance writer but need some advice to jumpstart your career? Wondering what Kendall would title her memoir? Read on!
Q: How did you discover your passion for writing?
A: I’ve always loved writing. I honestly don’t remember a time where I didn’t love it. I’ve never been great at expressing my emotions verbally, so I think I just naturally gravitated towards journaling, and that kind of mushroom clouded into a love of writing in general.
Q: What’s your advice for fellow lady geeks considering a career in freelance writing?
A: Make yourself available, and be willing to work hard. Freelance writing is a tough gig. When you are just starting out, it can be frustrating to find a ton of exciting–but unpaid–opportunities. Just keep working, keep building your writing portfolio, and keep networking with other writers and editors. Your hard work will pay off!
Q: If you could take any fictional character out for a drink, whom would you choose and what would you drink?
A: Leslie Knope. I’d love to get to talk to her about random life and career stuff. I feel like she’d be fun and supportive. What would I drink? Depending where we went to get a drink (bar or coffee shop), I’d either drink a chai latte or a hard cider. Love both of those drinks!
Q: What would you tell your 13-year-old self?
A: I was (and still can be) a super perfectionist who was very concerned about the opinions of others. So I’d tell myself to not be so stressed out about making everyone else happy, and to go easy on yourself. It’s okay to pursue your passions, and it’s okay to have no clue what you want in your future. Just focus on doing your best right now.
Q: What’s the title of your memoir?
A: “It Sounded Better In My Head”
Emma Bauer is a Being Geek Chic Contributor. Clearly, she’s got great taste. She is a PR enthusiast, dog lover, tea drinker, art appreciator, and of course, aspires to Be Geek Chic. Follow her on Twitter: @emmalynnbauer
Natania Barron (@NataniaBarron) will tell you stories of “invisible soul-eating birds, giant cephalopod goddesses, gunslinger girls, and killer kudzu.” She’s a writer of fantastical subjects with a resume full of published short stories and a full-blown novel, Pilgrim of the Sky. We definitely recommend checking it out: it's a steampunk story of a girl tasked with reuniting not one, but eight troubled yet wondrous worlds.
And Barron’s about to add another novel to her list and she embarks on NaNoWriMo—completing an entire novel in the course of November. Follow her progress here. (And psst: it’s not too late to start a novel of your own this November! Join the NaNoWriMo community here.)
And that’s not all Barron has to offer. She’s a founding editor and creative and web director at GeekMom, an online blog and robust forum of geeky parents around the globe. Take a look around, and read on to learn more about this Lady Geek of the Week.
Q: How did you discover your passion for writing about the fantastical?
A: I started writing every day in my tweens, and naturally, I wrote what I knew. At that time, I was deeply devoted to Tolkien, but had grown up with C.S. Lewis and Madeleine L’Engle. I wanted nothing more than to write fantasy novels and create alternate worlds, especially to escape my own!
Q: Where do you find your inspiration in life?
A: I try to live as much as possible. I’ve never been someone to choose one thing or another in terms of hobbies. I try and do it all! My kids are my biggest inspiration insofar as pushing myself as a writer, and nature and music are the things that continue to speak to me throughout the day. But I do my best to prepare myself to be inspired. Sometimes I think people expect inspiration is something that just happens, that you stumble across. But really it’s about opening yourself up. It’s everywhere. You just have to look for it.
Q: If you could take any fictional character out for a drink, whom would you choose and what would you drink?
A: Oh, goodness. Well, I suppose it would have to be Bilbo Baggins if we’re going literary. I suspect he’d have endlessly good stories. We’d have ale, of course, but that would be just the beginning. Lots of good bar food, too.
However, if I could go outside the realm of books I’d definitely choose Doctor Who. And we’d have St. Germaine’s and gin. I’d be fine with Eleven, but I’d prefer Ten.
Q: What would you tell your 13-year-old self?
A: You’ll never grow up. Don’t worry.
Q: Best part about being a GeekMom?
A: I’ve always said that being a GeekMom is about being perpetually curious. I love that I learn along with my kids. I might not always get what they love, or get into what they love, but I come to it with fresh eyes. Who’d have thought we’d both love Avatar: The Last Airbender so much? Or that my daughter would take to Hello Kitty the way she has? It’s pretty amazing when your kids start challenging you and inspiring you in ways you never expect.
Emma Bauer is a Being Geek Chic Contributor. Clearly, she’s got great taste. She is a PR enthusiast, dog lover, tea drinker, art appreciator, and of course, aspires to Be Geek Chic. Follow her on Twitter: @emmalynnbauer
Meet Steph Crandall, a Part Time Nerd and full-time Lady Geek who blogs about her “journey into the world of nerd-dom.” Her favorite topics? Doctor Who speculations, college tips and tricks, and nerdy pick up lines. Crandall also penned a lovely tribute to Robin Williams, tugging at our heartstrings and reminding us of the fragility of life and the beauty of the world.
But when she’s not geeking out over her favorite fandoms, Crandall updates us on the ins and outs of college basketball over at Mid-Major Madness. Check out her posts here.
Read on for this Lady Geek’s interview with Being Geek Chic!
PS: Need even more from Crandall? Tweet her: @Drummerette, or Tumble along with her here.
Q: How did you discover your passion?
A: My passions are writing and photography. Writing I picked up on early, I think about 4th grade. My class was doing a practice for some standardized test and we were given a picture prompt and told to write a story. I was chosen to read mine out loud in front of the class… After the first few pages the teacher asked me to stop.
With the photography, it took a lot longer. My friends have a band and they played at a benefit concert one year when I was in college. I was part of yearbook so I had to take pictures for the event anyway. That was over 4 years ago. I do combine both when I write about college basketball. I get to be all official and sit on the court to take photos and write an article about the game later. It’s pretty awesome.
Q: Proudest accomplishment?
A: This is a tough one. I tend to try and stay behind the curtain as much as possible… It’s not what you’d pair with the word ‘geeky’ but I’d have to say when my article 'Top 10 Sexiest Mid Major Basketball Coaches’ completely blew up. It became the most viewed article the site had ever had, I was contacted by a radio station to do an interview, and the coach who was crowned “sexiest” had a t-shirt made about it! Their Chancellor wore a shirt in a photo with the coach that read “My coach is sexier than your coach”. For someone who barely got any views, that was mind blowing.
Q: When did you discover you were “geeky”?
A: If I knew what that meant when I was 5, probably then. I loved the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as a kid. I had action figures, sticker books and a megazord, because no collection is complete without one. Though I didn’t realize I associated with the word 'geek’ until I found Harry Potter. That’s when I found my inner nerd. I started a fan fiction about HP back in 6th grade, when I was around 11 years old, and I’m still writing the series today (that’s close to 14 years ago). I’ve only got a year and a half left to go, so I’m a bit sad, but I’ll find a way to keep it going.
Q: If you could take any fictional character out for a drink, whom would you choose and what would you drink?
A: Oh boy, this is a tough one. I think I’d like to take out Doctor Watson from the Sherlock Holmes stories and we would probably go to a little cafe and have tea. I do love tea.
Q: What would you tell your 13-year-old self?
A: Keep writing. Please, keep writing. It’s going to be terrible and you’re going to laugh at it once you go back and read it later in life, but just keep doing it. Don’t let anyone discourage you. No one else has to see it, but work on it.
Emma Bauer is a Being Geek Chic Contributor. Clearly, she’s got great taste. She is a PR enthusiast, dog lover, tea drinker, art appreciator, and of course, aspires to Be Geek Chic. Follow her on Twitter: @emmalynnbauer
