When you’re known for creating a strong female character. People like to put you in a box and say that’s what you’re going to do. What I like to do is create human characters. I’ve killed off characters, male and female, willy nilly. I have a bit of a reputation for it, one that I’m quite tired of to be truthful. But the fact of the matter is if I’m not putting people through the paces, if I’m not giving them real pain, and real loss, and real hardship, and sometimes real tragedy, then I’m not a storyteller.

Joss Whendon when asked if there was a disconnect between writing “strong female characters,“ then having bad things happen to them. (x)

This is important writing advice.

(via nudityandnerdery)