C is for Connecting to Readers

What makes you want to keep reading? Often, you feel a connection to a main character and his story so you care about what happens to him. How can writers create that connection?

Give your character a personality. A strong main character can often make me stick with a story, even if I don’t like what’s happening or the writing style. Notice that a strong character doesn’t have to be likeable, though I think 8- to 12-year-olds relate better to a character that has at least a few likeable qualities. But there has to be some reason why I want to see what happens to them, why I care to read their story. Sometimes, the reason might be simply that I see the character has the potential to change and I want to see if she does.

Use character voice. When the viewpoint character has a unique voice, it helps to create a sense that the character is real. But I think it’s important not to try too hard to play up the voice, because you can end up with forced writing that sounds like an adult trying to be a kid. Instead, tap into the character by getting to know them. Construct your character in the reader’s mind through showing how he acts and how he thinks. That’s when the character’s voice will emerge.

Add some shared interests. One of the reasons why you connect well with friends is because you have something to share—the same school, the same life goals, the same hobbies or interests. That's a good starting point for connecting to readers too. Make sure your story includes interests or hobbies that are relevant to middle-grade readers, then take it up a notch by adding a twist. Use things kids know about, like school and family, and add in something else that piques their curiosity, like dogsledding (Dogsled Dreams by Terry Lynn Johnson), having a zookeeper parent (Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs) or figureskating (Sugar and Ice by Kate Messner). Think: What would it be like to….?

Ultimately, you can’t predict whether a reader will connect with your story and characters. Not everyone wants to read every story. But if you can make the reader feel something for your character, chances are he’ll want to keep reading to see what happens next.

What do you do to help readers connect to your stories?

Links:

(*If you know of any other great articles on this subject, let me know and I’ll add them for our reference)

Lydia Sharp writes about how to connect with your reader.

Janice Hardy, author of The Healing Wars trilogy for MG readers, gives us strategies for creating characters that readers will care about.

Author Elana Johnson talks about the first thing a book needs — a character the reader can connect with. 

Tabitha Bird argues that connecting with the book you want to write is more important than connecting with readers.

Lucy Marsen at From the Write Angle writes about how slowing down can help you create connections with characters.

C is for Characters

If you pick up a novel from any middle grade series, one of the first things you’ll notice is that it has a strong main character. With so many things competing for a middle grader’s attention, your reader needs to start becoming attached to your main character right from the beginning of the story.

How can you create a character that your readers will care about?

Get the age right. How old should your main character be? In most middle grade novels, the main character is slightly older than the target age group – around 13 for upper middle grade, maybe 11 or 12 for younger middle grade. But just stating their age in your story isn’t enough. Your character needs to have the perspective of a middle grader. This is so hard to do. As an adult, there are lots of things you know that a middle grader wouldn’t. The way a middle grader thinks and how he or she solves a problem is going to be different than the way an adult would.

Think about their interests. What does your character really love? If they have a passion for something, that can fire up a passion in your reader, too. It’s like sharing an interest with a good friend. You both like spaceships or trying on makeup. Did I say spaceships? Well, we’re talking about middle graders here, so their interests are the ones you need to tap into. This is also the age where there really starts to be a distinction between “boy books” and “girl books”.

Be choosy about details. Middle grade readers don’t want to read too much detail, they want to find out what happens. And the details that do you do include about a character should be specific. Like a unique hobby or interest. Is hair and eye colour important? Maybe, if it's something your character is proud of or hates about themselves. Sometimes character details are things you need to know to create the character, but don't necessarily need to be included in your novel.

Some of the best advice I’ve gotten about creating character comes from The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life by Noah Lukeman. He suggests that creating a character doesn’t stop at generating a list of characteristics and traits. A key step is to go further and think about how these characteristics will affect the plot of the story.

Links:

Creating Compelling Characters by Jodie Renner over at the Blood Red Pencil.

Seven Ways to Develop Compelling Characters, notes from Gail Carson Levine's keynote speech at the 2010 SCBWI conference in LA, by Ingrid Sundberg of Ingrid's Notes.

How to Avoid Creating Plastic Characters by Jody Hedlund at her blog.

A whole slew of links to great posts about creating character in The Best of the Best: Character, Plot, Dialogue and Structure from Adventures in Children's Publishing.

MG. vs YA Characters by Beth Revis gives us an interesting take on what lies under the surface in middle grade and YA characters, and what makes them compelling.

Do you have any tips for bringing characters alive for middle grade readers?