Writing Tools: Creating Characters for Children's Books

Even though I write children's books, a lot of the writing tools I come across for plot or character are aimed at writers of adult books. But I recently came across this great character chart for MG and YA  on Jennifer Nielsen's blog:

Do you use a character chart for writing children's books? How do you construct your characters?

What Kids' Books Are You Reading?

Sorry, no Marvelous Middle Grade Monday for me today. It seems I've been reading more YA than MG lately. Here's a peek at my TBR pile:

A Curse as Dark as Gold by Elizabeth Bunce









The Boy Project by Kami Kinard








 Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli





The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade


 What are you reading? Do you have any recommendations for me?

Friday Fun: Unusual Locations for Writing

I actually have worked on my writing on the subway, but I've never taken a workshop on one!

Subway Car Is a Writers’ Workshop on the Way to Queens and Back

Local editor and creative writing instructor Brian Henry sometimes holds writing workshops at The World's Biggest Bookstore in Toronto, but I haven't been to one there yet.

This makes me think about places where I've worked on my writing projects:

• in my writing room at the computer
• on the living room sofa while watching mindless television
• at the side of the pool waiting/watching kids swimming
• in the backyard or on the front porch
• in waiting rooms
• in a car (as a passenger)
• up in a big tree (when I was a preteen)
• sitting on a dock
• at an outlet mall
• at a rowing regatta
• in a library
• in a hotel at Whistler

Where's the craziest location you've ever attending a writing workshop or done any writing?

Creating Villains or Other Bad Guys in Middle Grade Novels

When I started to research this post, I learned that villains are only a subset of a larger group of conflict-inducers called “antagonists”. Antagonists are often a character, but they don’t have to be. And not all antagonist characters might be described as villains. [Kristin Lamb explains this well with examples in her guest post at Adventures in YA & Children’s Publishing: Kristen Lamb on Scene Antagonists and Big Boss Troublemakers.]

Creating a good villain is challenging. In The Fire in Fiction, Donald Maass discusses the difficulty of writing a good villain: “…they are frequently cardboard. Most are presented as purely evil.”

To create villains with depth, it’s important to consider positive character traits as well as negative ones. I love the character of Severus Snape in the Harry Potter books, because early in the series, Harry sees him as a typical, mean, unlikable villain, but as the books move along, Dumbledore has mysterious faith in him, and it leads me, as a reader, to question how I feel about him.

Tips for creating convincing villains:

Give the villain a brain. Villains are smart, as clever or even more clever than your hero. That means the writer has to be smart in creating situations where what the villain is going to do isn't obvious or typical.

Think beyond traditional negative traits. What mades your villain different from lots of others out there? What is unique about her?

Consider the positives. Think of your characters on a continuum from good to bad, with none of them completely at one end or another. People aren't completely good or evil, so characters shouldn't be either. What makes your villain a little bit good? (You can also think about what makes your hero a little bit bad).

Donald Maass suggests an exercise where you think about your villain from the point of view of your protagonist, and find three ways they are alike, and one way they are different. Then think about the thing about your villain that your protagonist will never understand.

Revisit your story from the villain's perspective. What does he or she want? Are his actions consistent with how he's going to get it? The villain needs a strong motivation, just the way your protagonist or hero does. The story should make sense and develop from the villain's perspective too.

How do villains in MG novels differ from villains in YA or adult novels?

Many people might say that villains in MG novels are less mean or less violent. I’m not sure that’s true. But more of the violence or  mean behaviour may be “off screen” rather than being described in gory detail. Villains in upper MG books may be more violent than villains in younger MG books, in proportion to the plot conflict.

Villains in MG books often have more humourous or even ridiculous characteristics, in keeping with the tone of the novel, of course.

How do you make your bad guys convincing to the reader? What villains stand out to you as unique?

Links

Barbara Watson and her followers discuss how depth and layers make for a good rascal in a MG novel.

Kelly Barnhill lists some different possibilities for villains – from the perspective of fourth graders  

In Muahaha! Does Your Villain Have What It Takes? author Amy Kaufman talks about writing villains for MG and YA books.

Some tips for Writing Good…Er…Bad Villains by Vanessa Di Gregorio at Let the Words Flow

Over at Project Mayhem, Hilary Wagner gives us examples of great villians in children’s literature.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: The False Prince

Today’s pick:  The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Scholastic, 2012

From the publisher:

The thrilling first book in a brand-new trilogy filled with danger, deceit, and hidden identities will keep readers clinging to the edge of their seats.

In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king's long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner's motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword's point - he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage's rivals have their own agendas as well.

As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner's sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of treachery and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that, in the end, may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.

An extraordinary adventure filled with danger and action, lies and deadly truths that will have readers clinging to the edge of their seats.

 My Take: 

I had so much fun reading this story, I didn’t want it to end! The story moved along at a good pace with lots of twists and turns, but it was easy to follow. I liked the way the author included just enough detail without weighing down the story. And I especially enjoyed the main character Sage’s attitude and sense of humour. He is a complex character with many layers. In this story there is some violence, including sword play and fighting (a boy gets killed by an arrow) so I’d say it’s more suitable for upper middle grade readers (e.g. ages 11-14) or as a read aloud with a parent.

 As a writer, I’ll return to this novel to study how the author creates a strong and engaging first person voice.

 Other Info:

Jennifer Nielsen is writing Book 6 in the Infinity Ring series (an alternate-history time travel series for readers ages 8-12 written by multiple authors, similar to The 39 Clues).

Scholastic Entertainment has optioned movie rights to The False Prince and other books in the Ascendency trilogy.

Other books by this author include:

Elliot and the Goblin War

For more, visit Jennifer Nielsen’s website.

Silver Birch Fiction Results 2012

If you were following the Silver Birch fiction postings I made on my blog, you may also know that the the results are in!

As part of the Forest of Reading initiative sponsored by the Ontario Library Association, students from across Canada voted in April for their favourite from these  nominated books:


Better Than Weird by Anna Kerz

Crossing to Freedom by Virginia Frances Schwartz

Ghost Messages by Jacqueline Guest

Ghosts of the Titanic by Julie Lawson

The Glory Wind by Valerie Sherrard

The McGillicuddy Book of Personal Records by Colleen Sydor

Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze by Alan Silberberg

Neil Flambé and the Aztec Abduction by Kevin Sylvester

That Boy Red by Rachna Gilmore

Undergrounders by David Skuy


This year's winner in the Silver Birch Fiction category was:

Undergrounders by David Skuy



I'd never read all of the nominated Silver Birch novels before, so I found it a lot of fun. I ended up reading some books I might not have chosen if I'd been scanning the shelves in the library. This one was a compelling story, so I'm not surprised it was so popular with students.

Memorable Middle Grade Books: Laura Ingalls Wilder

Lately I’ve been thinking about stories I read as a child that influenced my writing and my life. The “Little House” books by Laura Ingalls Wilder were definitely among my childhood favourites.

I think I was first introduced to them by my mom, who read aloud The Little House in the Big Woods. After that, I raced through the rest of them and read them over and over. I was fascinated by the details of life in a different time. I cheered along with Laura as she got even with the bully Nellie Oleson in On the Banks of Plum Creek and I loved the simple romance of These Happy Golden Years.

It’s funny how you notice different things when you read as an adult. As I child, I used to be bored by the whole story of The Long Winter, where Laura’s family was trapped in their house by blizzards, grinding grain in a coffee mill, but I now am fascinated by how they survived their hardship. As an adult, I’m a little disturbed by some of the racial attitudes in the early books, even though I can appreciate that they are consistent with the time period and need to be considered in context (for more see Little House on the Prairie: Racist or Not? ).

What influenced me most as a writer was not the content or the history in these books but the way they were written. I still admire Wilder’s writing style. It’s straightforward and simple, but it contains lovely imagery that helps me picture the scenes in my mind. The style changes a bit through the series, as the main character Laura’s age does – the earlier books have shorter sentences, whereas the older ones seem more fluid to me. To me, this not only shows her awareness of the age of the audience, but also her increasing skill as a writer. Something I strive for in my own writing is that combination of straightforwardness and vivid imagery.

What author’s writing style do you admire? Are there any books from your childhood that stand out in your mind because of the writing style?