I'm back from oodles of fun in New Mexico. Yay for Chris Eboch, regional advisor of the SCBWI New Mexico region and a brilliant writer. She's working on going supernova in the children's lit world with her upcoming HAUNTED series. Everybody hold onto their hats.
Hey, my mega article (30 pages)about the children's market is in the 2009 Children's Writer Guide. You might want to check that out.
I'm back to focusing on beginnings. This week I'm going to touch on character. I love quirky unlovable characters. Bad. Bad. You have to create characters your reader will identify with. This is someone that your reader will be willing to go the distance with. This seems deceptively simple. Perhaps you have run into one the three following common character curmudgeons:
1. Whiny Winnies -- nobody wants to hang out with a character who complains all the time. The only cure? Goth-girl Winnie, look on the bright side of life even if it is in a dead-pan, sarcastic, clueless way. Find your sunny side up, quick!
2. Antisocial Annies -- they have a bad-to-the-core attitude, and no reader has that kind of sympathy. If your character is antisocial you better have a fab fab reason for it or no. Go ahead, make my day, Annie, find your moral core.
3. Perfect Pennies -- if your character doesn't have a handful of faults, put this picture in your mind, your book tossed against a wall and not in a good way. Come on, Penny. Find your inner dark side and hurry.
So think about that main character. Make sure that you have found a true hero and not a Sideshow Bob. I wish you best on your journey.
No doodles this week. Sorry my computer is sick and no pictures until the magic computer fairies do their thing.
Today's playlist hit is "Fountain" from Sara Lov.
Quote for the day...
Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.James Dean
No comments:
Post a Comment