Writing for Kids? It’s easy, right? Recently, I’ve talked to several beginners and here’s some of the most common advice I give.

Main Character to Relate to and Identify With

What age are you writing for? Adults? Then, you need an adult main character. Teens? Then, you need a teen main character. Elementary age kid? Then you need. . . In other words, your audience needs a main character they can relate to and identify with.

Yes, I know. Fairy tales are about old dudes like Rumpelstiltskin. And Pooh Bear is, well, a bear. Yes, there will be an odd book about a grandparent as a main character. But those are harder to pull off and best left till later in your career. Create a main character a bit older than your audience. It can be an animal–which is generally a kid in animal clothing. But any time you move far off from your audience’s age and general characteristics, you will have to work harder to make the audience care.

Basic Writing Skills

Yes, there are basic writing skills and you need to master these. They include sentence structures and punctuation. For this, I suggest you work through The Art of Styling Sentences. It’s a simple, fun way to review basic writing.

Basic Fiction Skills

Ah, but after you brush up your basic writing skills, you need to learn some basic fiction techniques. Do you know how to punctuate dialogue correctly? Do you know how to Show-Don’t-Tell a story? Do you understand that fiction is about conflict, that you can’t create a plot which has no obstacles and simple obstacles makes for a simple, but boring plot?

I always recommend two basic texts for writing fiction:

• Self Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Brown and Dave King.
• The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman

If you study these two books on fiction writing, you’ll be far ahead of the gang.

Ask for and accept help!

Advice from the Sage One

Worry about the words, not the art.

Finally, if you are writing a picture book, worry not about the art. Worry only that your words soar.
The publisher, editor and art director will match you with a fantastic illustrator. You don’t have to find an artist, indeed, it will cut your chances of a sale in half if you do. They WANT to and EXPECT to contract an illustrator for a picture book. Worry about the words. That’s your job.

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Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

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I am working on a novel revision for an editor and I expect to turn it in by Monday. But today, as I was reading through one last time to polish everything up–oh, my gosh!–there’s still so much work to do.

Last Minute Revisions

At this point, it’s not major structural changes or big plot changes. Instead, I am looking to tighten every scene and make as many connections as possible. And I am polishing language and voice.

Here are some thing that I’m working on:

Connections. I noticed that K gave A something. Now, K is a minor character, and while I like K, the connection here was weak. Instead, I wondered how the story would work if C gave A that same thing. Much nicer! It brought back in a sub-plot/theme with C that I thought would never work into this part of the story.

Conflict and Tension. Yes, the mainstay of fiction is conflict and tension and you’d think I would have that right by now. Instead, I realized that I was relying on the external conflict and ignoring the internal conflict. What I needed was conflict to be within my main character, while at the same time, she is facing external problems. I had to go back paragraph by paragraph and make sure that the internal conflict was present, was related to the external problem and that it grew over the course of the story.

Pacing. I separated one long chapter into two chapters, making sure the ending of the first chapter was a cliff-hanger and the beginning of the next chapter had a good hook.

Verbs. Yes, verbs. As we all know by now, strong verbs make for good story language and a strong voice. And I was doing pretty well. But I noticed in this chapter that I was slacking off some. For example, I replaced “They stared” with “They gaped”, and later with “They gawked.” Subtle differences, yes, but important.

Characterization. I am confident that A is a strong character. But what about B, C, D, E, F, G? As I read through, I am looking for places to characterize them better.

When is a Novel Revision Finished?

Um, never. I think I could endlessly revise a novel and my friends will attest to that. But at some point, I’ve done all I can do without more feedback. With this final pass through, I’ll be at that point. It will be time to send the novel out into the world for someone to read and evaluate. Does that mean I am finished with revisions on this particular novel? Doubtful. Bu until some fresh eyes catch weak areas, I can’t see anything else to do. Soon, very soon, it will be on its way.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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We’ve done several 30-days series over the last few years. I’m considering topics for a couple “30 Days” series this year, probably March and October. What topics would you like to see? Plot, publicity, career, voice? Something else? Leave a comment, please, and let me know what interests you!

Newly updated 30 Days series

30 Days to a Stronger Picture Book

Favorite 30 Days series

• 30 Days to Stronger Scenes
• 30 Days to Stronger Characters
• 30 Days to a Stronger Novel

Other Popular Resources

• The Book Trailer Manual
• Novel Diagnosis Series
• Psychology of Revision
• Villains: 3 Part series

What other resource would you like next?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Innocent Openings for Novels

“Stories should begin at a point of innocence.” When I read that recently, I had to stop and consider: where should you start a story?

Point of Innocence: Don’t Foreshadow the End

The main point of this quote is that you shouldn’t start with something like, “It was the worst day of my life.” That robs the reader of entering a situation innocent, not knowing what to expect. It lessens tension, suspense and conflict. Not a good thing to do. It’s jumping the timeline, foreshadowing to your own detriment.

Instead, readers want to experience a situation from the main character or narrator’s point of view with a blow-by-blow, as-it-happens narration of events. Yes, it’s fine to include some of the MCs or Ns attitude, in fact, it’s essential. So the experience is colored with rose or jealous-green glasses. That’s expected and it enhances the reader’s experience of the story.

Orson Scott Card says it a different way when he suggests that the only thing you withhold from a reader is what happens next. We know where we are, who is there, when we are, and why we are here. The only thing we don’t know is what happens next. THAT is where tension comes from.

The Moment Before

Openings should also be fraught with a feeling for the moment before. That is, the subtext of the story, even in the opening, should be embued with the characters hopes, dreams, experiences, joys, triumphs, dangers, and more. What happened just before this opening scene? How does that affect the emotional content of this scene?

Too often, in an attempt to jump start a story, I see openings which drop the reader into an action scene. The problem is that we don’t have any emotional connection to the characters and, well, so what?, if character A dies horribly?

Delicate Balance

Openings are a delicate balance between action and character, emotions and plot. You need to slow down enough to evoke that “moment before” and make the reader care; yet, you must always remember to hook the reader hard.

My advice, after reading many “first 5 pages” is to write a draft that hooks with action; then write a draft that makes us care; then try to blend the two together somehow, making whatever adjustments needed.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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I’m currently revising a picture book and finding it to be a bit tricky because I created animal characters. Of course, in a fiction picture book, animal characters are often just stand-ins for kids.

Why Use an Animal Character in a Fictional Picture Book?

Get Rid of Adults. I wanted to have two characters playing on a beach. Uh-oh. That’s dangerous if it’s just two kids; without adults around, the story would never be accepted. But in this case, the adults/parents would just clog up the story. So, make them animal characters and the story works great. No one worries about a chicken or a dog or a sea gull or something similar running around on a beach.

Express Potentially Difficult Emotions. Books with kids who get mad or frustrated can be tricky. Will the audience still like these characters? Will adults want to read this book to kids? (For picture books, you must always remember the adult gatekeeper!) But write about a bear in the winter who is awakened from hibernation — grouchy is understandable. The trick, of course, is to find the right animal who can express the emotions you want.

Difficulties of Using an Animal Character in a Fictional Picture Book

You walk a fine line between kid and animal characteristics. When we read a book with an animal character, we understand that the animals are stand-ins for kids. Or do we? We still want the animal to act, well, true to its nature. Skunks stink; horses run fast; sharks bite.

In my case, someone called me on the activities the characters are doing and said it wasn’t true to the animal in question. Yes, I answered, but it’s just a stand in for a kid. Um, sorry. Choose a different animal or make the actions appropriate for this animal.

ARGH! The critiquer is right. (How dare they? Well, it’s been longer than my normal three days to pout, so I have to get busy and work on this.) I’ll be working on those revisions today and tomorrow.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Last week I was wondering if I could combine two plots into one. One idea was for an Event and one for Characters. While I still think they could have meshed, the character story took off on it’s own into a short story.

Now the question is what to do with the Event idea, how to enrich it into a full blown novel idea. Here are some ways to enrich an idea that I’m going to try.

Setting. For me, The setting make a huge difference to a story. This is both a when and a place. When does the story/specific scene occur? What historical time period, what time of year, what time of day?

Medieval England is far different from 3030 Mars. Winter is far different from spring. A lake is different from downtown New York City. Think hard about what the setting means in terms of characters: who would be there? What are cultural norms in such a place? What could happen here and what could never happen here?

Also, what conflict is inherent in the setting? An ice-covered lake becomes dangerous during an early thaw – and you’d be a fool not to take advantage of it. A board room implies conflict in a power play.

Family. Another way to enrich all plot/story is to look to family situations. This could be anything from a blended family to a strong matriarchal family to adopted kids. Included in this could be any of a wide range of betrayals, misunderstandings, etc. I try to put this together with my original idea. Given A, what is the worst thing that could be happening in the family relationships? Depending on the audience, can you include this in the story, or some variation of it?

Backstory. I like the idea of building in connections between characters in the back story. Characters met at a previous job, went to the same school, had the same kind of dog – anything.

This will also build in possible conflicts: the dog likes A better than B, resulting in jealousy. Or A passed a test by copying off B’s paper.

By looking at the setting, the family and the back story — something every story already has — and making the most of these, my plot will grow. Of course, I’ll have to throw in some twists and unexpected things, but it’s a start. Here’s hoping the plot develops this week.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Shrunken Manuscript Technique Helps Visualize Problems

Following my directions for shrinking, marking and evaluating a novel, here are some recent examples:

• MJ Diems shrank her Precious and says, “Color coding a single spaced 8pt draft by setting and character is hard work, people! All that capping and uncapping. But it means I get to spend quality time with My Precious.”
• Joyce Ray spots weaknesses in her novel. Hurrah! No sagging middle.
• Ann Finkelstein Shrank, Vacuumed, Colored, Laid out and Evaluated with a creative key that includes an emotional scale of Yawn, Squirm, Bite Nails and Heart Pounds.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Answering the WHY? question

It’s the WHY question that is plaguing me right now.

Why does my character want to participate in this project?
Why does she want this so much that she will jump out of her comfort zone in order to make it work? Why, why, why?

Oh, how I hate that question! It’s obvious to me that the character wants this because, well, because that’s the story I’m writing. Of course, she wants to do this. Boy, am I in trouble.

I have to go back to the basics – again.

Interview the character. Find the back story details that answers the WHY? I’m such a private person that I hate telling people the whys of anything I do, so why should I expect my characters to be more forthcoming?

But how do you describe a fascination with something? For example: There’s no logical reason for me to like quilting, yet I do. I can make up something that will satisfy you, something about the puzzle of cutting up fabric and sewing it back together; but in the end, quilting transcends those explanations and I just wind up weakly saying, I love to play with color. Really, that’s it. I love to play with color and love the feel of the fabrics and love the semi-precision of sewing, fitting things together into a larger pattern.

How can I describe for a character a fascination with the tasks needed in this new story? There are multiple motivations: the inherent fascination with a hands-on process; the feeling of connection with a missing loved one; the reluctant joy of being pushed out of comfort zones to meet more people and to open up more; the surprise of watching how the project affects others. It’s so many small things that motivate my character. How to put those into the story?

Maybe part of the answer is that I was looking for a single answer, a single incident that motivates her and in reality, it must be multiple small things, which are woven into multiple scenes.

I’m wrestling today with that awful WHY? What are you wrestling with?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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All About the Town

• InkyGurl.com is posting Comics for Writers!!!

  

• Another month to write? It’s the WriDaNoJu. This one makes more sense to me than trying to write a novel in November. Aren’t these names getting funny? The NaNoWriMo, the WriDaNoJu, the NaPiBoWriWee and so on.
• An interesting list of Picture Book Don’ts.
• Victoria Janssen started a discussion about Online Promotions and Janni Simner responds with How NOT to Promote Online.
• And Janni is talking to her characters and to herself again! I feel like a voyeur, listening in on these conversations to the characters, but I can’t stop myself!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

3 Tips for Using Mulitple Point of View Characters

1. Limit the number of POV characters. A general caution is to limit the number of POV characters so the reader can be emotionally invested in those few. Zuckerman, in How to Write the Blockbuster Novel, recommends no more than five main characters. Usually, one of the characters emerges as the main character and gets more space, leaving the others as secondary-main characters, so to speak.

   Of course, there are lots of exceptions. On the extreme end of the spectrum, Seedfolk, by Paul Fleischman, changes POV with every chapter, dipping into the life of a different member of the community and never repeats a character; I would argue, though, that the real main character of that story is the community, arrived at through these multiple POV. In the end, I still cared for the characters, which is the main point here, and many of their conflicts were resolved while in a different POV, keeping the conflict/resolution connections intact.

2. Changing POV perspective. When you change from one character’s POV to another character’s POV, can you change from 1st person to third person? In Donna Jo Napoli’s, Zel, she has three main characters: Rapunzel, told in 3rd; the prince, told in 3rd; and the mother, told in first. Napoli said that the mother had to be in first person so the reader would understand how much of her actions was motivated by love for Rapunzel. So, yes, you can change from 1st to 3rd: the question is why do you want to? What will it add to the story? Napoli had a reason for this choice — better characterization of the mother. What is your reason?
3. Use Strong Scene Cuts. One good reason to use multiple POV characters is it allows for strong scene cuts. Just as one character falls into a dangerous situation, SCENE CUT. We leave that character hanging on the edge of a pit, while we explore another character’s side of the story, until that character is in danger and. SCENE CUT, back to the first character, where we left him about to fall onto a shrub that breaks his fall before he finds himself in some other danger.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win