Grinch Tips on Character
Stop that! You’re too nice to your characters.
The Grinch is despicable and you know it. Did you create nice, wonderful characters? Too bad for you! No one will read it.
Take a page from Dr. Seuss. Be nasty when you create characters. Try different physical descriptions, motivations, typical ways of moving, common phrases and specific actions.
Grinch Tips on Setting
Whoville. What kind of name is that for a town? A memorable one. And the Whos are memorable. Dr. Suess was a genius at creating fictional worlds that are believable.
Take another look at your setting: create a town, populate the town with a mayor, a teacher, families. Now, write a story set in that town.
Grinch Tips on Plot
The Grinch ties his best to ruin Christmas by stealing every THING that relates to Christmas. Things become worse and worse for the Whos.
Make sure that you intensify the conflict of your story. No one will read boring, nothing-happens stories. Burn this into your sense of story: without bad things happening, there is no story. Dr. Seuss intensifies the dilemma by having the Grinch do every despicable thing possible to ruin Christmas.
Grinch Tips on the Blackest Moment of the Story
Dr. Seuss did not try to avoid the blackest moment and neither should you. What is the absolute worst thing that could happen to your characters? Make it happen. Be a Grinch, be nasty.
But also follow that moment with a twist. It doesn’t have to be a complete reversal like the Whos manage to pull off. But it should be a small moment of hope, of defiance against the evil. Slap ’em down and watch ’em get up again. And your audience will stay with you forever (Right, Theodore Geissel?)
Grinch Tips on Story Endings
At the end, the Grinch’s heart grows two sizes larger. It’s a poignant moment of clear character growth and change. The metaphoric becomes concrete.
Draw two columns down a page and label the columns, Before and After. In the Before column, write details of your character in the story’s opening. In the After column, write details of your character in the story’s ending. Make sure there is a sharp difference, a big change. If there isn’t, what changes make sense in the context of the story. Now, revise to make sure the character’s heart does grow two sizes larger!
Winter Writing Lesson Plans for Teachers
In appreciation for all you do for children’s literature, I am offering a free set of lesson plans for Winter Writing with Kids. Based on popular Christmas and winter children’s stories, kids will learn 34 skills of writing.
Download the FREE Winter Writing with Kids 2011 here.
11 Ways to Ruin a Photograph: Winner of “The Help” Children’s Story Contest
My story won “The Help children’s story contest! Read more about this family story written by Darcy Pattison.
By the way, there’s an app for the Grinch!
This is brilliant! Thanks so much! I am now going off to do the Grinch test on my WIP!
Darcy, what an absolutely FABULOUS topic and so full of helpful tips! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Can you tell I’m eager to improve my writing? ;0)
Donna
This is so great! The cartoon Grinch (voice of Boris Karloff) is my favorite Christmas movie. Love the book, too, of course! Thanks for the Grinchy tips, Darcy. :)
And congratulations on winning the children’s story contest!