Writing Strong Characters in Kids Books
Learning about Writing by Observing Children in Groups
Aug 6, 2008
The best way to build characters is to understand their inner drives. You can learn an enormous amount about children and their inner needs by watching them playing.
When observing a group of children playing in a shared space like a playground or park, look out for the following things:
- Does he play alone, with one other child, or with a group of children? Does she gravitate towards her own age group, or towards older or younger children?
- Is he an introvert or an extrovert? Does interacting with other people energise her, or does she need time alone to recharge her batteries?
- When observing children it helps if you understand something of their emotional and psychological development. Look out for the child who has become ‘stuck’ at an earlier age, and acts inappropriately for her age. e.g. Research has shown that when children become child stars, they are taken out of their normal environment and placed in an artificial one where nobody wants to say no to them, or to set limits, and they receive far too much admiration. The result is that they get stuck emotionally at the age they were when stardom hit them. The same can happen for different reasons when children are traumatised by an event like a messy divorce, losing a parent or being sexually abused. Of course, the world is full of adults who are stuck psychologically in childhood too, and while they are terrible to live with, they make great characters in books as they cause conflict wherever they go.
- Look for the hierarchy among the children. Think of it like a pack of dogs. Who is the alpha male – the well built, attractive natural leader? Who is the alpha female – the most attractive, strongest girl who dominates the other females? Who are the beta male and female – the second in line to the throne? Who among the rest of the group would like to usurp one of those positions? Wolf packs have an omega dog too, the weakest individual at the bottom of the pack, who is bullied by the others. The omega has two choices – to leave the pack and become a loner if he isn’t lucky enough to find another pack that will take him on, or to fight his way up the ranks. Groups of children and teenagers can do the same, and the struggle at the bottom of the pack can be very fierce.
- Which children appear to be stressed or unhappy? How do they show this? Look for behaviours like nail biting, attention seeking, putting other children down verbally, name calling, and even pinching, biting, slapping, punching, kicking or hair pulling. Most children reflect in the playground what is going on in their home lives. Try and imagine their home context too.
- Look for attention seeking behaviour. Children can become very skilled at getting their need for attention met, particularly if their parents are often distracted or too busy, or if they come from a big family. Look out for children who speak very loudly, or very dramatically. Incessant talking or making a ‘fuss’ over minor scrapes of ailments are other signs to watch for.
When you have observed how the children appear to be feeling as they interact with their peers, you will start understanding how the characters in your writing interrelate. The relationships between the children in your stories will take on depth and resonance.
You can read more about building strong characters in Creating Characters in Kids Books.
The copyright of the article Writing Strong Characters in Kids Books in Writing for Children is owned by Helen Brain. Permission to republish Writing Strong Characters in Kids Books in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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