Fall in Love with Your Characters

"Maybe the plot is the number one reason people keep reading, but characters essentially are what make them stay." 

http://www.10minutenovelists.com/fall-in-love-with-your-characters-so-the-reader-will-too-a-guest-post-by-jessica-white/

"Good characters make you fall in love with a story.   Maybe the plot is the number one reason people keep reading, but characters essentially are what make them stay," according to blogger Tori (http://theweirdworder-awritersworld.blogspot.ca/2013/07/the-importance-of-characters.html). Picture books tend to have only a few, basic characters.  Chapter books have room for more characters and more character development.  Some chapter books are plot driven, like Harry Potter, while others are character driven, like Catcher in the Rye.

Characters create conflict and resolution in a story.  You want characters to bring your plot to life.  Start by giving your main character, or protagonist, a motivation or desire.  Roz Morris recommends:  "Make the character want something badly enough to step outside of his comfort zone," (https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/writers/advice/410/a-writers-toolkit/story-and-plot/).  The character should keep working towards his goal, even when things go from bad to worse.  

Get your readers emotionally involved with your characters.  "Until the writer reveals the character's humanity, he's just a name on a page," explains Roz Morris.  Reveal your character's history and relationships through his thoughts, feelings and actions.  Is your character static, like a brilliant detective or a cruel stepmother?  Or is he developping, a character who grows throughout the story? Ideally you want three dimensional characters rather than stereotypes.  

Do you have a villain or antagonist in your book?  An antagonist's interests oppose those of the protagonist.  However, a villain "intends evil", has different moral rules and brushes with the dark side, according to Roz Morris.  

                                http://www.best-childrens-books.com/picture-book-series.html

Picture Books with Well-Developped Characters

1.  Chrysanthemum (Kevin Henkes

2.  Thomas' Snowsuit (Michael Martchenko)

3.  Martha Speaks (Susan Medaugh)

4.  The Polar Express (Chris Van Allsburg)

5.  The Lemonade Club (Patricia Polacco)

6.  Harold and the Purple Crayon (Crockett Johnson)

http://www.rustyandrosy.com/parent-resources/blog/2013/07/5-classics-to-read-with-your-kids/

Chapter Books

1.  Little House on the Prairie (Laura Ingalls Wilder)

2.  Flat Stanley (Jeff Brown)

3.  Amelia Bedelia (Peggy Parish)

4.  Stuart Little (E. B. White)

5.  Charlotte's Web (E. B. White)

6.  Big Nate (Lincoln Peirce)

Take Charge of Your Life

"When you take charge of your life, there is no longer need to ask permission of other people or society at large." (Geoffrey F. Abert)

In his book Goals, Brian Tracy devotes a chapter to taking charge of your life.  He says that only you are responsible for everything you do.  It is up to you to create opportunities for yourself to achieve your goals.  Don't just wait for the right time -- act!  If you stay in your comfort zone, you will never realize your true potential.  Take the risk.  Step outside of your comfort zone.  

"Action springs not from thought but from a readiness to take responsibility," according to Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Taking charge of your life means taking responsibility for it -- the good, the bad and the ugly.  It means accepting what can't be changed and changing what can be changed (the old Serenity Prayer).  

Tracy points out that blaming others gets you nowhere.  When you blame others, you give up your power to change.  You become a victim rather than a victor.  Don't wait for others to change.  You only have the power to change yourself. When you change, often others will follow suit.  For instance, the fiance who thinks she is going to change her future husband's bad habits is usually sadly mistaken.  However, she can work on her own bad habits.  Changing her own behaviour might be a positive influence on her future husband's behaviour.

I'll leave you with one thought:  "If you don't build your dream, someone will hire you to build theirs." (Dhiruhbai Ambani)

For more information, visit www.positivityblog.com.

Read Take Charge of Your Life by Dr. William Glasser at http://www.amazon.ca/Take-Charge-Your-Life-Choice-Theory/dp/1462037437.

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