Glueing It All Together

By Julie Daines

An element in story crafting that I frequently find missing is cohesion. Each story needs a few elements that bind it all together and carry the protagonist--and the reader--through to the end.

For some reason, I find that adventure type books struggle the most with this problem. Often, the main character sets off on the adventure, but it feels more like they are strolling through the zoo. They wander along the hero's path, going from one interesting animal (scene) to the next. It feels like a series of random events that happen to the main character.

So the question is, how do we keep our story unified?

There are many ways, but here are a few to get you thinking:

The Main Character's Goals Must Be the Driving Force: Whatever it is that the main character wants, that should be what influences all their choices and actions.

In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy's goal is to go home. It is what motivates everything she does. In The Hunger Games, Katniss wants to protect her sister Prim. That is why she volunteers for the games, and that is why she wants to win the games, so Prim is not left alone with a wacky mother.

This is perhaps the most important element in cohesion. If your main character's object of desire (goal) is not present throughout the story, the reader will loose interest. Why is he/she doing this? If we don't know, we don't care.


The Threat of the Villain: Keep the threat of the villain ever present and constantly hanging over the hero's head.

JK Rowling did a great job with this throughout SEVEN Harry Potter novels, always upping the stakes with each one. Never once do we forget He Who Must Not Be Named lurking in the back of Harry's mind. And, every other "mini-villain" Harry faces ties back to Voldemort in some way, such as Draco Malfoy and Professor Umbrage.

And not only should the villain be always present, but the stakes. What happens if the villain wins?!


Keep the Main Conflict Front and Center: This is good for books that are not adventure stories and don't have a specific "villain," like Twilight. Not much happens in the story, but the conflict is always there, hanging over Bella's head--forbidden love, is he or is he not going to eat her.

These are only three. What other elements of cohesion can you think of?

Julie Daines
www.juliedaines.blogspot.com

We Love Them; We Love Them Not

By Julie Daines

Ever read a book with a main character that you don't like no matter how hard you try?

Well, apparently I'm writing one. So, I've been studying up on how to make your main character likeable. A must if you want readers to relate and be drawn into the story. If a reader doesn't like your MC, they won't care about what happens to him/her, and consequently, they have no reason to finish your book.

So, here is a list of traits that make a character likeable as told to me by award winning author, Martine Leavitt:

1.  Physical Attractiveness: Sounds biased I know, but hasn't the Edward craze proved it to be true?

2.  Altruism: Think Charlotte in Charlotte's Web. 

3.  Plans, Purpose, and Dreams: Characters are more likeable if they have justifiable, purposeful goals. Then readers can cheer them on.

4.  Courage and a Heightened Sense of Fair Play: This always makes me think of Harry Potter.

5.  Attitude: I take this to include personality. No one wants to hang out with someone who is boring or constantly negative. Find the balance.

6.  Cleverness: Like in the TV show House. He doesn't have a lot of social skills, but he is brilliant.

7.  They Love and Are Loved: To be loved and to love is something that every person wants, so this makes a character especially likeable...dare I say loveable?

8. Are In Jeopardy: When things the character cares about are at stake: life, love, hopes and dreams... 

Of course, no characters should have ALL of these traits. They must have flaws, but we need to have some kind of reason to like him/her. The trick is to balance your character's flaws and issues with only some of these traits.

Important note on attitude--Ms. Leavitt also gave us this great advice:

When the main character cares too much about his/her self (woe is me), the reader does not have to.

So there you have it. Go back to your creation and take that clay and mold it and bend it into a fully fledged, deep and meaningful character. 

I Love Him, I Love Him Not...

By Julie Daines

As a follow up to my post about a main character I hated, (click here to read it) I thought I'd tackle the subject of how to make your main character likeable.

According to the awesomeness of Martine Leavitt, in children's and YA fiction it's important to have a main character that is likeable. The best way to do this is to have your character possess at least one of the following:

- Physical Attractiveness. I can't help but think of Jacob Black here. He is selfish and interfering, but oh so popular with the girl readers. Why does he have a whole team backing him up? Because he's hot.

- Altruism. Think Charlotte in Charlotte's Web. Samwise in Lord of the Rings--isn't he everyone's favorite?

- Plans, Purpose, and Dreams. No one has more dreams than Anne in Anne of Green Gables. I also think of Keturah in Keturah and Lord Death. All she wants is a little cottage with a kind husband and a peasant baby to hold.

- Courage and a Heightened Sense of Fairplay. Does this not say Harry Potter? How about Percy Jackson?

- Attitude. I'm thinking Scarlet O'Hara. In the book I think they called it gumption, and she has it in spades. She has to in order to counter all her negative traits.

- Cleverness. What's the name of that obnoxious, rude doctor guy we all love--House? Also Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird.

- Who Love and are Loved. I hate to use another Twilight example, yet I can't help but think of Bella. She really doesn't have a lot going for her except that she is loved by her dad, her mom, and of course Edward and Jacob and a few other boys at school. Because so many people love her, we figure there must be a reason, and so we identify with that and love her too. Or at the very least we want to see her happy.

- Are in Jeopardy. In the Hunger Games, main character Katniss lacks a lot in personality and kindness, but since she spends all of a thousand pages in ultimate peril, we root for her.

So there you have it. Good luck in being liked!

Hate. It's a four letter word.

By Julie Daines

Sorry I'm late getting my post up today. I've been at the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers conference basking in the greatness of Martine Leavitt.

I watched a movie recently with a main character so self absorbed and self pitying I could barely make it through the film. She had a great husband and nice friends who loved her and wanted her to be happy, but she couldn't find "inner peace and balance." So, she breaks her husband's heart by divorcing him to go in search of herself.

After traveling the world on a trip of selfish indulgence, she finally learns the great lesson in life--sometimes you have to lose balance to find balance. Suddenly, she is now capable of love. Whaaaat?

I kept waiting for her to have a change of heart and really learn something about priorities and happiness, especially when she sees kids eating garbage out of the gutter in a third-world country. But no. She's too busy struggling to forgive herself for the huge mistake she made when she married this really awesome and devoted husband. Then she ... Well, I should probably stop there. All I'm saying is that I hated this character.

Anyway, it made me wonder about main characters, and how to give them flaws and shortcomings, but still make them likable.

I think Margaret Mitchell's Scarlett O'Hara is a masterful example. She's kind of a despicable, selfish person and easy to hate, but somehow, she gets under our skin. We love her anyway and want her to be happy, but at the same time, when she gets what she deserves, there is a sense of justice.

Another great example is Harry Potter. He's far from perfect--sometimes selfish, judgmental, not the brightest kid--but his kind heart, sense of humor, and desire to do good despite his mistakes make him lovable.

How do we find the balance? 

Overused in YA Literature

By Julie Daines

YA Author Joelle Anthony read hundreds of young adult and middle grade novels to create a list of the fifteen most overused things in YA fiction. 

She says she wanted to encourage YA writers to “stretch beyond the first things that they think of when writing.  The idea behind the list was to point out areas where authors seem to think they are being unique, but actually aren’t.”

Here is her list:  A Countdown of 15 of the Most Overused Things in YA Fiction

15.  Stories of irresponsible parents with main characters who end up paying bills, cooking, cleaning, etc.

14.  Characters who like retro music – generally of the era that the author was in high school.

13.  Really hot, young-looking moms – often portrayed as main character’s best friends.

12.  Female characters who are obsessed with Jane Austen in general, and Elizabeth Bennet in particular.

11.  Lab partners where one person does all the work – often the geek who ends up being the love interest.

10.  A main character with only one friend.  The plot almost always includes the compulsory argument scene, leaving her to eat lunch alone for weeks – usually in the library.

9.  A poor girl who is a scholarship student in a fancy private school.

8.  Books told in first person and the description of the main character is given by having her examine herself in the mirror.

7.  Tomboys who can’t sew or cook and hate dresses (most common in historical and middle-grade novels).

6.  Gorgeous, popular younger sisters (this role used to be reserved for older sisters).

5.  Authors who work vocabulary words into the dialogue and then pass them off as knowledge the characters have because the words are on the SAT list.

4.  Main characters who are the only ones in the world without a cell phone.

3.  Clumsy characters who can’t dance or play sports to save their lives.

2.  Guys with gorgeous/stunning/flashing/jewel-like/piercing green eyes.  Green is the new blue.

1.  Main characters who hate math.

From SCBWI Bulletin, Nov/Dec 2010