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Recently, I’ve come across something in a few different young adult and middle grade books that’s bothered me: The child character is absolutely nothing like the parent character(s) . . . and for no explained reason. Most often the way I’ve seen that done is where the kid is fantastic, but the parents are total jerks.
I won’t say that never happens in real life, but I will say there’s a very good reason we have that saying about the apple not falling far from the tree.
Now, the older a kid is, the more this seems possible. It’s a natural developmental phase to question what we were taught by those who raised us. Regardless, there is always a history behind how your character treats others. They were raised (by parents or other guardians) to believe certain things about other people and how they should be treated. That means:
Meanness has a history.
Kindness has a history.
Prejudice has a history.
Respectfulness has a history.
And so forth. How your character chooses to treat another character needs to be rooted in their personal history and upbringing, not in the archetype you’ve assigned them. (i.e. he does the right thing because he’s the good guy, or he’s mean because he’s the bad guy.)
One example of this is that Draco Malfoy believes in the importance of pure blood because his parents raised him that way. The way he treats Hermione makes sense with his upbringing. Ron Weasley has respect for muggles because that’s the way he was raised. The way he treats Hermione makes sense too.
Can characters veer from how they were raised? Absolutely. And often that’s part of your main character’s arc, them noticing a belief they have, and also noticing a better way to live.
Can you ever have a nice kid character with jerk parents? Yes! But, who did they learn to be nice from? Somebody in their upbringing must have taught them that others have value and should be treated kindly. Someone had to teach them what “nice” looked like. If you have any experience with toddlers, you know that every single kid has to be taught to share, to be kind, to wait their turn, to consider others. I’ve yet to meet a toddler who by nature is self-sacrificing, patient, or mindful of others’ needs.
Can characters treat someone in a way that’s “out of character” for them? Yes, though I would argue that it’s better to think of it as your character revealing a different facet of their personality. For example, I don’t think I’ve ever in my life yelled at or gotten snappy with a complete stranger. But I have totally yelled at everyone in my immediate family at some point. It’s not “out of character” for me when I yell at my family, it’s just a different facet of my personality. (Not one I like, either…)
Often we get the whole “how we treat others has a history” thing right with our good guys. (Though they can get one-dimensional with their goodness-for-goodness’s-sake.) But a lot of writers overlook the history of their villain. What makes them so mean? Their meanness has a history. What is it?
My favorite way to figure this out is to use character journals, also called voice journals. I first learned about them in The Art of War For Writers by James Scott Bell, and here’s how he explains them:
The voice journal is simply a character speaking in stream-of-consciousness mode. You prompt the character by asking the occasional question, and then just let your fingers record the words on the page.
Every single time I’ve done this exercise, I’ve learned things about my characters that I hadn’t already figured out. Not only that, but it’s FUN because it’s writing. I typically start with something like, “Tell me about your childhood,” and that gets me right to their history. I’ll write for a page or two, just whenever the thoughts dry up, and there’s always stuff in there that I wouldn’t have figured out otherwise.
I like to do my character journals after the first draft, or sometimes when I’m in the midst of writing it, but it’s great at any point in the process!
What’s something you do to understand your characters’ unique histories?
(Quick note, I’m out of town today and tomorrow on a road trip to Pawhuska, Oklahoma, so I’ll reply to comments later than normal!)
Character journals are fantastic, especially for antagonists.
I usually like to pinpoint one specific person who acts as an influencer. Who the character respects the most and why. Sometimes it’s a parent/guardian or friend or even a person the character doesn’t even know that well, but wishes to emulate for some specific reason. Guess “specific” is a keyword here–it forces generalization out the door.
That’s a great idea!
Ooh, some great things to think about.
Thanks, Ashley!
Oh my word! I just did this the other day with an antagonist that I had no I idea as to why he is so evil. I didn’t even really know what I was doing; I just started writing, and the history spilled out! I’m glad I can now give that exorcise a name!
I love those moments when I intuitively do something right!
I LOVE characters. Especially their backstories. I love creating reasons why they do what they do, what made them who they are. Villains are a personal favorite of mine. I love to get into their backstory and motives. My only problem is when I get deep into them, I want to make them turn good in the end.
Anyways, I love everything character related. Plus, characters are easy for me to create. (World building/setting is another story)
Oh, that’s sweet. It sounds like you know them so well, you want what’s best for them!
Oh my goodness, this is so true!! I see this A LOT. It’s so important to have a story that makes sense! 😉
Makes a huge difference!
This is actually a very good point you make about characters being more like their parents than not. Now I’m going to have to be more careful in not making this mistake (I think I may have made it many times before ;p
I’m so lazy with doing anything like character journals and stuff, though… I just like writing the story ;D
I get lazy with stuff like that too, so I totally understand!
You see jerk parents played a lot as a trope. What is interesting, though, is when you have good parents and the kid is the one who is a jerk. In these cases you have the possibility of a redemption arc.
That’s a good thought, Cassandra!
This was a really great post! I think this kind of character development is overlooked way too much, and I don’t like shallow characters. :/ But that voice journal exercise was a helpful tip– I totally need to start doing that! 🙂
I really am surprised every single time I do it!
I feel like character development in my stories come naturally (development into their newfound identity and not so much as a mimic of their parents), though this really helps me in making sure there is a reason for my protagonist’s difference in character. Thanks for your helpful tips, and I’ll definitely be referencing this (and many, many other posts) in the future! 🙂
Oh, and about the 100 word contest, would you be able to tell me the dates that the names of the winning entries will be listed (the top 15 and top 4)?
I think top 15 should be next Monday, and then it’ll depend on Tessa’s schedule after that. All our judges like to be prompt, but sometimes life gets in the way!
I have not thought much about this. I do have back stories for my charactes and I have noticed my teens are kind of like their parents.